AU official calls for accelerated actions to end hunger in Africa

With nearly 300 million people facing food insecurity in Africa, it is imperative to implement continental programs and accelerate actions towards eliminating hunger and malnutrition, a senior African Union (AU) official said Tuesday.



Moses Vilakati, AU commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy, and sustainable environment, made the remarks at the official launch of the 2025 Global Hunger Index (GHI) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.



Vilakati said that African countries lagged in implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), which required them to eradicate hunger, halve poverty, and triple intra-African agricultural trade and build resilience by 2025.



"According to the 2025 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations report, nearly 300 million people on the continent are food insecure. This aligns with the CAADP biennial review, which shows that no member state was on track to achieve zero hunger by 2025. Alarmingly, the continent spends up to 100 billion U.S. dollars each year on food imports," he said.



Vilakati called on African governments to recommit to zero hunger through policy reforms, smarter investments, and enhanced accountability mechanisms.