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Table 3.6 indicates that, taking the period of 1989-91
as base year = 100, the index of food production per capita in Africa was declining
during the years indicated for all sub-regions except for North Africa and,
to a small extent, West Africa. The same situation holds for the negative average
annual percentage growth in food production for all subregions except for the
same two sub-regions. This explains why most African countries have depended
on food aid, and confirms their state of vulnerability in terms of food security.
| Table 3.6 Food production per capita in Africa |
|
|
| Source: JES-Preparation WSSD 2001 and Assessment of Progress
on Sustainable Development in Africa Since Rio 1992,UNEP |
Food insecurity results in: malnutrition and increased infant mortality rates;
a heightened risk of contracting infectious diseases; ecologically and environmentally
destructive coping strategies; migration; heightened dependency on aid; and
stunted economic growth (IPCC 1998, USDA/ERS 2000). Estimates of undernourishment
indicated that, in 1996-98, 792 million people in the developing world and 34
million in the developed world were undernourished. The data in Table
3.7 indicate the level of undernourishment in Africa (FAO 2000).
| Table 3.7 Food and nourishment in Africa (1996-98) |
| Sub-region (countries) |
Food availability |
Prevalence of undernourishment |
Depth of undernourishment |
| Ave. per capita dietary energy supply (kcal/day) |
Proportion population undernourished (%) |
Number of undernourished (millions) |
Average food deficiency (kcal/person) |
| |
| Northern Africa (6) |
3 055 |
8* |
10.7* |
183 |
 |
| Central Africa (6) |
1 898 |
50 |
38.5 |
344 |
|
| Eastern Africa (7) |
1 833 |
42 |
52.2 |
359 |
|
| Southern Africa (9) |
1 736 |
45 |
28.6 |
302 |
|
| Western Africa (14) |
2 570 |
16 |
33.0 |
238 |
|
| IOC (2)* |
2 475 |
23* |
3* |
245 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
*Note: Data for the undernourished people in Northern Africa
have doubled because of the poor situation in Sudan, and the same is applicable
in the IOC with respect to Madagascar.
Source: Extracted from Report of FAO Committee on World Food Security-Assessment
of the World Food Security Situation, 2000 |
In sub-Saharan Africa in 1996-98, more than 34 per cent of the region's population
was undernourished; some 185.9 million people experienced an average food deficit
of 291 kcal/day. In this region, GNP/capita was US$297 against US$1 205 in the
developed world (FAO 2000). Sub-Saharan Africa has been identified as the region
which is most vulnerable to food security, and the only region which shows increases
in all indicators of food insecurity. Furthermore, the high incidence of HIV/AIDS
in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reduce agricultural production and productivity,
and constraints in financial resources will limit commercial imports, leading
to declining per capita consumption and, ultimately, to further undernourishment
and the risk of famine (USDA/ERS 2001).
In sub-Saharan Africa, domestic food production accounts for about 80 per cent
of consumption (USDA/ERS 2000), in a region where 4 out of every 10 Africans
live in conditions of increasing poverty (ECA 1999). Farmers and pastoralists
are vulnerable to food insecurity because they produce too little, and do not
have enough food reserves. They usually have meagre savings and few other possible
sources of income. They are more vulnerable to environmental change.
Macro-economic stresses, such as the transition to cash economies, and the
penetration by global markets into local economies and the attendant structural
changes, further serve to weaken the efficacy of traditional coping mechanisms,
and exacerbate vulnerability to food insecurity. Natural hazards and armed conflict
present two of the greatest obstacles to achieving necessary coping objectives;
that is, increasing agricultural output while seeking additional security through
alternative forms of income and stability (FAO 2000a).
