The most recent estimates of the prevalence of undernourishment (POU), presented in the joint report by FAO, UNECA and African Union Commission “2019 Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition” shows that the trend of deterioration in 2014-2018 has slowed in 2017–2018. However, there remain 256 million hungry people in Africa today, or one in five Africans is undernourished, and an additional 399 million people are moderately food insecure. 

The report further revealed that although many African countries are making progress towards reducing malnutrition, progress is too slow to meet six key nutrition targets. Food insecurity has been rising in Africa in recent years and the continent is not on track to eliminate hunger by 2030.