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This piece was originally published on AllAfrica.com . Written by Deogratias Mushi.

In 2009, the United Nations estimated that 60 per cent of the world's chronically hungry people were women and girls, 98 per cent of whom were living in developing nations.

This result is, many girls drop out of school or perform poorly, hence denied opportunities to aspire for higher levels of education. When girls go hungry in Ward secondary schools, they will not have enough energy for going through all school activities, as a result they will either sleep or abscond from school.

According to the latest FEWS.net Food Security Outlook Reports, West Africa could face sharp increases in food insecurity in the coming months, specifically in areas surrounding Lake Chad. Boko Haram-related conflicts continue to disrupt markets in the region, impacting many households’ income-generating potential.

An estimated 202 million hectares of land suitable for farming remain uncultivated in Africa, despite near-constant calls for the region to intensify its agricultural production to keep up with the food demands of a rapidly growing population. So why is so much potentially productive land not being used for agriculture? In many areas, unreliable rainfall and poor soil fertility make the land, while cultivable, difficult to farm.

Data M web , created by the European Commission- Joint Research Centre, Institute of Perspective Technological Studies (Seville, Spain) thorough work with the PROGNOZ software company, provides an easy mechanism to visualize multiple datasets related to food security and nutrition.  Data M stands for Data on Agriculture, Trade, and Models, and the online data repository allows visualization in a number of ways, pulling data from a number of International Organizations (e, g., FAO and World Bank) and other relevant sources .

Aflatoxin, a toxin produced by the Aspergillus fungus, poses a serious health threat in developing countries. The toxin grows in a number of staple crops worldwide, such as maize, and chronic exposure can lead to liver disease, cancer, and even death. While proper testing and processing of crops can reduce aflatoxin levels in finished food products like maize flour, many developing countries lack the regulatory environment needed to enforce such testing and handling requirements.