Africa is a huge place, and so the problems with food production differ in different areas.

Firstly is the obvious problem of the weather - one drought can cause the failure of a year’s crops, and mass starvation. With increased global warming droughts are rapidly increasing, and in some areas it is becoming near-impossible to grow enough food to survive - it has been possible to trade an AK-47 assault rifle for a single sack of grain.

Furthermore is the problem of desertification. In the region to the south of the Sahara desert known as the Sahel there are numerous herdsmen who drive goats and cattle from one water hole to the next. The grass and other vegetation is stripped away, leaving the baked soil at the mercy of the winds. It is blown away, and the ground becomes desert. Deforestation in nearby areas is also causing the problem to worsen as the tree roots binding the soil in place die. People have to walk many miles to gather firewood, and there is no longer any land on which to grow crops.

Disease is another major problem. Poor living conditions and hard work without decent sources of clean water or medical assistance means that life expectancy is low.

But at the same time the population is booming, largely thanks to religion forbidding contraception amongst its followers. More people means more workers - but it also means more mouths to feed - and AIDS.

It is not just the population that is diseased. Crops and herds are often destroyed by disease, and plagues of locusts and other pests can strip fields bare in a matter of hours, before moving on the next, and the next.

All the while the people are living in abject poverty. They can’t afford the tools necessary to set up decent methods of farming, and they can’t afford decent pesticides, fertilisers or even types of seed that are tougher. Western countries partly help this with aid, but also in many cases ensure that is them that benefits from the scheme, not the locals.

To cap it all, corrupt regimes kill people, steal lands, and burn crops. Civil war causes people to abandon their homes and farms, many are killed, and those that survive often return to see their crops destroyed and their houses burned to the ground.

Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Oxfam and many other NGOs are doing some fantastic work on the continent, and slowly, ever so slowly, it is hauling itself out of its mire of poverty and corruption. If us rich western countries would kindly cut down on our CO2 emissions, then perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Africa after all.