23 African countries face food emergencies.

At least 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are in urgent need of food aid, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). About half of them are in Ethiopia. Another 5.5 million are in Zimbabwe, and 1.9 million are in Sudan. Other countries with large populations imperiled by food shortages include Angola, Eritrea, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several factors have contributed to the food shortages. Armed clashes in Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have driven millions of poor farmers from their homes and severely disrupted agricultural industries across the region. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has killed or incapacitated a large part of the agricultural and food-processing work forces in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, and South Africa. And heavy rains and floods have destroyed crops in parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

Meanwhile, soil depletion or erosion continues to undermine crop yields as the growing population strips trees from the land and pushes farmers to increasingly marginal hillside tilling. At the same time, growing crossborder trade has accelerated the spread of livestock diseases, curtailing meat production.

Immediate relief will depend on aid provided by the World Food Program and FAO assistance projects. Longer-term solutions will require international strategies to cope with climate change, invasive organisms, and inequities in agricultural trade.