Hunger continues to rise in Africa, despite the continent's ambitious goal of eradicating it by 2025. At the same time, Africa's food import bill has shown a persistent upward trend.

These are the two major issues at the forefront as the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS Forum) takes place in Kigali, Rwanda.

The event runs from September 2-6 under the theme "Innovate, Accelerate and Scale: Delivering food systems transformation in a digital and climate era.” It is expected to attract approximately 5,000 delegates from across the food systems ecosystem, according to the event's organisers.

Africa has the highest percentage of its population facing hunger—20.4 percent—compared to 8.1 percent in Asia, 6.2 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.3 percent in Oceania, according to the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

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Globally, around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in every eleven individuals. In Africa, an estimated 298.4 million people were affected, translating to one in every five residents on the continent.

In the 2014 Malabo Declaration, under the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), African Union Member States committed to ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025. However, the fourth CAADP Biennial Review Report for 2021-2023 revealed that the continent is far from achieving this goal. While the benchmark score for 2023 was set at 9.26 out of 10, the continental average score was only 2.9—a clear indication of poor performance.

"This shows that, based on 2023 data, the continent is not on track to meet the target of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025. This trend has persisted since the first biennial review, with only minimal improvements observed,” the report reveals.

Key obstacles to ending hunger and malnutrition in Africa include persistent outbreaks of pests and diseases, the impact of Covid-19, conflicts, and climate change.

Emmanuel Ndayizigiye, Chief Executive Officer of Yalla Yalla Group, a local agribusiness company comprising young Rwandan professionals trained in Israel, China, and South Korea, highlighted that limited or non-existent irrigation is a significant factor contributing to hunger and food insecurity in Africa.

"Irrigation is a major driver of food production and essential for ending hunger on the continent,” Ndayizigiye said. "Having access to irrigation means I can grow crops on all my land whenever I want. If we utilize all our land with the support of irrigation, there will be no hunger in Africa, including Rwanda,” he added, noting that much of the land remains uncultivated or unproductive during the dry season, undermining food production.

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Yalla Yalla Group specialises in agricultural studies, modern crop farming, irrigation system installation, and mechanisation services, among others.

The Growing Food Import Bill

Africa&039;s annual food import bill more than doubled, from $35 billion in 2015 to $75 billion as of January 2023, according to the African Development Bank. The bank attributed this increase to rising food demand and changing consumption habits, with the continent’s net food imports projected to exceed $110 billion by 2025. However, it suggested that these imports could be reduced by boosting local production.

Speaking at the event, Chola Mfula, AUDA-NEPAD Programme Officer for Agribusiness and Investment, warned that Africa's growing food import bill is creating jobs abroad while leaving many African youth unemployed.

"Every time you import something, you are creating jobs for someone else, whether in Asia, Europe, or the Americas. By reversing this trend, we can ensure that Africa’s youth, who need jobs, are employed. If we could internalise that $70 billion [spent on food imports], the impact on our local economies would be substantial,” Mfula said, emphasising the importance of increasing food production efforts within Africa.