stunting are significant for individuals and the economy as a whole. The per capita income penalty from stunting in Africa is 9 to 10 percent (Galasso and Wagstaff 2018), and children who escape stunting are 33 percent more likely to escape poverty as adults (Hoddinott et al. 2008; Horton and Steckel 2013). Moreover, reductions in stunting can increase gross domestic product (GDP) by 4 to 11 percent in Asia and Africa (Shekar et al. 2017). Map 2.1 shows that stunting rates in Africa are among the most severe in the world, with approximately one-third of children under five having a height for their age that is more than two standard deviations below the international median. In African FCV countries, 32 million children under five years of age are stunted (see table 2A.2). Figure 2.6 shows that stunting rates were higher than 40 percent in Burundi (54.2 percent), Eritrea (52.5 percent), Niger (48.5 percent), the Democratic Republic of Congo (42.7 percent), Mozambique (42.3 percent), and the Central African Republic (40.8 percent). Stunting rates were between 30 and 40 percent in Chad (39.8 percent), Sudan (38.2 percent), Nigeria (36.8 percent), South Sudan (31.3 percent), the Comoros (31.1 percent), and Liberia (30.1 percent). Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, and The Gambia all had stunting rates under 30 percent. High stunting rates are associated with long-term negative impacts on cognitive and physical development, which can adversely affect human capital accumulation and economic growth (Skoufias 2018). FOOD SUPPLY African FCV countries rely on food imports to ensure food supplies. Conflict, forced displacement, and low agricultural productivity keep African FCV countries from being self-sufficient in food production. The 13 African FCV countries with available data imported 13.6 million tons of cereals, including 7.8 million tons of wheat and 690,000 tons of maize in 2018, to meet domestic food consumption demand (table 2.1). Imports of cereals were particularly large in Nigeria (6.392 million tons), Mozambique (1.619 million tons), Cameroon (1.582 million tons), Burkina Faso (0.652 million tons), and the Republic of Congo (0.482 million tons). In contrast, cereal exports were negligible across these countries. Although there are benefits to relying on food imports to ensure food security, there are also major risks. African FCV countries often have poor infrastructure, weak institutions, and limited resources to pay for food imports, and therefore cannot ensure that import flows are not disrupted. Furthermore, countries that rely heavily on food imports may still fall short of demand. For example, Nigeria experienced a cereal deficit of 341,000 tons in 2018 despite importing nearly 6.4 million tons of cereals. Other African FCV countries with cereal deficits in 2018 included Zimbabwe (−217,000 tons), Mozambique (−133,000 tons), and Liberia (−16,000 tons). Animal source foods (ASF), like meat and dairy, are key sources of protein for people in African FCV countries.4 Seafood and fresh vegetables represent a
Food Security Context
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