Rethinking Africa’s Food Security.
With the increasingly challenge posed by climate change, Africa’s food systems are under pressure as the global population expected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030.
A limited, and reducing, supply of natural resources should be safeguarded. And the livelihoods of billions who work along the agricultural value chain are at stake.
The challenge at hand is unprecedented. Making our food systems more sustainable will depend on innovative tools and approaches being developed and deployed around the world.
According to Mandla Nkomo, Agrofood Specialist from Zimbabwe “Climate smart agriculture or conservation farming approach is the way to go because from the looks of things climate change is here to stay and we need to adapt and respond to it.”
In order to be economically sustainable, these innovations must provide incomes and create jobs. And to be socially sustainable, they must include poor and vulnerable communities and reduce levels of hunger and malnutrition.
We also need to protect and preserve our natural resource and to be environmentally sustainable, they must help us safeguard water, soil and air quality while minimising greenhouse gas emissions, and food loss and waste.
Sustainable food systems are interconnected and represent the full agri-value chain, from pre-production and production to supply chains and consumption.
Pre-production stage includes how genetic resources are conserved and used to improve the quality and productivity of domesticated crops and livestock for the future. It also includes innovations in agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer or crop protection products.
In the production stage, farmers must contend with the myriad challenges involved in growing and harvesting, including pests and disease, severe and unpredictable weather, food loss management and fluctuating market conditions.
It is projected that 60 per cent more food will be needed by 2050, yet current production efforts are falling short of this target and global hunger levels are on the rise again after decades of progress.
This is in addition to the two billion people already suffering from malnutrition globally today.
There is also the supply chain stage were steps are taken to deliver food from the farmer to the consumer. Transformed into sellable goods, these products can be processed, packaged and stored before eventually being transported to market.
Post-harvest food loss is an especially important issue across the developing world, where the infrastructure, energy grids and transport systems are often poor or missing. According to Food and Agriculure Organisation (FAO)In Africa, more than 40 per cent of food losses occur post-harvest and during processing.
This can be corrected through adopting innovative programmes across the supply chain to stem these losses and add value to agricultural goods along the way.
Food system does not only capture how something is grown; it also includes how a food is cooked, eaten and disposed of by consumers. A series of decisions are made by each of us during consumption which have broader implications to our food and nutrition security, the well-being of our communities and to the wider environment and natural resource base.
Some high-income countries spend less than 10 per cent of income on buying food while others, mostly in Africa and Asia, spend more than 40 per cent. Likewise, while some countries are facing obesity epidemics, others suffer from the impacts of undernutrition.
As we mark #WorldFoodSafetyDay2021, let us rethink our continent’s food security.
Chopped by
