Escalating and protracted conflicts, climate change, and the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 are driving the shocking rise in global food insecurity and malnutrition seen in many parts of the world today. Approximately 282 million people in Africa are undernourished – an increase of 49 million from 2019. COVID-19 has directly killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world and continues to take a deep toll on the food security, nutrition and livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people on the African continent, particularly women and girls. Without sufficient access to resources to recover from COVID, African countries are experiencing a continued socio- economic fallout from COVID-19, resulting in sharp declines in African households’ incomes due to job losses and reduced livelihoods for millions. Declining remittances are also leading to steep increases in poverty and hunger, particularly in low-income developing countries. Currently, an estimated 113 million people in 15 African countries require urgent humanitarian assistance in 2022. Those living in fragile and conflict- affected contexts are at heightened risk, particularly across West, South and East Africa.
The impact of these converging catastrophes is disproportionately felt by women and girls – who make up 60 percent of acutely food insecure people globally. Women and girls already eat last and least, so the combined impact of diminishing resources and limited decision-making power, mean this crisis will deepen the systemic inequality that holds women and girls back from realizing their right to good nutrition. When women are not well-nourished, the impacts on both them and their children are devastating, including increased maternal and infant mortality, perpetuating intergenerational cycles of malnutrition that will be felt for generations to come. Food insecurity also puts women and girls at greater risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and child marriage – and increases their unpaid care load.