Report: Poverty, Hunger, Malnutrition Still Challenge in Africa
The Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR), released on Tuesday has stated that African countries are still facing challenges in terms of reducing poverty, eliminating hunger and malnutrition.
The report also stressed that policymakers need to continue to refine policies, improve institutions and increase investments to sustain and accelerate the pace of growth as well as its inclusivity or broadness.
According to the report, most countries in the continent presently considered as low income would transit to middle income within the next 15 years, adding that all but one of the countries would be middle income by 2050.
The ATOR, released by the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS), a program facilitated by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), examined the current and future trends likely to shape the trajectory of African economies.
As the second-fastest growing region in the world, it stated that Africa had enjoyed robust economic growth in recent years.
“However, that progress has not been enough to make up for the lost decades of economic stagnation that preceded the recent recovery. And secondly, the benefits of this growth have not trickled down to the wider population. Today too many people experience poverty and food scarcity.
“While the recent growth performance is encouraging, African counties still face major challenges in terms of reducing poverty and eliminating hunger and malnutrition.
“This report shows that policymakers need to continue to refine policies, improve institutions and increase investments to sustain and accelerate the pace of growth as well as its inclusivity or broadness—and the outcomes of their decisions can be the difference between persistent poverty and future shared prosperity for many of Africa’s most vulnerable populations,” IFPRI Director for Africa, Ousmane Badiane stated.
The report also predicted that Africa, south of the Sahara, was projected to experience more sustained economic growth in GDP per capita between now and 2030 and 2050. Also, it projected that by 2050, climate change will result in a 25 per cent increase in cereal prices compared with a no climate change scenario.
“Trends that are likely to influence the trajectory of
African economies include: More volatile food and energy prices; rapid urbanisation, increasing incomes, and the rise of a middle class; rapid increase in a young population entering the labor force; greater climate variability; and agriculture as the largest source of employment.
“African diets are changing in response to rapid urbanisation and the rise of a middle class. Fifty per cent of Africa’s population is projected to live in urban areas by 2020. Processed food now represents a significant share of food purchases, even for the rural poor. Diets have also diversified beyond grains into horticulture, dairy, livestock, fish, and pulses.