In 2019, 20% of the African population experienced hunger, and at least 12.8 million children were malnourished (World Vision). This picture has only worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mark Blackett, Director of the Agribusiness Market Ecosystem Alliance (AMEA), summed up to state of play while introducing the session “Forging Resilient Food Systems with Smallholder Farmers and Agri-SMEs" at the 2021 African Green Revolution Forum: “The crisis has underlined how critical the concept of a sustainable food system is to everyone's life and future developments.”
In 2020, driven by food supply chains disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic, the discussion around sustainable and resilient food systems has been placed at the centre of political agendas at both the national and international levels. The scientific group of the UN Food Systems developed a food systems framework on which most of the professionals and organisations working in the sector would agree. We must shift towards more sustainable consumption patterns and improve the way we produce food to ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all.