Sustainability challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Despite significant progress over the past decades, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the poorest and least developed region in the world. High levels of poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation, as well as low access to infrastructure and low institutional capacity characterize many areas across the continent. There is a consensus among many international organizations, national governments, civil society organizations and academics that SSA lags so far behind other regions of the world that multiple development priorities must be tackled across the continent to ensure sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a golden opportunity to spur sustainable development and meet the Agenda 2063 of the African Union. However, this is a very challenging endeavour considering the low starting point, rapid demographic, socio-economic and environmental change, and the prevailing lack of resources and low capacity. This chapter outlines the current status and the main challenges associated with meeting the different SDGs across the continent. Considering the many different countries, local contexts and sustainability challenges across the region, this chapter does not seek to be comprehensive but to highlight some of the most important trends and prevailing challenges in the context of the SDGs. The chapter concludes by briefly introducing the overall aims, themes and structure of the two edited volumes, as well as the contents of each individual chapter.