Food insecurity still a big challenge for Eastern Africa- experts warn

Experts have warned that the Eastern Africa region is still facing a big challenge of food insecurity which, if not dealt with, risks to further escalate.

Speaking during the opening ceremony for the 18th annual meeting of the Multidisciplinary Team - FAO Subregional Office for Eastern Africa at Speke Resort Hotel in Munyonyo, the Minister for Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze said whereas the IGAD region is rich in diversity, endowed with vast agricultural potential that significantly contributes to its GDP and overall economy, this potential is tempered by stark realities as the region remains one of the most food-insecure areas globally.

“Over 3 30 million people are currently experiencing acute food insecurity, a situation exacerbated by climate change, conflict, and economic instability. This fragility manifests in rising food prices, malnutrition, and a lack of resilience against shocks—be they environmental, economic, or social,” Tumwebaze said.

“We must acknowledge that much of our agricultural production is still subsistence-based. The challenges we face such as land degradation, water scarcity, pests and disease and insufficient access to markets — hinder our ability to fully harness our potential.”

Speaking during the same meeting, the Assistant to Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Africa, Haile-Gabriel Abebe said the Eastern Africa region presents a unique spectrum where almost all the drivers of hunger, malnutrition and poverty intersect, and have compounding impact on agrifood systems transformation and rural development.

“The countries in the region continue to grapple with the impacts of extreme climate variability, transboundary pests and diseases, conflicts and massive destabilization. The vulnerability and fragility of the social, economic and environment systems continue to make matters worse – agrifood and livelihood systems are at the center of this interplay,” Abebe said.

He said one of the biggest contributors to the challenge is the fact that most farmers are smallholders.

“Unless we helped smallholder farmers, we will not solve anything since these face a lot of challenges. They don’t have access to improved seeds which means low productivity, they lack markets that when they produce more, they have nowhere to sell and the next season they won’t produce, they depend a lot on hand held hoes which undermines the ability to cultivate more, environmental constraints like droughts and floods are more frequent. All this impact on small holder farmers. We need to find a way solving this cyclic situation.”

“What we are doing as FAO is transformation of agri-systems, not just the production but the entire value chain for it to become more efficient, more resilient and more inclusive.”

Uganda’s Agriculture Minister, Frank Tumwebaze said there is need to come together to identify innovative strategies and collaborative approaches to enhance agricultural productivity, improve food systems, and build resilience within our communities.

“Our collective efforts must focus on empowering smallholder farmers, promoting sustainable practices, and leveraging technology to create more efficient and resilient food systems. In order to structure our interventions, I would like to emphasize the need to develop a Post-Malabo Agenda that addresses sustainable Agri-food systems.”