At the African Union event on Partnerships to End Hunger in Africa headlining Prime Minister Desalegn of Ethiopia, President Conde of Guinea, UN Secretary-General Gutteres, former President of Nigeria Dr Olusegun Obasanjo, DG FAO Dr Graziano, President IFAD Dr Houngbo, AU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Madame Sacko, among other eminent panelists.
Despite progress made in improving agriculture on the continent as exemplified by such countries as Ethiopia, according to Sec-Gen Gutteres, Africa remains the continent with the highest incidence of hunger due to conflicts and climate change. According to FAO statistics, the number of undernourished people on the continent rose from 200 to 224 million people in 2016, accounting for 25 percent of the 815 undernourished people in the world.
Africa needs to work hard to solve this eminently solvable problem because it has the basis to do this. But to get there we must deal with our remaining conflicts and raise our conversation on climate change and its impacts. We must manage better our climate risks.
The good news I shared is that the AU has created an institution, the African Risk Capacity, that helps countries manage extreme weather events through insurance transferring some of the risks to capital markets.
The ARC has already paid out $36 million to 4 countries to manage drought events, supporting over 2 million people and 1 million livestock.
Let's work hard, let's work sustainably, and let's build innovative mechanisms to solve Africa's hunger problem.
Africa has what it takes to solve its problems, but the continent must deploy its assets appropriately. More action, less talk!!!
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