Committed to feeding Africa

MANY countries face periodic food crises caused by droughts and other natural calamities, wars and displacement of populations, poor agricultural practices, high material prices and an overdependence on imported foodstuff. The African continent is no stranger to many of these problems. In fact, even as it is forecast to be the world’s next biggest economy, the region remains struggling with food insecurity. More than 47% of the people living in sub-Sahara Africa subsist on just $1.25 per day.

“Addressing food security is fruitless without action,” according to DuPont Pioneer president Paul Schickler. “Since we commissioned the first Global Food Security Index (GFSI) last year, experts have used it as a roadmap to identify critical food security issues and make better informed decisions, develop collaborative partnerships and create effective local policies to address countryspecific needs.”

The GFSI is an interactive statistical tool that calculates the root causes of hunger and how to address them. Developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, it deepens the dialogue on food security by examining the three core issues of food affordability, availability and quality, across a set of 105 developed and developing countries worldwide. Each of the three categories is further subdivided into 25 individual indicators that evaluable programmes, policies or practices that influence food security. By using a common language, the GFSI allows governments, and private and public sector entities to work together to make better informed decisions that drive sustainable results at a local level.

Solutions to close the global food gap

Feeding the global population was the burning issue tackled at the 3rd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security and Climate Change, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 2013 and hosted by the governments of South Africa and the Netherlands. If trends continue as they are, by 2040, Africa’s labour force will rival that of China. Yet, at present, the continent is only producing 10% of the world’s farm-produced crops and goods, despite having 60% of the Earth’s uncultivated arable land.

The interim version of the World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future, produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank, was released at the conference. “Over the next several decades, the world faces a grand challenge at the intersection of food security, development and the environment,” said Dr Andrew Steer, WRI president. “To meet human needs, we must close the gap between the food we’ll need and the food available. But, we must do so in a way that creates opportunities for the rural poor, limits clearing of forests, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.”

Although boosting crop and livestock productivity on existing agricultural land is critical to saving forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it’s unlikely the food gap will be closed through yield increases alone. The report finds that crop yields would need to increase by 32% more over the next four decades than they did in the previous four to avoid more land clearing. Fortunately, additional solutions are available. The report offers several ‘menu items’ for achieving a sustainable food future, available for free download on the WRI website.

Think before throwing