African nations leading the way on ‘food systems transformation’: UN
New Delhi: António Guterres at New York, USA – while addressing the start of a high-level policy dialogue at UN Headquarters in New York, part of the Africa Dialogue Series 2022, convened to strengthen resilience in food supplies across the continent, at a time when decades of progress on hunger are being reversed.
Guterres said for too long that nutrition, food security, conflicts, climate change, ecosystems, and health have been treated as separate concerns, “but these global challenges are deeply interconnected. Conflict creates hunger. The climate crisis amplifies conflict”, and systemic problems are just getting worse.
“After more than a decade of improvements, one in five Africans were undernourished in 2020, while 61 million African children are affected by stunting. Women and girls bear the brunt, and when food is scarce and they are often the last to eat,” Guterres noted.
Guterres on the Climate crisis said that “African farmers are on the frontlines of our warming planet, from rising temperatures to droughts and floods. Africa needs a massive boost in technical and financial support to adapt to the impact of the climate emergency and provide renewable electricity across the continent. Developed countries must deliver on their $100 billion climate finance commitment to developing countries, with the help of international financial institutions, so African countries, in particular, can invest in a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, on the tide of renewable energy.”
(Vinayak)
