Also the infrastructure, transport and distribution systems are damaged and disrupted in crises. Refugees and internally displaced people frequently women, children and the elderly, constitute a specific group of those suffering from extreme hunger. In conflict-stricken countries it is not only a question of individual or household food scarcity but also lack of national food security. Looking at the production capacity of our oceans, we can note a slight decrease in the world fish catch and supply and per capita fish input for food, as well as in the global import of fishery goods. Hunger or adequacy of food has a strong link to the overall economic performance of any one country and region.
Economic growth gives leeway to buy food.
Yet, to have a significant impact on the eradication of poverty and on the eradication of hunger, the economies of this continent should have a growth rate of more or less double the present one. Furthermore, only a few countries in Africa experienced particularly good growth rates. Many African economies are dependent on exports of primary products, world prices for which are fluctuating and have remained low. The Action Programme of the World Food Summit of 1996 focuses on rural and urban development as a means of hunger eradication. The emphasis in the Action Programme is on creating employment opportunities, developing social safety nets for the most vulnerable, in addition to the overall focus on increasing the primary production capacity of food through improved agricultural practices, pest management and improved quality of seed and productivity of crops.