Giving more policy support to small-scale farmers could be one of the most effective ways to end hunger in Africa, a report by two international groups has said.

The report -- co-released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) -- is titled "Reducing the Risk of Food and Nutrition Insecurity among Vulnerable Populations", Xinhua reported.

It called on aid organisations to earmark a percentage of aid money and donations for resilience-building efforts and programming, improved coordination of data and early warning systems amongst humanitarian actors, and scaling up safety nets and improving coordination between global donors and local actors.

IFRC Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Diplomacy Goli Ameri said concrete steps must be taken to enable Africa to feed itself and end hunger, including better access to finance and insurance, especially for women who make up the majority of small-scale food producers.

He said improved trade policies at national, regional and continental levels and sustained investment in irrigation agriculture were also needed.

IFPRI director general Fan Shenggen said that almost one billion people worldwide are still under-nourished and building the resilience of vulnerable communities in the longer term is essential to eliminating chronic food insecurity.