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00:00Meanwhile, the United States announced an additional $14 billion to combat food insecurity
00:05on the continent at a time when malnutrition and famine are on the rise.
00:10Thousands of experts are also looking at solutions to this crisis in Rwanda at the biggest African
00:15forum on agriculture.
00:17Clément Déromain has more.
00:20African agriculture specialists gathered in Kigali to learn from recent crises and find
00:25solutions.
00:26Almost 10 years ago, African Union member states signed the Malabo Declaration, aimed
00:31at reducing poverty and improving access to food by 2025.
00:35Around 50 countries committed to various objectives, including dedicating 10% of their budget to
00:41agriculture.
00:42However, this goal remains far from being achieved.
00:44According to the UN, this year at least 55 million people in West and Central Africa
00:49struggled to feed themselves.
00:51What we're seeing overall is that malnutrition rates are increasing exponentially.
00:57There's been some progress in the area of improving breastfeeding, but all the other
01:03nutrition indicators were behind.
01:06So we need a seismic shift, some new creativity, some innovation.
01:11The causes of malnutrition and famine include conflicts, like in Sudan, as well as climate
01:15change and rising food and fertilizer prices.
01:18In 2023, the DR Congo and Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia were ranked by the UN as among
01:24the countries most affected by food crises.
01:27The Kigali forum is exploring new ideas, such as crop diversification, grain processing,
01:33better management of agricultural budgets and improving trade between African states.