Food is a necessity for meaningful living and as such an important element for the survival of any living thing. Sub-Saharan Africa as it is today is a vital section of the African continent covering the entire region south of the Sahara spanning through western, eastern, and southern Africa. The region had experienced series of neck-breaking incidents that threatened the survival of some of her people at different times in the past few decades. Even now, this region still confronts series of challenges ranging from civil unrest in Ivory Coast and occasionally, some parts of Nigeria, war in Sudan and Somalia, and an epidemic in Zimbabwe. All these invariably lead to persistent food shortages, and as a result, access to quality food in sub-Saharan Africa is in peril due to the overbearing effects of famine, HIV/AIDS, and crumbling infrastructure.
Firstly, famine remains a prominent factor in the unavailability of food in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. As described by experts, famine refers to “the socio-economic process which causes the accelerated destitution of the most vulnerable, marginal and least powerful groups in the community, to a point where they can no longer, as a group maintain a sustainable livelihood” (Walker). Under this circumstance, food production grows exceedingly slower than population and before long, food insecurity becomes an inevitable bitter pill to swallow for people living under such conditions. In effect, problems such as excess food shortage, starvation, as well as high mortality rate especially children set in. Sub-Sahara Africa currently suffers this kind of harsh economic reality in most of the areas under her coverage because of the socio-economic situation prevalent there-in. History is reple...
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...rder to deliver Africa from the pitiful state in which she finds herself today, most especially poverty, which breeds food insecurity and other vices. It is expected that concrete measures would be put in place and implementation of such would not be neglected towards revamping the continent and setting it forth for greater development comparable to that of Asia and South America.
Works Cited
Devereux, Stephen, Simon Maxwell and eds. Food Security in Sub-Sharan Africa. London: ITDG Publishing, 2001.
Harris, Nancy and ed. At Issue: AIDS in Developing Countries. Farmington Hills: GreenHaven Press, 2003.
Obasanjo, Olusegun, Hans D'Orville and eds. The Challenges of Agricultural Production and Food Security in Africa. Washington D.C.: Taylor and Francis New York Inc, 1992.
Walker, P. Famine Early Warning Systems: Victims and Destitution. London: Earthscan, 1989.
Roland, J. R. J. (1993). Dry land farming in Africa. The Macmillan press Ltd. London .pp.292-294.
One of the largest issues facing the Global South today is food security. In many cases food security is closely associated with agriculture in a specific area. Due to several issues faced by post war agriculture in Sierra Leone a food security issue has arisen leading to income/consumption poverty. One of the issues facing in Sierra Leone is the number of citizens choosing to work in the mining industry as opposed to working in agriculture. Another issue faced by the agriculture industry in Sierra Leone is the displacement of many farm families due to the civil war and the affect it has on food production. The agriculture industry in Sierra Leone also faces this issue of rice importation into the country which lowers the income of farmers. These issues faced by the agriculture sector in Sierra Leone have lead to problems with food security and poverty.
It is easy in first world countries like America to forget that the problems we face are nowhere near as serious as the problems faced by those starving in extremely poor areas throughout the world. While we worry about the unhealthy products we might receive for $5 at McDonald’s, someone in Africa has spent a whole day working, hoping to feed his or her family any scraps of food they can. We also forget how we got here. Our country had to go through a food revolution so that we could produce the amount of food we do today. This included the construction of factories and roads, the development of advanced farming methods and improved seed. We cannot expect Africa to become food independent without a similar revolution. This revolution requires more than just food aid. Currently, the international community has been giving more to places like rural Africa than it has received. This is because we aren’t giving knowledge, or something that lasts. What we have given is temporary and short term. If we invest long term in these poor areas lacking modern knowledge, one day, not too far in the future, places like rural Africa will become contributing members of the international
Spink, Gemma. "AIDS." AVERTing HIV and AIDS. 23 Dec 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
“Africa is failing to keep up with population growth not because it has exhausted its potential, but instead because too little has been invested in reaching that potential.” Paarlberg backs this claim with evidence that India’s food issue was solved with foreign assistance in development and offers that the solution to Africa’s food shortage is also development and farm modernization endorsed by foreign aid.
