The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has officially launched its Africa Zero Hunger: United for Durable Solutions campaign, marking a major step in redefining efforts to combat hunger across the continent. The campaign was unveiled on 19 August 2025 during a virtual event moderated by award-winning journalist Victoria Rubadiri, bringing together African leaders, humanitarian actors, and community innovators from across Africa. Its mission is to move beyond short-term aid and invest in durable, community-led solutions that strengthen local systems, adapt to climate and conflict challenges, and deliver lasting, resilient change.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a systemic food crisis, with over 282 million people undernourished—nearly one-third of the world’s food-insecure population. In 2024 alone, 173 million people experienced acute food insecurity or worse, with women and children disproportionately affected. This crisis is driven by climate shocks, conflict, displacement, and weak food and social protection systems, but it also represents an opportunity to reset the approach to food security in Africa. The Zero Hunger Campaign emphasizes shifting away from short-term aid toward community-led, African-owned solutions that build long-term resilience.
Pierre Kremer, Deputy Regional Director of IFRC Africa, highlighted the campaign’s transformative potential, describing it as a shift from short-term food aid to lasting, community-driven change. The initiative focuses on leveraging local ingenuity, climate-smart practices, and sustainable livelihoods to address hunger at its roots. The campaign has been launched in Kenya, Ethiopia, DRC, Mali, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe and is grounded in SDG 2, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and the Malabo Declaration. It aims to reach 60 million vulnerable people across 15 countries by 2030.
The campaign channels investment into key areas including climate-smart agriculture and ecosystem restoration, access to finance and markets, community-led social protection, women- and youth-led cooperatives, and integrated food, health, and nutrition systems. The IFRC leverages its network of African National Societies and over one million community-based Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers, who are embedded in local communities and trusted by the people they serve. These volunteers help scale proven, locally designed approaches to food security.
While the campaign launch marks an important milestone, the mission is just beginning. The IFRC is calling on governments, donors, the private sector, civil society, media, and the African diaspora to support, expand, and replicate these durable, community-led solutions to achieve long-term food security across Africa.
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