In a statement released on Tuesday, at the conclusion of the high-level Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue, in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the FAO stated that building resilience is one of the agency’s priorities in Africa, and is key to meeting the challenge of feeding over two billion by 2050.
In a statement released on Tuesday, at the conclusion of the high-level Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue, in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the FAO stated that building resilience is one of the agency’s priorities in Africa, and is key to meeting the challenge of feeding over two billion by 2050.
Small-scale food producers and their families, says the UN agency, are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, but they have always been innovators: "What they need are policies that protect them and increase their resilience to climate change”, Helen Semedo, FAO's Deputy Director-General, told the conference. “They need access to information, technology, and investment, and they should be brought to the conversation on innovation".
According to the latest FAO data, hunger is on the rise in almost all parts of Africa, and the continent has the highest prevalence of undernourishment in the world, at almost 20 percent.
The situation, which is attributed mainly to conflict and climate change, is particularly acute in Eastern nations, where almost one-third of the population struggles to find enough to eat.
Read more at: UN News Centre
A farmer near the town of Kisumu in Kenya tills his land. (file 2015) (Photo Credit: UN News Centre)
