Africa is the hungriest —Hamdok
Regardless of achievements in economic growth, Africa remains the hungriest continent with nearly 300 million people who go hungry almost everyday.
This was revealed by Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) during the opening ceremony for the three day Fourth Climate Change for Development in Africa (CCDAIV).
As if going hungry is not already enough problem, Africa spends between US$40 billion and US$50 billion annually in importing agricultural products despite the continent being endowed with enormous resources such as unutilized arable land, fresh water resources and human capital to produce sufficient food.
The hunger is attributed to the fact that African farming systems largely depend on rain-fed agriculture and environmental stability, which makes them sensitive to rainfall variability and vulnerable to impacts of climate change.
According to Hamdok, agriculture remains the single most important sector in many African countries accounting for at least 30 percent of national incomes, employing around 75 percent of the population and providing their livelihoods, as well as forming the bulk of export revenue.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Fifth Assessment report says that Africa will need to brace for hard times ahead as agriculture productivity will deteriorate further owing to increase in global temperatures.
However, all does not look gloomy as there is a possibility that Africa can turn climate change challenges into opportunities that enhance capacity to produce sufficient food, and improve the agriculture sector.
“Innovative actions are needed to do this. Improved agricultural sector will not only help Africa feed its people, it will also create rural jobs to deter rural urban migration and accelerate the pace of Africa’s economic transformation to inclusive development,” said Hamdok.
In her speech which was delivered by Olushola Olayide, Chairperson of the Africa Union Commission (AUC) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said it is high time that African countries started looking into ways of turning climate problems into opportunities by using climate data to enable them produce enough food.
Dlamini-Zuma asked the delegates to use the conference as a platform for sharing ideas, visions and experiences to help Africa feed itself.
