Africa is the second-largest continent, with hungry people estimated to be around 257 million. The numbers continue to rise due to certain factors like conflict and population growth. Hunger in Africa is hidden and also chronic, resulting from the absence of food security.
Hunger is such a global problem that its elimination became one of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). Freedom from hunger is one of the fundamental human rights, and attaining this objective might help facilitate Africa’s growth and development.
Poverty is the most prevalent cause of hunger in Africa, with more Africans living on less than one dollar a day while residing majorly in rural areas. Simply put, the lack of resources like money to purchase food leads to both hidden and chronic hunger.
Accordingly, hunger also leads to poverty, seeing as hungry people underperform at work. As Africa continues to witness slow or stagnant economic growth, it has begun to affect even people living in urban areas. Presently, urban food insecurity is a major developmental problem.
African governments need to create an enabling environment that will attract both local and foreign investments. That way, people can earn a living through these opportunities. Investors, too, should be assured of the security of their lives and enterprises, which is often hard to accomplish in a conflict-torn part of the continent.
Besides the role of state governments in eradicating hunger in Africa, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders have a role to play through their hunger relief programs. Through the joint effort of everyone, soon we’ll be able to leave no kid hungry again in Africa.
Ways Hunger Reliefs Programs Can Help
The following are ways non-governmental organizations like Food for Life Global (FFLG) and civil societies can help eradicate hunger through their hunger relief programs.
Sending Food Reliefs
All hunger relief programs provide food relief to areas with an alarming hunger rate in Africa. However, besides providing food, they also send humanitarian assistance to places in crisis.
During emergencies such as after a natural disaster occurs, people living in that area will need relief assistance. Hunger relief programs can include food vouchers, cash transfers, or in-kind food.
For instance, after the Ebola crisis, most families in Sierra Leone were helped with cash transfers to buy food so they can get back to their feet. Mothers were also encouraged to join a savings group to raise money and start farming or small businesses to improve their financial condition.
Boosting Incomes by Improving Agriculture
Most impoverished people in Africa depend on farming as their source of livelihood. These farmers often live far from major markets where they can easily make enough profit selling their produce.
Farmers in Africa face challenges such as a lack of resources, necessary skills, and access to credit, which affects their harvest. NGOs and civil society organizations can work with African governments and the UN to support smallholders with the skills and resources they require to become successful.
For instance, NGOs can replicate what USAID did for Kenyan smallholder farmers, which helped them compete with large growers. Through the skills they gained from various programs organized, they could minimize post-harvest losses, boost their crop production, and connect to markets.
And the best part is, some are presently producing in a surplus amount that they sell to the UN World Food Program. These foods go into feeding people in drought-prone areas.
One way to address food insecurity is to educate people on proper hygiene, sanitation, and nutrition to stay healthy. Lack of poor sanitation, safe drinking water, and proper hygiene practices can lead to chronic intestinal infections and waterborne diseases, preventing farmers from going to their fields and children from reaching their potential.
Africans need to adopt the right behaviors like washing their hands before and after food preparation to ensure good hygiene. NGOs and other stakeholders can organize trainings for people to learn to share these responsibilities. In some places where its been implemented, this practice has changed the traditional role of some family members, providing an equitable distribution of household roles between men and women.
For instance, some men in Zimbabwe now collect water for family use which was previously a woman’s duty. They’ve also built handwashing stations and latrines while educating others on the need to use ash and soap with clean water to regularly and thoroughly wash their hands.
Empowering Women in Agriculture
Government and other stakeholders involved need to empower women to go into agriculture to ensure there’s enough food on the continent. In Uganda, women are starting to challenge traditional gender roles by acquiring goat herding skills to generate income. Goat herding was traditionally a man’s role in the country.
When women are empowered to start businesses, their families will have sufficient funds to feed well. Besides sending food relief to these countries with high rate of hunger and starvation, NGOs and civil society organizations can support and empower women to go into agriculture and expand their businesses to save for their kids’ future.
Preparing for Disaster and Managing Natural Resources
Countries that depend on natural resources as a source of their income need to learn about sustainable resource management. Poor management of resources like land due to overgrazing by livestock can lead to farmland degradation, making it hard for farmers to generate income from their farms.
NGO’s should include disaster management education in their hunger relief programs. There’s a need to enlighten communities on the effects of natural disasters and how best to prepare for them. Pastoralists and farmers can access opportunities and tools to enable them and their communities to build resilience to withstand crises like droughts when they occur.
How to Join the Fight Against Hunger
While the world hunger relief organization (FFL), the UN, state governments, NGOs, and civil society groups are fighting to eradicate hunger in Africa and the rest of the world, you also have a role to play. The following are ways you can join the fight to end hunger.
1. Be Informed
You’ll need to stay informed on the level of hunger and starvation in some African communities due to war or natural disasters. Consider getting acquainted with the global goal and measures to eradicate world hunger, especially in Africa. That way, you’ll know how best to join the fight.
2. Donate
International food relief organizations like Food for Life Global (FFLG) urgently need funding to feed millions of malnourished African children. You can donate through their website here to enable them to do more.
3. Lend Your Voice
You can join the fight against ending hunger in Africa by lending your voice to this cause. Let your families, friends, and leaders know through your social network accounts that you’re doing your part to end poverty and hunger in Africa. That way, they might become interested in joining this noble cause.
Conclusion
Although so much effort has been made to eradicate hunger in Africa with visible results, the hunger rate in the continent continues to rise. Until the problem is tackled from the root, the menace will continue to exist.
NGOs and civil society groups need to partner with world organizations and state governments to effectively address the causes of this problem while discovering new ways to increase its action against hunger in Africa. The ideas shared above can help to eradicate hunger in no distant time if effectively implemented.
