SSA is the region that relies most heavily on imported food. But there is an increasing inability to pay for these imports. As a result, one in every five Africans is now dependent on food aid. The low yields are largely a result of poverty. The majority of Africans still use a machete to clear the land and a stick or hand hoe to loosen the soil before planting.
Farms are small, soils eroded and Lacking in fertility and rainfall variable.
Moreover, much of Africa's food is wasted. Again, this is a problem of poverty, because African farmers lack the means and skills to protect food through proper storage and rapid processing or transport of perishable produce. Impact on consumption Poverty has had a negative impact on food consumption, as well as on its production and preservation. Africans simply do not have enough money to acquire adequate food for a normal and healthy life. Decontrol of food prices, removal of consumer subsidies and increasing unemployment, especially since the 1980s, have all weakened the purchasing power of African consumers.