Bolognesi, Natasha. AIDS in Africa: A Question of Trust. Nature 443.7112 (12 Oct 2006): 626-627. Print.
According to a few world hunger organizations, the five main causes of hunger in the third world are natural disasters, war, the poverty trap, agricultural infrastructure and over-exploitation of resources. Natural disasters such as droughts, floods and storms cause crops to be destroyed or peop...
World Food Programme. (2013). Comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (CFSVA): Uganda. Retrieved from http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp256989.pdf
Worldwide, 870 million people — about one in eight— are hungry. That is nearly three times the population of the United States. It is hard to imagine in the modern world that a country cannot feed its people, but in 1984, the Ethiopian Famine took over one million lives. There were many causes that contributed to the complications faced in Ethiopia. These problems received major attention in the global Community. The famine drastically changed people’s lives because of the lack of food and resources and affected Ethiopia to our present day.
Overall Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty among the region. Poverty will not subside unless these issues are dealt with and improved.
The total area of Uganda being used for agricultural production is increased to 42% in recent time from 24% in 1961. The production of cocoa has increased 57 times compare to the production in 1961. In terms of total planted land, plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes, and maize are the major harvested crops. Since colonial time, cotton production in Uganda decreased significantly and in the meantime, production of coffee, soy beans, and sesame seed has been increased in terms of total harvested areas and production volume. Coffee is the main export item, and it contributes to 50% of foreign earnings. Agricultural input like seed and fertilizer are costly due to high transportation costs, administrative
Food insecurity and poor nutrition is an alarmingly large problem for low income families, especially in developing countries. Many strategies exist to fight this problem, although not many of these address all the factors contributing to it along with all the possible solutions to solve it. In many cases, multiple strategies must correlate and work together so that all the determinants of this issue are addressed and can fight food insecurity from different angles. This essay will discuss the significance of the problem, a range of possible strategies to solve the problem, and go into detail on a select few that will correlate and work together to solve different factors of food insecurity and poor nutrition.
...hat this is the era of accountability and transparency in the running of governmental affairs, the current generation of Africans is enlightened and empowered, and are capable of asking questions about their actions.
Thus, all these problems like poverty, education, transport, health facilities is creating problem for African people to develop and live a healthy life. It is also affecting the economy of the country and therefore government and many other organizations should take steps to look after all these issues for better development of Africa.
Famine has struck parts of Africa several times during the 20th century, and to this day is still going strong. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the average African consumes 2300 kcal/day, less than the global average of 2700 kcal/day. Recent figures estimate that 316 million Africans, or approximately 35 percent of the continent's total population, is undernourished. Although hunger in Africa is hardly new, it now occurs in a world that has more than enough food to feed all its citizens. Moreover, while Africa's population is growing rapidly, it still has ample fertile land for growing food. Hunger therefore reflects not absolute food scarcity but rather people's lack of access to resources—whether at the individual, house-hold, comunity, or national leve that are needed to produce or purchase adequate food supplies. The reasons people cannot obtain enough food are: several different historical patterns of in equality. These patterns include the in equalities between Africa and its former colonisers or contemporary financiers, and between Africa's rich and poor. It also includes in equality between members of the same households, where food and the resources needed to obtain it (such as land and income) are often unevenly distributed between men and women, old and young. Whatever the reasons for food deprivation, when the result is malnutrition it can do damage, increasing diseases such as malaria, rickets, anemia, and perhaps acquired immune deficiency syndrome aka AIDS Mal-nourished children suffer stunted growth and, often, learning problems. Malnourished adults have less energy to work. Over the long term, inadequate nourishment can cast communities into a cycle o...