The Senior Advisor on Programme Development to the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Mr. Martin
Bwalya, has said that support for under-5 children and mothers as one of the
dynamics of achieving zero hunger on the continent by 2025, reports
NaijaAgroNet.
Bwalya said this at the formal launch of the Zero Hunger
Report 2025 by NEPAD in conjunction with Pardee Center for International
Futures in Pretoria, South Africa, outlining some conditions that must be met in
order for Africa to realise this goal.
As said by him, the demand side on agriculture produce is
increasing access, including incomes, consumer subsidies, prices, school
feeding programmes, support to under-5 children and mothers, as well as
pregnant women.
This, he said will not happen without the supply side which
is productivity and production by way of expansion of cropland, yield increase,
livestock heads and reduction of post-harvest losses.
Bwalya pointed out that overall, the food availability needs
to be increased by 437 million metric tonnes by 2025 or 47 per cent of current demand.
“To do this requires cropland to increase by 1.5 per cent;
crop yields need to increase by 3.2 per cent, and livestock head size needs to
increase by 5.8 per cent year,” he said.
Insisting that in order for Africa to attain its goal by
2025, a wide range of actions by different actors to bring about the necessary
substantial change in the dynamics of demand and supply is requisite, just as any
efforts to eliminate hunger will have to factor in robust risk assessments,
including climate change.
Corroborating Bwalya, the Regional Director for World Food
Programme in Johannesburg, Chris Nikoi, emphasized that “If we continue on the
current trajectory, we will not be able to achieve the Malabo Declaration
target of ending hunger by 2025 and eliminating child stunting. Conditions for
success include political will, as well as addressing the challenges of the
impact of climate change and weather shocks.”
Pix: Senior Advisor on Programme Development to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Mr. Martin Bwalya