The Problem of African Hunger - Essay Example

The problem of hunger within African countries is such paramount that it has been a focus among the many millennium development goals that have been postulated by the UN. Many African countries have in the past declared hunger as a national disaster, which is a cause of alarm for the well-being of all. With the problem being pointed out to such factors as low agricultural production, overreliance on foreign food aid as well as unfavorable climatic conditions among others much needs to be done to alleviate the great sufferings that the natives face due to the problem. While many discussions revolving around this issue would be developed to address various issues as pertains to alleviating hunger in Africa, this paper has special attention on the role of climate change in lowering agricultural production within the African nations. This topic takes center stage among many countries' development agendas because food sufficiency forms the basis of development in all countries. In particular, my interest in the topic emanates from the interest that the UN shows when it focuses on alleviating the levels of hunger by 2015 among other millennium development goals. However, the topic of hunger in Africa adopts dynamic approaches, which would be tedious to cover in such a research study as this. This, therefore, necessitates a relatively narrow approach from which we can be able to analyze.

The topic has received in-depth attention in many previous studies as would be shown by the literature. For instance, according to a report by IFPRI, there are at least a third of African natives face the challenge of malnutrition persistently and thus necessitates prompt attention from stakeholders. The report points out immense pressure on development in Africa because of much of the resources being channeled towards alleviating suffering from hunger by the natives (International Food Policy Research Institute, 2-5). It also blames poor agricultural production techniques, which leads to low agricultural output. This is pointed out to worsen the problem of hunger, which challenges the ability of African countries to alleviate the problem. Moreover, the report indicates that the African governments have been at the forefront of devising policy frameworks, which would necessitate the countries to overcome hunger. Among the policies in the application within the respective countries are the policies focusing on environmental management, which would be effective in controlling climate change because of global warming. Human activities are largely blamed for causing global warming which in turn is blamed on reduced agricultural production and subsequently on the problem of hunger.

In yet another study, Mbaye Dieng reaffirms the commitment of the UN to ensuring that all people have access to adequate food across the globe. All persons are entitled to enough food and thus the governments of African countries are obliged to ensure food sufficiency for their subjects. However, the report quotes dissatisfaction with the WFP (world food program) regarding the increasing number of persons suffering from the inadequacy of food, especially within Africa. Moreover, the report finds out that the land tenure system as well as poor management of land for international investments is to be greatly blamed for the menace (Dieng, 1-2). This, therefore, confirms that the problem of hunger in Africa is multifaceted and can only be addressed from different perspectives.

It is from this point of analysis that this paper intends to carry out a qualitative analysis of the role that climate change plays in contributing to low agricultural production, which has the big blame for hunger in Africa. This paper, therefore, intends to add to the already existing literature on the problem of hunger in Africa but with special attention to the contribution of climate change. The paper assumes that favorable climate aids in higher agricultural production, which is equally assumed to alleviate hunger. This study will rely wholly on the existing literature on climate change in Africa and trends in agricultural production. It will therefore adopt the method of qualitative analysis. Data obtained from secondary sources will be used in testing the hypothesis that climate is directly related to agricultural production which is equally directly responsible for the increased shortage of food in the African continent.

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