How to transform Africa’s food system
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Ogega, Obed
Korsten, Lise
Oti-Boateng, Peggy
Odongo, Dorine
Thorn, Jessica
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
In 2021, one in five people in Africa was affected by hunger, and the continent had the highest prevalence of undernourished people globally. We argue that food systems in Africa can be more resilient if their development includes climate adaptation. About 64% of the world’s available arable land is in Africa. The continent is also host to a young workforce, and a range of traditional agricultural practices and emerging technologies that can revolutionise food production and trade. Yet, the number of undernourished African people is rising, with an increase from 15.5% to 20.3% between 2010 and 20213. The population in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to almost double by 2050, to reach about 2.1 billion people4, which will further increase demand for food. While efforts are being made to enhance Africa’s food security and resilience, existing food systems have not properly addressed its needs and priorities. We propose five pathways to help shape and transform Africa’s food systems, drawing on ideas discussed at a session at the Adaptation Futures Conference held in October 2023 in Montreal, Canada that was convened by the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence programme. The pathways range from the development of food systems on urban fringes to revamping urban agroforestry policy and practices; reforming land use policies; investing in research, technology, and innovation; and minimizing inequalities in adaptive capacity strengthening.
Date Issued
2024-02-12
Date Acceptance
2024-01-31
Citation
Communications Earth & Environment, 2024, 5
ISSN
2662-4435
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Journal / Book Title
Communications Earth & Environment
Volume
5
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Physical Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Geology
PERIURBAN
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
82
Date Publish Online
2024-02-12