Vertical - Food Security

Lack of water due to absence of fuel and power for water pumping reduces the available growing seasons of crops which directly affects health and the economy. The unavailability of raw materials from cash crops directly affects the economy by limiting industries and reducing available export products.

“AT LEAST ONE IN FIVE AFRICANS GOES TO BED HUNGRY AND AN ESTIMATED 140 MILLION PEOPLE IN AFRICA FACE ACUTE FOOD INSECURITY, ACCORDING TO THE 2022 GLOBAL REPORT ON FOOD CRISES 2022 MID-YEAR UPDATE.”

WORLD BANK – OCTOBER 2022

  • Sustainability.
  • Cash Crops.
  • Extended Growing Season.
  • Soil Improvement.
  • Organic Fertiliser.
  • Increased Yields.

“Establishing food security is important for millions of people facing hunger in Africa and is crucial for sustainable economic development and long-term prosperity of the continent. Addressing food security in a changing climate, therefore, is key for a rising Africa in the 21st century.”

UN

“People living in extreme poverty in the sub-Saharan Africa increased from 290 million in 1990 to 414 million in 2010. The region currently spends more than $35 billion on food imports per year and it is projected that by 2050, Africa’s population will increase from the current 1.1 billion to 2.4 billion and that two out of every five children globally will be African.”

UN – https://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/food-security-regional-solutions-key-solving-africa%E2%80%99s-challenges

Some of the components that that AoteA is utilising to aid Economic Security"

  • Aotea Eco Pumps – fuel/power free 24/7 water delivery.
  • Water Efficiency & Storage (drip feed, catchment).
  • Industrial Hemp as a Cash Crop and for Soil Improvement.
  • Organic Fertiliser from Water Hyacinth.
  • Organic Animal Feed from Water Hyacinth.

The Economic problems directly affect:

Economy

  • Poor food security results in Africa importing $35 billion worth of food from overseas, a direct and negative impact to the economy.

Health Security

  • Mono-crops reduce food variety leading to lower disease resistance.
  • Malnutrition.
  • Poor food security leads to foods that lack in nutrients but retain calorific content resulting in heart disease, obesity, diabetes.

AoteA Programmes that directly improve Economic Security:

Rural Revitalisation

Everything starts with providing water to villages and unused land to increase food and health security, as well as cash crops. .

Industrial Hemp and Kenath

As well as carbon credits, these crops improve soil conditions, provide a fuel source to reduce deforestation and off-take materials and products.

Water Hyacynth

This invasive weed is a huge problem in waterways and to aquatic ecologies, but it can be rendered into soil improving products and fuel replacements.

Interconnected Business Revitalisation

Each programme provides raw materials which can be utilised by local industries to provide products for those programmes to consume but also cash products for export; all programmes are inter0related and supportive of each other ensuring cash flow and exports.

“…stronger political and financial support should be invested in wider implementation of such projects in Africa. This will foster a future that is not marked by conflict but by cooperation, not by human suffering, but by human progress as we seek to achieve, in the words of Nelson Mandela, “an Africa where there is work, bread, water and salt for all.”

Dr Richard Munang is UNEP’s Africa Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator.

Ms. Zhen Han is a doctoral student at Cornell University