FAO reports reveals that Africa is way short of SDG targets on food security and nutrition

AFRICA is short of meeting the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) food security and nutrition targets set for continent to achieve by 2030 according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

In a recent report titled Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition – Statistics and Trends 2023, the FAO stated that Africa is also far from achieving the Malabo targets of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025. It also highlighted the continent’s alarming statistics on food insecurity and malnutrition that underscored the urgent need for comprehensive action.

According to the report, nearly 282m people in Africa, representing about 20% of the population are undernourished and unable to afford a healthy diet. Also, the report found that the prevalence of stunting among children less than five years of age was 30% in 2022, which remained high despite a substantial improvement during the past two decades.

It read: “The deterioration of the food security situation and the lack of progress towards the World Health Organisation (WHO) global nutrition targets make it imperative for countries to step up their efforts if they are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030.”

In addition, the report stressed that the prevalence of wasting in children in the region remained just below the global estimate of 6.8% in 2022 and was relatively high in all sub regions except southern Africa. Furthermore, the report revealed that the prevalence of anaemia among adult women remains high in Africa, above the global estimate, especially so in western Africa and central Africa.

It added  that despite modest progress in Africa in the reduction of the prevalence of low birth weight during the last two decades, the prevalence of anaemia was still high compared to the global estimate. One other feature of the report was that the prevalence of adult obesity in northern and southern Africa us about twice the global estimate.

However, it stated that the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa is high in eastern Africa, with considerable progress made in central Africa and western Africa since 2012.Furthermorem, the FAO said that over 1bn people or about 78% of Africa's population, are unable to afford a healthy diet, compared with 42% at the global level.

“The average cost of a healthy diet has been increasing over time and was at $3.57 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2021 in Africa, which is much higher than the extreme poverty threshold of $2.15 per person per day. This means that not only the poor but also a large proportion of people defined as non-poor cannot afford a healthy diet in Africa. Western Africa and eastern Africa had the largest cumulative increases in the cost of a healthy diet between 2019 and 2021,” the FAO report added.