Exclusive breastfeeding has the single largest potential impact on child mortality of any preventive intervention and is a cornerstone of child survival and child health because it provides essential, irreplaceable nutrition for a child’s growth and development. It serves as a child’s first immunization and also has a protective effect against obesity and certain NCDs later in life (WHO and UNICEF, 2014).
In 2021, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa, at 44.3 percent, was lower than the global rate of 47.7 percent with significant variations among subregions. The highest prevalence (59.1 percent) was observed in Eastern Africa and the lowest in Western Africa (35.1 percent) and Southern Africa (32.8 percent) (TABLE 12). Only Eastern Africa is on track toward meeting the 2030 WHA targets for exclusive breastfeeding, while Central Africa and Western Africa made some progress; an assessment of progress was not possible for Northern and Southern Africa.1 1 See FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2023. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023. Urbanization, agrifood systems transformation and healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum. Rome, FAO.
| 2012 | 2021 | |
| World | 37.0 | 47.7 |
| Africa | 35.4 | 44.3 |
| Central Africa | 28.4 | 44.4 |
| Eastern Africa | 48.6 | 59.1 |
| Northern Africa | 40.8 | n.a. |
| Southern Africa | n.a. | 32.8 |
| Western Africa | 22.1 | 35.1 |
A review of data available since 2000 reveals that most countries and all subregions show improvement in this indicator, although there is a large variation among countries. The latest available estimates show that the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among infants 0–5 months of age is above 60 percent in Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Togo, Uganda and Zambia (FIGURE 21).
