KABANDA CHULU, Lusaka
AFRICA’S development actors have anticipated that the continent is to eliminate hunger by 2025 if countries increase agricultural production resulting in shared prosperity and improved livelihoods.

Launching the latest Global Hunger Index: Africa Edition in Ethiopia on Wednesday, New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) chief executive officer Ibrahim Mayaki said the report presented a ray of hope in the fight against hunger on the continent.
“We have made progresses regarding implementation of the Malabo Declaration, but we are still far away from achieving the goals. We are still facing issues of extreme hunger, hence we need to think about strategic frameworks to allow for accelerated implementation,” Mr Mayaki said.
He said for six decades, policy-makers had left implementation in the hands of experts and that the practice should change.
African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira Elfadil said Africa had all the frameworks to reduce hunger.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) representative Namakolo Covic said although under-nutrition was reducing, levels of obesity were increasing.
And Regional Strategic Analysis Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) representative Getaw Gebreyohanes said it was possible to achieve the ‘zero hunger’ vision if major issues impeding its realisation were not overlooked.
World Food Programme Africa office director Angeline Rudakubana said the report had given stakeholders a programme with action plans.
The GHI report tracks and reports hunger levels in Africa.
It builds on previous related efforts and is calculated on four indicators namely undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality (deaths).
The launch of the GHI provides enhanced impetus in the pursuit towards the continental target of Zero Hunger by 2025 in Africa that was set by African Union in Agenda 2063 and the 2014 Malabo Declaration on agriculture transformation.