By Omar Bah
An International Food Security Assessment conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, has revealed that food insecurity prevalence is estimated to increase in 2024 by 20.6 percent in The Gambia.
According to the report the country relies heavily on rice imports to meet its food needs and experienced double digit increases in real domestic rice prices.
The report is based on country-level commodity prices as well as macroeconomic and international commodity price projections with the intensity of food insecurity for The Gambia measured by the projected gap on food demand.
The report further revealed that in 2022, Gambia imported $73.6M in rice, becoming the 81st largest importer of rice in the world. In the same year, rice was the 2nd most imported product in Gambia, with imports primarily from: Brazil ($29.3M), India ($28.9M), Pakistan ($6.18M), China ($4.04M), and Thailand ($3.38M).
In February, the central bank pledged to ensure prices of basic commodities such as rice and sugar are brought down, however, there has not been much difference as prices for rice and cooking oil continue to increase.
It further revealed that the average prevalence of food insecurity in West Africa is the lowest of the four subregions in Sub Saharan Africa, highlighting that food security is estimated to improve in 2024 relative to 2023 for most of the 83 countries covered by the IFSA report due to an average of 3.4 percent growth in per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and easing of international and domestic food price levels for most commodities, including vegetable oils, wheat, sorghum, and corn.
Global findings
According to the report, the number of hungry people worldwide is expected to drop significantly this year, in part because prices of grain and vegetable oil are declining.
USDA’s Economic Research Service, which tracks international food security, estimates that 19% of the population, or 824.6 million people, will be unable to get the minimum necessary calories this year in 83 lower-income countries.
“That would be a 27.5% decrease, or 313 million, from 2023,” the report stated.
The report added that exceptions to the good news are due largely to local food inflation.
It estimated that food insecurity will decline by 66.7% to 274.6 million people by 2034 in the 83 countries in its assessment.
Food security is evaluated for each country by estimating the share of the population unable to reach a caloric threshold of 2,100 kcal per person per day.
