The warning came ahead of World Food Day, observed on October 16 under the theme, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.”
Greenpop Head of Restoration Chris Nash, speaking to Channel Africa on Thursday, said about 300 million people across Africa were experiencing hunger, while one in five lacked sufficient food.
Almost 60% of Africans could not afford a healthy diet, highlighting the scale of the continent’s food-security and nutrition crisis.
“I think it’s a huge challenge and crisis,” Nash said. “The issues around food access, food security and malnourishment come at a huge cost to the well-being and prosperity of the continent.”
Nash warned that a strengthening El Niño weather pattern could bring severe droughts, flooding and fires, placing further pressure on already vulnerable communities.
Although poverty determines whether households can afford food, Nash said land, water and climate conditions determined whether food was available. “Poverty decides whether you can buy food or not, but land, water and climate decide whether there’s food to buy,” Nash said.
Agriculture depends on healthy ecosystems supporting water cycles, soil nutrients, pollination and energy flows. As landscapes deteriorate, food production and nutritional quality also decline.
Soil with low carbon content retains less water, making farmland more vulnerable to drought. Compacted soil absorbs less rainfall, increasing runoff and flood risks.
Nash said regenerative agriculture and syntropic agroforestry could restore damaged land while producing food, fuel, medicine and fibre.
Syntropic agroforestry integrates trees and crops in arrangements modelled on natural forests. Different plants occupy several layers and stages of growth, while pruning returns organic material to the soil. “We can engineer landscapes to produce all our needs through very high-density and highly productive approaches,” Nash said.
However, transitioning from conventional farming can create financial risks for farmers.
Nash called for policy reforms, subsidies and financing mechanisms to ensure that farmers did not bear the full cost of restoring ecosystems. “Regenerative agriculture seeks to reinvest consistently in landscapes and build healthy soil and ecosystems so that production can be sustained and improved over the long term,” Nash said.
“Creating an enabling environment so that the risk and cost are not squarely on the shoulders of farmers is really important.”
–ChannelAfrica–
