The Food Crisis In Sub-Saharan Africa
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Date
1997-05
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Food is the prime sustainer of human life. Yet, no other region in the world finds itself so
haunted by food insecurity. While Latin America's per capita food production is rising and
population growth rates decreasing, exactly the reverse is true of Africa. Whereas health
improvements elsewhere are recorded, drought and famine continue to impair the health of
Sub-Sahara's enormous populations, particularly its children and elderly.
By 1985. some 150 million African - more than a third of the region's population - depended
partially or totally on imported food. Even currently, the World Bank estimates 60% of
these human lives as consumers of fewer calories than required for normal life. This helps
to explain why 5 million children in Africa die every year and another 5 million are crippled
permanently by malnutrition and hunger. If this essay will expose the depth of the food
crisis, in order to trigger useful responses from its readers, then its purpose will not have
been in vain.
This Essay seeks to address the complex question. What has gone wrong in Africa? It does
so from one, but nevertheless vital angel: The Food and Agricultural sector. Space and time
have restricted me to a summary discussion of the defects in the structures and systems of
this sector typical of Sub-Saharan Africa; and also the factors judged to be responsible for
people's inaccessibility to adequate food supplies.
I selected Kenya as a case study of specific constraints that block achieving food security.
A series of significant issues were then underlined as crucial to Kenya's food security.
It is important to note that this essay claims neither strict professional nor exhaustive
treatment of the topic. For instance, no marine food sources were discussed, statistical
computations and inferences are minimal. Specifically, the scope of this project has sought
to be informative on the need to transform structures, factors and systems that render food
security an illusion for Africa.
Basically, the research design (method of data collection and analysis) is largely random.
This means that when referring to Sub-Saharan Africa, every country within this population
(region) has the same or equal change of being considered as a case for reference. South
Africa and Nigeria are not components of the population. Even in the case of Kenya, all
data is provided on a random basis.
The data for the research project was all gathered and summarised either as deductions from
already published researches, documents or papers; or as personal perceptions and syntheses
on the subject. Tables and figures in the text were borrowed from sources given in
footnotes.
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Keywords
The Rural Agriculture., Farming in Sub-Saharan Africa, Food Security