Food Security Ghana & Broader Africa

The global community is currently experiencing our third food price crisis in fifteen years (2007-2008, 20011-2012, 2021/2022 and beyond) and, as with previous events, many of the drivers of the current food crisis are systemic linked to commodity speculation, poverty, climate change, and conflict. CMF is focused on the championing the values of food security in the supply chain for Ghana and Ecowas Nations while additionally supporting export markets. Implementing this priority with integrity and excellence, to translate them into desired results. CMF is listening, leaping forward, learning by doing and leading by example in the efforts to impact Ghana, in this pressing crisis that also broader Africa and abroad communities are facing.

As per the Food and Agricultural Organization, in terms of the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Ghana, 12.9 million people, or 39.4% of the total population, were affected in 2022.

Food insecurity is a global health challenge, especially among low- and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.1 targets to: “End hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and vulnerable people, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round by 2030.” In Ghana, the situation worsened in 2022. The number of individuals in food crisis surged from 560,000 in 2021 to 823,000 in 2022, marking a 47% increase in individuals suffering from lack of food access, availability, and utilization.

Ghana’s agriculture and Africa at large food systems, faces a myriad of challenges that could undermine future food security, ranging from climate change, poor infrastructure, and low levels of investment to lack of access to finance, low impact manufacturing infrastructure, post-harvest losses due to logistical support weaknesses, and unsustainable farming systems due to lack of equitable resources for farming inputs. Also, conflict, economic shocks, climate change and soaring prices for food and fertilizer are all combining in a perfect storm to create a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions. Right now, in some of the hungriest places around the world, there just is not enough food to feed the population. Promoting production of diverse, nutrient-rich crops, and improving processing, storage, and preservation to reduce seasonality and post-harvest losses while increasing market access to nutritious foods must become a factor to begin to address this crisis.