ROME, Italy (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Africa could eliminate hunger by 2025 if countries embraced effective policies on job creation, political stability and social protection, says a United Nations official.
“Countries in Africa are making significant progress (toward ending hunger),” said James Tefft, a senior policy officer with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Some business leaders meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum backed that view.
Economic breakthroughs over the next 15 years will “improve the lives of people in poor countries faster than at any other time in history”, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said in an open letter released Jan. 21.
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Africa, home to seven of the planet’s 10 fastest growing economies, has the youngest population of any continent, the FAO said.
Progress is being made in many countries, but violence, poor governance and political instability are holding others back.
“We tend to see the hunger and food security situation as factors that drive and propel complex crises,” Tefft said.
Even parts of Somalia and Uganda, where violence has hit food production, have seen improvements recently, he said.
Governments need to improve aid to conflict-hit regions to try to stimulate production and employment and help defuse bouts of violence, he said.
Most of Africa’s food is grown by small farmers, and improving their access to credit and inputs such as fertilizers is crucial, Tefft said.
A significant group of African states have met the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of hungry people compared with 1990, including Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, South Africa and Togo.
