SSA Continues to Face Increasing Acute Food Insecurity: 2024 GRFC Mid-Year Update Released

Africa south of the Sahara has continued to face alarmingly high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) Mid-Year Update. This includes populations in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) food insecurity in Sudan, South Sudan, and Mali, with famine plausible in some areas of Sudan.

As in previous years and reported in the April release of the GRFC, conflict, extreme weather events, economic shocks, and forced displacement of large populations have driven worsening food and nutrition security outcomes across the continent.

In East Africa, Sudan’s ongoing conflict has devastated domestic food security, with over 700,000 people facing IPC Phase 5 food insecurity as of September 2024. The conflict has also negatively impacted food security in neighboring countries due to the displacement of large numbers of Sudanese and disruptions to agricultural production and trade. Conflict is also disrupting agricultural production, markets, and humanitarian aid flows in parts of South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.

While rains in the March-May period improved crop and livestock production in some areas, they also caused flooding and damage to food security in other parts of East Africa. The La Niña phenomenon is expected to impact the region through the end of the calendar year, bringing with it below-average rainfall in some areas, which could further reduce food production and availability and increase already high food prices.

In Central and Southern Africa, conflict displaced large amounts of people in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique. Extreme weather events, including drought resulting from the 2023-2024 El Niño phenomenon, impacted crop and livestock production throughout the region, including in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, all of which declared a State of Drought disaster in 2024. These countries will likely be further negatively impacted by the start of the lean season in November, when rising food prices and reduced purchasing power will drive further food security deteriorations.    

In West Africa and the Sahel, conflict, reduced agricultural production, and extremely high levels of inflation drove significant increases in acute food insecurity in Nigeria, Chad, Sierra Leone, and Mali. Several thousand people continue to face IPC Phase 5 food insecurity in Mali due to ongoing conflict, and the number of people in IPC Phase 4 food insecurity in that country rose by more than 60 percent from 2023.

Despite these continuing food crises, however, West Africa was the only region to see significant improvements in food security outcomes in 2024. Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire also saw declines in the number of people facing acute food insecurity. These improvements were driven largely by increased humanitarian access and improved agricultural production.

Sara Gustafson is a freelance communications consultant.