Call for African leaders to champion fight on hunger

Dear African Leaders,

Ending hunger has been one of the greatest challenges of our times and the devastating events from the past two years have worsened food insecurity.

In 2021, a staggering 278-million Africans – one in five people – were affected by malnutrition. The invasion of Ukraine has further exacerbated these conditions. Back-to-back emergencies, aggravated by climate change, conflict, and a pandemic, are affecting people across our continent. Many now face starvation, children are not getting the nutrients they need to grow to their full potential, and yearon-year droughts have caused failed harvests, making it hard for African farmers to grow food and for the continent to become self-sufficient.

The good news is that immediate action by you can make a difference.

In 2014, African leaders developed a framework – the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) – to enhance agricultural production. However, right now we desperately need you to meet your commitments for the future of the continent. The G20 Summit and COP27 are taking place in a few weeks and achieving global cooperation on food security would be a major win.

Ahead of them, we are calling on you to urgently act to: increase the share of domestic agriculture expenditure on adaptation to be in line with CAADP commitments, such as improving social safety nets, investing in more dietary diverse food systems, and securing access to irrigated land; expand the African Emergency Food Production Facility to reach a total of 30-million farmers to boost their access to agricultural fertilizers, and allow them to produce food urgently; pledge to stop rising food prices by keeping them and agricultural markets open and guard against unjustified restrictive measures on food and agriculture exports; reduce reliance on food imports by investing in domestic production, agricultural adaptation, and increasing agricultural output in a sustainable manner.

Act now so that everyone across our beautiful continent can have enough food to live and thrive. With hope,

Nomzamo Mbatha, Ameyau Debrah, Esther Chungu, Thandi Vundamina, Natasha

Vandermaas, Darkovibes, Berla Mundi, Sarkodie, Slap Dee, Gyakie, Sabrina Dhowre

Elba