More than 280 million people face malnutrition in Africa: FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel has said that the deepening hunger crisis in Africa has left more than 280 million people facing malnutrition in the continent.

 Haile-Gabriel made the remarks at the FAO Regional Conference for Africa in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to discuss solutions to the growing hunger crisis.

The 32nd session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa (ARC32) was attended by more than 50 government ministers across Africa and representatives from the observer countries, donor organisations, civil society and the private sector.

"Collectively, we have learned to do things differently, to go digital like never before, and to quickly forge new partnerships to overcome threats," he said.

"That same agility and spirit of collaboration is needed now for the silent pandemic of poverty, hunger and undernourishment and extreme vulnerabilities to shocks in Africa."

He said even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were more than 280 million undernourished people in Africa.

"In 2020, the region recorded the sharpest rise in the prevalence of undernourishment covering 21 percent of the population which is more than double that of any region,"  he said.