{"id":30596,"date":"2026-04-02T08:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=30596"},"modified":"2026-04-02T08:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:32:46","slug":"africa-must-harness-technology-youth-to-end-food-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/africa-must-harness-technology-youth-to-end-food-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Africa must harness technology, youth to end food insecurity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Africa still relies heavily on food imports and aid despite vast agricultural potential, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Deputy Regional Representative Dr Meshack Malo warns. He says the continent\u2019s food security can improve if governments invest in technology, mechanisation, and engage youth in agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cZero Hunger is our goal, but currently Africa absorbs one of the highest shares of global food aid,\u201d Malo explains, highlighting severe droughts in East and Southern Africa, conflict-driven displacement in the West and Sahel, and price shocks in North Africa as major challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Successful examples exist in Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco, and Uganda, where modern farming, irrigation, and mechanization are increasing production and exports. \u201cYouth-focused innovation will be key,\u201d Malo says, urging young Africans to invest in agriculture and capture markets currently lost to imports.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica\/FAO&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30597,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-30596","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"'Continent\u2019s food security can improve if governments invest in technology'","published_date":"2026-04-02 08:30:46","news_description":"'Continent\u2019s food security can improve if governments invest in technology'","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30598,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30596\/revisions\/30598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=30596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}