A fifth of people in Africa are suffering from chronic hunger. This map shows where the situation is most severe
Chronic hunger affects over 275 million people in Africa. Image: Unsplash/bill wegener
- Around 20% of people in Africa are facing chronic hunger, compared with only 10% globally.
- The situation is worst in Somalia, and ‘very serious’ in seven other countries.
- Russia's war on Ukraine has exacerbated food supply problems, while climate change and the pandemic have also contributed.
278 million people in Africa suffer from chronic hunger. This corresponds to 20 percent of the continent's population. By comparison, ten percent are affected when looked at globally. According to Welthungerhilfe, the main drivers of hunger include wars, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most recently, the Russian attack on Ukraine further exacerbated food supply problems. Even before that though, the situation in many African countries was serious, as this map based on the 2021 World Hunger Index illustrates. The index "annually measures and compares the severity of hunger and malnutrition in the world, different regions and individual countries."
The situation is particularly dire in Somalia, with seven other countries rated as "very serious" - Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, the Central African Republic the Comoros and Madagascar. Only a handful of countries can be classified as "low" or "moderate" on the severity scale.
What is the World Economic Forum on Africa?
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
Africa
Related topics:
Forum Stories newsletter
Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.
More on Geographies in DepthSee all
Braz Baracuhy
December 19, 2024
