Africa Zero Hunger: United for durable solutions
Over 282 million people across the continent are undernourished, and Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for nearly one-third of global food insecurity. The IFRC Network, in partnership with governments, donors and community leaders, aims to scale community-driven, climate-smart solutions to fight hunger at the source. Together, we can break the cycle and ensure that Africa moves closer to zero hunger.
Scaling-up solutions together
By working together with communities, we’re creating solutions to hunger that are fair, practical, and built to last. We’ll support them in:
- Creating efficient systems to get food from farms to families, reducing waste, and ensuring no one goes hungry
- Preparing families for sudden shocks like droughts, floods, or economic crises so they always have enough to eat
- Helping people afford nutritious food by diversifying local economies while ensuring markets are within reach
- Giving people the power to make decisions about their food—how it’s grown, shared, and eaten—so they can take control of their futures
- Using methods that protect the environment to ensure that communities have uninterrupted access to water to grow food
Watch: 'Not just a meal. A future'
Mothers in Nigeria unite around durable local solutions
Members of a Mothers Club in northern Nigeria, where groups of women are organising to find practical and durable solutions to the acute malnutrition across the region.
Photo: IFRC
Nigeria is facing a severe nutrition emergency with malnutrition contributing to 45 per cent of all deaths among children under five.
An estimated two million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria, yet only two in ten are receiving treatment.
Now groups of mothers are working together and finding durable solutions to keep their families and communities healthy and adequately fed.
Explore this interactive online feature to learn more and to find out how you can make a difference.
Watch this inspiring video about Mothers Clubs in Nigeria
In Sokoto, Red Cross volunteers like Jemila are supporting women through localized interventions like Mothers' Clubs. At Mothers' Clubs women are taught how to prepare an alternative to ready-to-use supplementary food called Tom Brown, which is a locally produced flour mix of grains, soy, and peanuts inspired by a traditional Nigerian recipe. It is used to support children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) to recover.
“We teach the mothers skills because we want them to depend on themselves. Their husband might not have money for them to buy soap or something that they need, but if we teach them the skills to make things, they can sell them. I teach them how to use sesame seeds to provide snacks. I also teach them how to make nutritional pap called Tom Brown which is given to small children."
Local voices, lasting impact
Community leaders are already working to create solutions that aren’t just practical but deeply personal.
Photo: IFRC
Our partners at the National Societies live and breathe the realities of their communities, carrying a profound understanding of the crises that perpetuate hunger:
- Erratic weather, droughts, and floods devastate crops and livelihoods
- Global and local conflicts disrupt food systems, pricing communities out of resources like fuel
- Poverty traps people in cycles of hunger, with unpredictable resources to grow or buy enough food.
- Health crises like COVID-19 and malaria weaken labour forces and deepen food insecurity.
- Unpredictable access to water disrupts farming cycles, dries up livelihoods, and leaves communities dependent on emergency aid.
What's Africa Zero Hunger all about? Watch this video.
Key figures
282 million people
More than 282 million people across the continent are undernourished, and Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for nearly one-third of global food insecurity.
48 National Red Cross & Red Crescent National Societies
In Africa, 48 National Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, with their extensive networks of branches and thousands of dedicated volunteers, are uniquely positioned to play a critical role in the fight against hunger.
60 million people
The IFRC's Zero Hunger Initiative aims to support 60 million vulnerable people across 15 African countries by 2030—but we must start today.