Editor's note: Kenneth Turinawe is an advisor on Health and Nutrition programming at ForAfrika, an African-founded organization concentrating on humanitarian and development aid. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

As the world marks World Hunger Day and World Nutrition Day on May 28, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: Hunger in Africa is not inevitable. Africa is home to one of the greatest untapped opportunities of our time. It has over 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land, yet millions remain food insecure.

Across seven of ForAfrika's eight countries of operation, populations are experiencing Phase 3 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) or worse levels of food insecurity, where households are forced to adopt negative coping strategies, malnutrition is widespread, and access to sufficient and nutritious food is severely constrained. In some contexts, conditions are approaching or reaching IPC Phase 4, where lives and livelihoods are at immediate risk. In places like South Sudan and the Central African Republic, hunger levels are among the most extreme anywhere in the world, and entire communities live one shock away from catastrophe.

And yet, hunger is still too often treated as an emergency, rather than as the predictable outcome of systemic failures. Underfunded nutrition policies, weak food systems, persistent inequalities in access to affordable, nutritious foods, limited market infrastructure, climate variability and inadequate support for smallholder farmers who underpin food security across much of Africa together create a self-perpetuating cycle that traps millions in persistent hunger and hopelessness.

This disconnect is dangerous. Africa is not a continent without food. It is a continent where food systems are not working for everyone. Millions of people in Africa go to bed hungry each night. This is not a failure of agricultural potential, it is a failure of access, resilience and accountability. Food is produced, but it does not always reach those who need it. Families grow crops, but cannot always afford diverse, nutritious diets. Markets exist, but they are often fragile, underdeveloped, or disrupted by conflict and extreme weather events.

The result is a quiet crisis that unfolds every day. Across much of the continent, one in three children is stunted. According to UNICEF, stunting is a profound barrier to human development, leaving children unable to reach their full physical and cognitive potential and significantly reducing their future earnings potential. It is, in effect, a slow erosion of Africa's human capital, happening at scale.

If we are serious about the African Union's vision for "Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want," then we must be equally serious about nutrition. A thriving continent cannot be built on a population that is undernourished. Economic growth, industrialization and innovation all depend on one fundamental condition: a healthy and well-nourished population.

And yet, nutrition continues to sit at the margins of policy and investment decisions.

At ForAfrika, we see both the depth of the challenge and what is possible. In 2025 alone, we reached 652,054 people with health and nutrition interventions and supported 432,227 people with food security and livelihood programs. These represent mothers accessing essential nutritional services, children receiving life-saving treatments and families building more resilient ways to feed themselves.

But even at this scale, it is not enough because the reality is that hunger cannot be solved by food aid alone. Humanitarian assistance remains essential, particularly in fragile contexts, but it is not a strategy for ending hunger. It is a response to its consequences.

What is needed is a fundamental shift – from reacting to hunger, to preventing it.

That means investing at scale in weather-resilient agriculture, so droughts and floods do not translate into widespread food shortages. It means strengthening local markets and value chains, so food is not only available but accessible and affordable. It means prioritizing maternal and child nutrition, particularly in the first 1,000 days of life, when the foundations for lifelong health are set. And critically, it means creating economic opportunities, so families have the income needed to make nutritious choices.

We already know these solutions work. Countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia have demonstrated that sustained investment and political commitment can lead to measurable improvements in nutrition outcomes. But these successes remain uneven and fragile.

At the same time, the risks are growing. Conflict, extreme weather variability, climate change and economic instability are pushing more people into hunger, while global attention and funding are increasingly stretched. The danger is not only that progress stalls, but that it reverses.

We cannot afford that because the cost of inaction is not just measured in hunger today; it is measured in lost potential tomorrow. Africa does not lack the knowledge, the resources, or the vision to end hunger. What it lacks is the consistent alignment of these elements at scale.

This is why Agenda 2063 matters. It is not just an aspirational framework; it is a recognition that Africa's future depends on making bold and coordinated choices now. Food and nutritional security must move from being seen as a sectoral issue to being understood as a foundational pillar of development.

On this World Hunger Day and World Nutrition Day, we must move beyond acknowledging the problems to confronting their causes because the question is no longer whether Africa can end hunger; it is whether we are willing to treat it with the urgency, seriousness and strategic focus required to finally do so.

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