250m Africans Live On Empty Stomach Daily, Says AfDB President, Adesina
African Development Bank (AfDB) president, Akinwumi Adesina says about 250 million Africans including children, women and men live on empty stomach on a daily basis.
This revelation was disclosed in an opinion piece titled, ‘It’s time to nourish Africa once and for all’, where Adesina noted that persistent food shortages mean that Africans struggle to put food on the table.
Adesina stated that food systems in Africa were failing to deliver diets that are healthy, affordable, secure and safe for vast swathes of its population, adding that hunger has become a way of life on the continent.
“Almost 250 million men, women and children across the continent go on an empty stomach from dawn to dusk,” he stated.
“According to a 2019 study by the African Union, 56 million children under the age of 5 years are chronically undernourished, and 13 million are at risk of starvation.
“For too long, African countries have failed to make the investments necessary to provide sustainable, healthy diets for their citizens. We cannot go on in this way.
While harping on the effort of the AfDB in ensuring proper nutrition on the continent, Adesina said over the past six years, almost 76 million people have benefited from agricultural technologies for food security through our Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation programme.
“Better nutrition in African countries is the foundation to advance health and well-being, educational attainment, prosperity and equity. It is time to deliver food security at scale and nourish Africa once and for all.”
“Furthermore, Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), which are promoted by the African Development Bank in partnership with other institutions, provide world-class infrastructure to develop competitive value chains and transform rural areas into zones of prosperity,” he said.
“Seven SAPZs have been rolled out in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal and Togo. SAPZs are planned for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. However, much more needs to be done.”
Continuing, Adesina said Africa is home to 65 per cent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land and blessed with abundant natural resources.
“As we build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic, let us close ranks and finally defeat this scourge.”
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