Sustainability

Africa’s most pressing sustainable development threats are poverty, food security, access to affordable healthy food, malnutrition, water scarcity, electricity shortages, environmental degradation. Added to this are the recurrent impacts of climate change which are hindering sustainability and contributing to food insecurity and water scarcity on the continent.

Food insecurity remains a challenge in West Africa where 40 million out of 308 million inhabitants are undernourished and suffer from chronic malnutrition. 
Every year, the food crisis affects millions of people across the West African region particularly in Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Nigeria - where people are forced from their homes and into different communities. 

There is not enough food, let alone food that is nutritious enough for families and their children. 

Agriculture is critical to Africa’s development and growth with 60% of the continent’s economically active population working in the agricultural sector. But the impact of climate change is making agricultural development particularly challenging. Nestlé has been operating in the African region for many years and has seen first-hand some of the challenges impacting the farmers and communities with whom we work. Drought, flooding, and rising temperatures are reducing the amount of suitable farmland, bringing pests and disease. 

We have also seen how unsustainable farming practices have led to soil erosion, deforestation, and soil depletion. Not only do all these issues threaten farmers’ livelihoods, but they also jeopardise the availability and affordability of good nutritious food. These challenges and risks call for urgent and decisive action to ensure a flourishing and viable agricultural sector in Africa. Finding sustainable solutions will require the collective effort of governments, development partners, academia, civil society, and the private sector stakeholders to implement high-priority action. 

Environmental sustainability is defined as the responsibility to conserve and avoid the depletion of natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and wellbeing, now and in the future. 
We cannot maintain the Earth’s ecosystems if sustainable choices are not made. 

If harmful practices continue with no change, it is likely that we will run out of fossil fuels, plant and animal life will go extinct, and the atmosphere will be irreparably damaged. 

Every day we make choices in our lives that affect the environment and the climate - be it at home, at work, shopping, in the street, cooking, or in our leisure time. 

Sustainable living is an opportunity for us all to take actions to reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact by altering our lifestyles. Sometimes that can mean choosing not to consume a product that is made using practices that do not promote sustainability, and sometimes it means changing how you do things. 

We believe each one of us has a role to play in helping protect our future. Governments, businesses, civil society, academia, and non-government organisations can all make a difference. 

Everyone can play a part in building a more sustainable environment by making some changes in their day-to-day work and personal lives. Every effort to reduce, recycle and reuse natural resources can make an enormous difference to our planet.