On Friday, Jose Graziano da Silva, head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency, stated that hunger in Africa can be eradicated by the year 2025. He then added that this can be achieved through the political commitment of all African political leaders and utilization of currently available resources. “We are not talking about sending a man to the moon or something that complicated”, he explained “We have the technology. We have the expertise. We have the things that we need to do it.”

Graziano believes that this goal can be achieved by examining worldwide efforts to alleviate poverty and reach the first United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015. Based on these efforts, Graziano listed three factors that are vital in targeting world hunger.

The first requirement is political will and leadership by leaders of the countries as this effort requires improvement in various aspects including health, nutrition, water supply, etc.

Secondly, Graziano highlighted the importance of agricultural performance and access to food. Statistics show that the world has more than enough food produced to feed the hungry; however, this food isn’t easily accessible and is often wasted. Between one-third and one-half of food produced today is lost or wasted due to improper storage methods, poor transportation and unnecessarily large portions.

The third factor that Graziano cited was the poor nutritional value of much of the food provided to the hungry. He stated that, “you see in families with the lowest income a proportion of obese and malnourished (youngsters) similar to the families that have high level income.”

Graziano and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization hope to see all of the aforementioned factors addressed and innovative solutions invented at the African Union Summit in January of 2014.

– Lienna Feleke-Eshete

Sources: Huffington Post, Food and Agriculture Organization
Photo: Ebru News