AFRICA Regional overview of food security and nutrition 2021: Statistics and trends

Globally, 6.7 percent of children (45.4 million) are affected by wasting. The prevalence of wasting in Africa is below the global average and it is particularly low in Southern Africa (Figure 11 and Table 7). However, as shown in Figure 12, there is considerable variation across countries. There are 12.1 million children wasted in Africa, 8 million of whom are in Eastern and Western Africa.

Prevention of wasting requires addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition. Breastfeeding support and nutrition counselling for families, particularly with regard to improving the quality of complementary foods and feeding practices alongside timely care for common childhood illnesses are essential. Collaboration with water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) programmes are needed to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

For wasting in children under the age of five, progress towards meeting the WHA targets for 2030 has been very slow. No Northern African country is on track. Of all the subregions, only Southern Africa is on track towards meeting the revised WHA target for wasting for 2030. Eastern Africa is off track but has made some progress; however, all the other regions are not only off track but have also not made any progress towards meeting the target.^{10 10} FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO. 2021. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021. Transforming food systems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb4474en