The funding gaps in the World Food Programme (WFP) will likely have a significant impact on Africa’s food security. This means urgent action is required to kick-start the continent’s agricultural sector and address hunger. We must not look further; South Africa offers valuable lessons.
Before discussing what we can learn from South African agricultural success, I would like to mention a piece I wrote a few days ago about the potential food insecurity challenges we may face in Africa due to the possible deterioration in funding support from the World Food Programme (WFP). This is after the U.S. Administration decided to downsize funding to USAID, one of the WFP’s supporters.
The consequences of a likely weaker WFP may become apparent much faster than I anticipated. I initially suspected that we might see headlines about this issue at the end of the year and into the new year, when agricultural supplies on the African continent would have also been depleted, as farmers prepare the land for the next season.
However, an article on the WFP’s website, dated April 22, with the headline “WFP warns of rising hunger and malnutrition in Ethiopia as humanitarian needs outpace resources,” suggests that the problem is more imminent.
Now, the root cause of the rising hunger issues is not necessarily because of the weakened WFP. It stems from the ongoing conflict, which has rendered it impossible for farmers to till the land in certain regions, compounded by drought and weaker economic conditions in Ethiopia.
However, the WFP, which would have typically responded swiftly, cannot assist effectively.
The WFP states;
“More than 10 million people are facing hunger and malnutrition across Ethiopia. These include three million people forced from their homes due to conflict and extreme weather.” The WFP further states that, amongst other things, it “delivered food and nutrition assistance to more than three million people in the first quarter of 2025.”
The most troubling line of the statement was that;
“Without urgent new funding, 3.6 million of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable people will lose access to WFP’s life-saving food and nutrition assistance in the coming weeks.”
Not to be alarmist, I suspect this is the start of many such headlines in the coming months.
Most African countries experienced a fair agricultural season, especially those not at war with Ethiopia. They will benefit from some staple grain supplies for the coming months.
I am still concerned that the challenge may arise when the grain supplies are depleted, and farmers are preparing the land for the next season. This period spans from December to March of the following year.
There are African countries that we see importing grain during this time. However, what is rarely mentioned is that some of these imports may have been processed through the WFP, which is now facing financial constraints.
This persistent hunger challenge and dependence on food support in some African countries present significant vulnerabilities. Importantly, it puts on the face of us all the urgent need for Africa to improve its agricultural productivity. I won’t bother rehashing what must happen and how the African government could restart their agrarian economies.
However, I would like to argue that South Africa offers many lessons for the continent. I highlighted some of these points in the TEDx Talk I delivered last year, and I invite you to watch this 11-minute proposal.
The challenges of hunger on the continent are more pressing now than they have been in the past. The multinational organisations that provided a cushion in the past may not be around to help us in Africa. The challenge lies in boosting Africa’s agriculture and addressing the issues of poverty.
We have some lessons on how to start this journey here in South Africa (see here).
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