- Title: KENYA: Africa must end hunger to sustain growth: UN
- Date: 15th May 2012
- Summary: BUNAGOK, SOUTHERN SUDAN (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SESAME CROP FAMILY TILLING GROUND WOMEN CARRYING WATER WALKING THROUGH MAIZE FIELDS
- Embargoed: 30th May 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Economy
- Reuters ID: LVA6O9B302U3QEQZYUHNACHC611K
- Story Text: Africa Needs to reduce extreme poverty and debilitating hunger in order to sustain its economic boom, UNDP says in a report on the continent's development.
Africa needs to boost agricultural productivity and address the debilitating hunger that affects 27 percent of its population if it is to sustain its economic boom, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Tuesday( May 15).
African economies grew at an average of more than 5 percent during the past decade with many countries benefiting from surging commodity prices, as well as growth in services, construction and agriculture.
But the character of the growth has done little to reduce extreme poverty and hunger. More than 40 percent of African children under five are malnourished, which means they suffer irreversible mental and physical disabilities, the UNDP said.
Africa is the second fastest growing region after Asia, yet 48 percent of people were found to be living in poverty in 2008, compared to just 14 percent in East Asia and the Pacific.
Africa continues to be a net importer of food despite an abundance of fertile land and water.
In its first Africa Human Development Report, "Towards a Food Secure Future", the UNDP called for more investment in agriculture to ensure sustained growth and poverty reduction, as well as improved development in preventing droughts.
"What is changing is that these extremes happen more often and with greater intensity, so we should be able to be planning resilience approaches to cope with these for the medium term and as we transition to better systems more drought resilience etcetera, and as we respond to crisis now, lets build in the developmental aspect," sid Helen Clarke administrator at the UNDP.
Ghana became the first Sub-Saharan African country to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015 partly by focusing on policies that encouraged smallholder cocoa farmers to boost output, the report said.
It also recommended policies that boost nutrition, such as school feeding programmes and fortification of food with vitamins and iodine, and increase people's ability to withstand shocks such as drought.
"Its not just about food production as important as that is its about a range of other issues. Its about the ability to sustain food production through the climate cycle, which is becoming more erratic and extreme, so more adaptation to that is required. Food security is also about nutrition not just buying enough food but enough of the right kind of food," Clarke said.
The report said investment in agricultural productivity was important not only for reducing hunger but also in creating jobs for Africa's rapidly growing population, which is predicted to double to 2 billion by 2050.
Agriculture could provide jobs for many young people.
"The insecurity will be high if we have a large number of people that are unemployed if we have a large number of people who are food insecure, if we have a large number of people that are unhealthy and sick," said Tegegnework Gettu, Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director bureau for Africa at UNDP.
According to the Africa report, two-thirds of working Africans make a living off the land. The report says policies that promote agricultural productivity stimulate economic growth.
This helps pull people out of poverty through job and income creation, increasing the capacity to save and invest in the future. These changes, in turn, enable a more sustainable use of land and water resources - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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