The relentless portrayal of Africa as a continent perpetually on the brink of starvation has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Headlines scream crisis after crisis, Nigeria alone, we’re told, has 31 million people facing acute hunger, a figure likened to “the entire population of Texas going hungry.” The statistics are staggering, the language apocalyptic. But lost in this cycle of despair is a critical question: Why, in 2024, is a resource-rich continent still begging for food aid?
The UN’s latest warnings about West and Central Africa are dire. Funding cuts have forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to slash aid by 60%, leaving millions without support. In Nigeria, 1.3 million people may lose food assistance, malnutrition clinics are closing, and displaced families face abandonment. The same story repeats across the region, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, all caught in a perfect storm of conflict, inflation, and shrinking aid budgets. Yet while these challenges are real, the framing is flawed.
For decades, Africa’s food security has been outsourced to foreign donors. The U.S., once a major contributor, has retreated under political shifts, with USAID gutted and Western aid budgets shrinking. But reliance on external help was always a fragile solution. The real failure isn’t just funding shortfalls, it’s the lack of continental self-reliance.
Africa trades less with itself than any other region. Border restrictions, tariffs, and poor infrastructure mean food produced in one country rarely reaches neighbouring nations in need. Nigeria’s grain belt could feed the Sahel, but trade barriers keep supplies locked within borders. Meanwhile, the narrative of perpetual hunger discourages investment in local solutions, trapping nations in a cycle of dependency.
The solution isn’t more pleas for charity, it’s commerce. If African leaders prioritised intra-continental trade, hunger could be tackled with existing resources. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a start, but progress is slow. Governments must remove trade barriers that strangle food movement between nations. Invest in infrastructure, roads, storage, and transport to connect farmers to markets. Dismantle the aid-first mindset that treats hunger as inevitable rather than a solvable policy failure.
The WFP’s $130 million gap for Nigeria is a fraction of what’s lost annually to inefficiency and protectionism. Imagine if that energy went toward regional food networks instead of emergency appeals.
Mainstream outlets amplify hunger narratives because crises draw clicks, but where’s the coverage of Africa’s agricultural potential? Of trade breakthroughs? Of innovators bypassing broken systems? The doom cycle must end. Yes, millions are suffering, but the story shouldn’t stop at “send help.” It must ask, Why is help still needed, and how can Africa make it obsolete?
The next chapter of Africa’s food security won’t be written by the UN or foreign donors. It will be written by leaders who finally treat hunger as a policy choice, not an inevitability. The resources exist. The question is whether the political will does, too.
Aid saves lives today, but only self-sufficiency ends the crisis for good. Africa doesn’t need more pity; it needs fewer trade barriers, smarter policies, and a media that highlights solutions as loudly as problems. The hunger statistics should outrage us. But what should outrage us more is that they persist in a continent that could feed itself.
