How Africa Can Avert Food Crisis Amid Climate Emergency

Climate events, which destroy crops and disrupt food transport, are disproportionately common on the continent. One-third of the world's droughts occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and Ethiopia and Kenya are enduring one of the worst in at least four decades. Countries such as Chad are also being severely impacted by torrential rains and floods.

Food supplies and prices are especially vulnerable to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa because of a lack of resilience to climatic events, food import dependence, and excessive government intervention.

According to the International Monetary Fund, financing, capacity development, and transfer of technology and know-how will be key to supporting the policies outlined above. With mounting debt and limits to raising taxes, countries in sub-Saharan Africa will need grants and concessional finance. Development partners can also support resilience-building research and can propagate climate and financial literacy.