The United Nations Development Programme UNDP African Human Development report 2012 indicates that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of hunger in the world.

The report was released through the Ghana News Agency and copied to press for publications in Accra yesterday.

The report said that until this situation improves, the human development prospects of millions of Africans remain at risk especially those in Sub-Sahara Africa.

UNDP’s first African Human Development Report shows that food security and human development reinforce each other and should not be treated in isolation.

If African countries are to realize their long-term potential, then, they must boost agricultural production to improve the availability of food which in the short term will reduce the extreme poverty in Sub-Sahara Africa.

It said policies to enhance nutrition are central to ensuring that access to food translates into human development.

The report said local populations must have the resources and decision-making power to produce and consume nutritious food throughout the year, overcome the risks represented by continuing conflicts, climate change and variations in food prices.

It said these drivers of change, by ending the ravages of hunger and malnourishment, would nurture capabilities and establish the conditions necessary for human development.

The report noted that a well-nourished and empowered population is more likely to seek education, participate in society and expand its productive and human potential.

The report concluded that with the right policies and institutions, Sub-Sahara Africa can sustain this virtuous cycle of higher human development and enhanced food security.

Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. Politically, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara (excluding Sudan).

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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