19 million in W’Africa face hunger – World Bank

While as many as 19 million people in West Africa’s sahel region live with the threat of hunger and malnutrition, about 400 million hectares of land in the region remain uncultivated, the World Bank has said.

The World Bank said this in a report released on Thursday.

It also stated that Africa has the capacity to feed itself and earn a lot foreign exchange if it implements the right policies in agriculture and trade.

The report said that Africa’s farmers could potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crises if countries in the continent remove cross-border restrictions on  food trade within the region.

According to the bank, the continent will also generate an extra $20bn in yearly earnings if its leaders can agree to dismantle trade barriers that blunt more regional dynamism.

The report titled, “Africa Can Help Feed Africa: Removing barriers to regional trade in food staples”, said the World Bank expected demand for food in Africa to double by the year 2020 as people increasingly abandon the countryside for the cities.

The bank urged African leaders to improve trade so that food could move more freely between countries and from fertile areas to those where communities are suffering food shortages.

According to the report, rapid urbanisation will challenge the ability of farmers to ship their cereals and other foods to consumers when the nearest trade market is just across a national border.

It said with many African farmers effectively cut off from the high-yield seeds and affordable fertilisers and pesticides needed to expand their crop production, the continent had turned to imports to meet its growing needs in staple foods.

Speaking on the report, World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Mr. Makhtar Diop, said, “Africa has the ability to grow and deliver good quality food to put on the dinner tables of the continent’s families.

“However, this potential is not being realised because farmers face more trade barriers in getting their food to market than anywhere else in the world. Too often borders get in the way of getting food to homes and communities which are struggling with too little to eat.”

The report noted that only five per cent of all cereals is imported by African countries come from other African countries while huge tracts of fertile land, around 400 million hectares, remain uncultivated and yields remain a fraction of those obtained by farmers elsewhere in the world.

For World Bank’s Lead Economist for Africa and principal author of the report, Mr. Paul Brenton, the key challenge for the continent is how to create a competitive environment in which governments embrace credible and stable policies that encourage private investors and businesses to boost food production across the region.