Boosting green transition will improve food security, UN says on Africa Environment Day | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Ensuring food security is one of the most pressing challenges in Africa, which is increasingly losing ground as a result of challenges from climate change to land degradation, the top United Nations environment official today said, urging a stronger emphasis on the continent’s transition to a ‘green economy.’

“From plugging into solar power in Algeria and Tunisia to investing in green funds in South Africa, diverse pathways to greener and more-inclusive economies are being pursued across the continent,” the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner, said in his message for Africa Environment Day. “This transition must be accelerated.” Africa Environment Day, marked annually on 3 March, focuses this year on ‘Combating Desertification in Africa: Enhancing Agriculture and Food Security.’

The continent has lost 65 per cent of its agricultural land since 1950 due to land degradation, according to figures cited by UNEP. Up to 12 per cent of its agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) is lost due to deteriorating conditions and 135 million people are at risk of having to move from their land by 2020 due to desertification.

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