Hunger is the absence of the ability of people or nations to feed themselves, working hand in hand with the poverty level, which may be due to many reasons which lead to lack of food then undernourishment. Africa houses more than six of the top ten hungriest countries in the world, and the exact reflection is on the poverty and poorest list, surprising the Democratic Republic of Congo sits at the center of this list despite having vast resources ranked top in the world (Otekunrin et al., 2020). The instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries in Africa is killing thousands of people every year; Northern Africa shares 6.2% of the hungry level in the content despite being placed on the desert area of Sahara, while the Eastern has a 44% share, prove that it is a matter of management and stability more than other factors. Political instability, growth of population, climatic conditions, and illness in North Africa are turning the hungry and poverty into a continent crisis; millions are suffering at the hands of these factors.
Political instability has led to the break out of civil war and crises year in year out in the Northern part of the continent; coups and revolutions have become a new normal in many countries (Addis & Zhu, 2018). Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya are faced with these civil wars, with the worst now happening in Libya for a long time showing a promising future. But now, changing life projects like the greatest artificial river that could have fed the continent and the world has turned into but a ghost project. This political volatility is taking more from the countries than they can give, and just weeks or months of war and instability, everyone in the country is threatened by starvation. Wars chase away investors, burn down businesses and firms, and soon people cannot go to work, and school is closed, making the situation more dangerous and the future so unpromising. The North African governments and citizens should find ways to do away with the civil wars that happen every election year as this is taking away the shining star of the African continent.
The African population is growing at a high rate, with the youth now forming more than 70% of the people of the total 1.37 billion, which is projected to keep increasing. The governments claim the youth to be their greatest resources, but the system is failing, agriculture and infrastructure are dying in the continent, exposing everyone to the risk of hunger and starvation (Walker, 2016). Lack of enough food buckets despite the vast resource in the continent and now the youth turning the countries to relay in the importation of expensive and unhealthy foods, the world taking advantage of the situation and crisis to manipulate and exploit the continent even more. For Northern Africa to control the starvation of the rapidly growing population, they first need to stabilize Agriculture and make Agribusiness a vital sector of the economy as a war and other crises will not feed the population.
In recent decades, North Africa has been highly affected by climatic changes, with most of the countries located in the driest areas of the Saharan desert. Some parts of Libya even take up to five years before they receive rain. Such prolonged droughts crop failure is a guarantee; parts of Sudan and other countries are also affected by devastating floods killing and displacing many (Waha et al., 2017). Climate failure and global warming rooming over the content t and the world is enough evidence for the countries to feed their people they should turn to other means of production like using underground water like the one found in Libya with the protection of providing the nation and the continent for millions of years. Though such irrigation and tree planting activities to conserve the environment will turn agriculture into the backbone of the economy while saving people from starvation. Climate change is threatening everyone in Africa and the world, and people should take action and reverse the situation while protecting the whole population from the threat of death.
North Africa has become an epicenter of diseases with AIDS, undernourishment, Ebola, malaria, and the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the inability to work and provide for oneself and the family. Inability to produce for one and family disease has turned the hungry issue so severe that the failing government systems cannot manage to provide the continent with the required amount of food and diet (Adeyeye et al., 2021). People go for days and even weeks without eating or drinking any water, which is an issue too because of climate change, relying on resilience waiting for an unpromising future. Africa should not only wait for NGOs or grants to fight these diseases for them, but they should set aside a good part of the budget as diseases rob them of a lot of resources, making the crises even worse and out of control.
In conclusion, until the countries in the Northern and the other parts of Africa take a step in stabilizing Agriculture and doing away with the political crises and instability, food availability and security will only be names people reading on the books. Hungry will keep on striking the continent as climate change remains in jeopardy, threatening the world. The African Union and other economic groups should put away the victimhood mentality and build an Africa that can depend on itself while doing away with the hunger crises.
Annotated Bibliography
Addis, A. K., & Zhu, Z. (2018). The Political Situation, Trends and Geopolitical Implications of Sub-Saharan and North African Countries: Comparative Study. Open Journal of Political Science, 8(02), 108.
The source outlays how political instability has prevented economic growth, leading to hunger issues. It also focuses on how leaders rely on political protest to take power at the cost of the citizens suffering from starvation.
Adeyeye, S. A. O., Ashaolu, T. J., Bolaji, O. T., Abegunde, T. A., & Omoyajowo, A. O. (2021). Africa and the Nexus of poverty, malnutrition and diseases. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1-16.
The paper explores the extent of malnutrition, poverty, and diseases in Africa and their challenges to the continent. It also examines the causes and the solutions been taken to fight and eliminate these challenges.
Otekunrin, O. A., Otekunrin, O. A., Sawicka, B., & Ayinde, I. A. (2020). Three decades of fighting against hunger in Africa: Progress, challenges and opportunities. World Nutrition, 11(3), 86-111.
The article focuses on how the continent has fought to tackle malnutrition and hunger over decades without any sign of success. And categorizing the countries on the poverty level and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Waha, K., Krummenauer, L., Adams, S., Aich, V., Baarsch, F., Coumou, D., … & Schleussner, C. F. (2017). Climate change impacts in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region and their implications for vulnerable population groups. Regional Environmental Change, 17(6), 1623-1638.
The article outlines the effects of climate change in the Northern part of Africa, which is now a hotspot of worse temperatures and heat. These climate changes end up leaving the population more vulnerable.
Walker, R. J. (2016). Population growth and its implications for global security. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 75(4), 980-1004.
The source estimates the population growth in 20 to 30years with almost 97% happening in the developing countries and how this threatens the cases of food security leading to devastating hunger. Africa is at the crisis of this population growth.
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