ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, Africa has experienced a severe crisis manifested in, among other things, the constant decline of its economic growth rate. Since 1994, the economic situation of the continent has improved steadily, but economic growth is still below the level necessary to have a significant impact on poverty. Although the proportion who live in extreme poverty in Africa may have declined by a few percentage points in the past couple of years, high population growth rates mean that the absolute number of poor continues to increase on a daily basis. Additionally, Africa’s economic performance seems to be highly dependent on the international economic environment and weather conditions, two exogenously determined factors that do not embody any guarantee of future growth (UNECA 1999). Two basic pressures account for the continued deterioration in the quality of life in Africa. First, the population growth rate exceeds those of economic growth and food production in most African countries. Additionally, the rapid deterioration of the environment prevents the desired increase in agricultural productivity. Today, over three-fourths of sub-Saharan African countries produce less food per capita than they did in the 1980s. Daily calorie availability is well below the recommended minimum, and as much as 30–40 percent of the population is undernourished. Malnutrition affects even more people now than it did in the 1980s.
