Africa

Drought is particularly hard on herding and farming families, who depend on land and livestock to survive.
Toby Madden
Action Against Hunger, Ethiopia
A health worker checks the nutrition status of a young boy as his mother holds him.

Millions of people in Africa live in extreme poverty without access to safe drinking water and reliable sources of food.

A health worker checks the nutrition status of a young boy as his mother holds him.
In Kenya, women farmers are learning about composting and other techniques to keep their land fertile.
A pregnant woman waits inside a health center in Bacabo, Ivory Coast.
01. 02. 03.

Hunger in Africa Statistics

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the highest rate of undernutrition in the world; one in five people there face hunger. Ongoing conflicts, drought, surging food prices, inequity, and weak infrastructure drive hunger in many communities across Africa.

In the village of Kaluwa, Yobe State, Nigeria, Action Against Hunger health and nutrition activities in a building intended to house a health establishment, but which is not functioning.
264M

People Face Hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa

319M

People in Sub-Saharan Africa Do Not Have Reliable Water Sources

A health worker measures a child for malnutrition.
24.1%

Of People in Sub-Saharan Africa Are Undernourished

Where we work in Africa

Donate to End Hunger

Together, we can end life-threatening hunger. Over the past 40 years, we’ve helped reduce the number of child deaths from malnutrition worldwide by half. We have the tools and expertise to end hunger – but we need you.

The impact of hunger in Africa

Lack of access to nutritious food is truly devastating to children, families, and entire communities. Meet Fatuma, a displaced mother of two who lives in a displacement camp outside of Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu. Fatuma was forced to leave one of her children behind to escape an abusive marriage. When she regained custody of her daughter, she found that her little girl was suffering from neglect and malnutrition.

Fatuma’s story shows the hardships that women and children face in displacement camps, where poverty and poor hygiene can lead to malnutrition. However, with the right support, there is hope. We have more than 40 years of experience saving lives and supporting self-sufficiency for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. We help communities become more resilient to extreme poverty and hunger and enable families to recover from crisis.

Rosalyne Chepochkok, 35 rears goats in Kapkitony, West Pokot County, Kenya with the help of an Action Against Hunger loan.
Peter Caton
Action Against Hunger, Kenya
A woman and her baby in a demonstration plot

As a mother, I never thought I would see my daughter this sick. In that instant, I didn't think she would come out of this alive.”

— Fatuma in Somalia

Child malnutrition in Somalia: A mother's challenges and perseverance

When Action Against Hunger came, that’s when our minds opened up. This is why we are now thinking in terms of buying goats to empower ourselves as women.”

— Rosalyn in northwestern Kenya

Goats and Big Dreams in Kenya

In Tanzania, Action Against Hunger taught Anceran, known as the "Mother of Vegetables," how to create gardens with limited land and water and how to preserve her crops using solar driers.

How the ‘Mother of Vegetables’ Turned Her Life Around

Solutions to hunger and poverty in Africa

Across Africa, Action Against Hunger provides lifesaving treatment to children suffering from the deadliest form of hunger, known as acute malnutrition. We partner with parents and communities to bring treatment to children in need, faster, and we educate and change behaviors to help prevent malnutrition from occurring in the first place.

Our food security and livelihoods programs empower vulnerable communities to improve their access to food, income, and markets. We train and build the capacity of small-scale farmers to implement climate-smart agriculture techniques, increase production, and safely store and market their crops. Our teams help herders to improve the health of their livestock and find pasture lands to feed them. We also help mothers save money and access capital to start businesses.

In humanitarian emergencies, we provide cash transfers or cash-for-work programs to help families in crisis buy food and support local markets while also enabling them to make their own choices about their most urgent needs.

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