Effects of public expenditure for agriculture on food security in Africa

Brazilian research institutes have remarkable contributions in promoting food security in Africa through collaborative-knowledge transfer. However, there is lack of information on publications, research production and emerging trends on low-carbon agricultural systems (LoCAS) and food (in)security within and between Brazil and Africa. This work is aimed at mapping the research collaborations, thematic evolution, and publication trends on LoCAS and food security in Brazil and Africa by using a systematic and bibliometric analysis. This is the first time different bibliometric methods (such as VOSviewer, Flourish studio, Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny models in Rstudio) were simultaneously used to investigate the research impacts on LoCAS and food security in the regions. Data were extracted from the Web of Science databases by using the relevant search terms and strings. From the dataset, information relating to LoCAS was extracted and collated from the regions by identifying seven LoCAS and estimated the number of articles reflected on each. A qualified 687 articles, which had annual scientific growth rate of 13.1%, involving 2,839 authors who applied 2,519 keywords and had 10.2% international collaborations was observed. Brazil (22.4%), and South Africa (14.3%) had the highest number of publications. Number of LoCAS increased with corresponding authors countries’ research relevance. Thirty-six core benefits of LoCAS were identified. Authors’ scientific production showed, de Oliveira Silva and Pereira (Brazil), and Thierfelder (Zimbabwe) as the most impactful authors. Published studies reflecting on food (in)security increased by 75% while those for LoCAS increased by 67%. The hybrid bibliometric approach helped to close the knowledge gap on Brazil-African research trajectory on LoCAS and food security, and the roles of countries, authors, institutions, and publishing journals. This knowledge could support in making future agricultural policies to enhance food security, and climate change resilience, especially in Africa where there have been low research and publications on the topic.

A "Vhat do you want to be when you grow up?Alive."-UNICEF African poster, 1985."Frustrations and failures will continue to mount if we do not immediately summon the courage to revise the ways we think and take action -as well as maintaining essential services to support life and health...saving hundreds of thousands... who are at risk of dying from malnutrition or infection is an immediate imperative.But it must be only one stage in the progress toward other activities, and one element in the truly comprehensive approach.

Does climate variability matter in achieving food security in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Purpose. Given the efforts towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for food security by 2030, this study investigates the moderating impact of public investments in agriculture on the agricultural producer price – agricultural sustainability nexus in 40 African countries covering the period from 2000 till 2019. Methodology / approach. In this study we used multiple regression techniques to explore a dynamic panel data model based on the one-step system Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM). Proposed by Arellano and Bover and further developed by Blundell and Bond, the System-GMM estimator was preferred over other techniques because of its efficiency in eliminating the simultaneous biases that are associated with regression model estimations. Specifically, the one-step System-GMM was preferred over the two-step System-GMM for our estimation due to the efficiency of its optimal weighting matrices. Results. The study discovered that although the interactions between public investments on agriculture and agricultural sustainability amplify the positive impact of a set of explanatory variables on agricultural producer price to an extent, the impact on food security in Africa is insignificant. The study also discovers that the net effects of a set of interactive terms on producer price in the developing countries in Africa are slightly lower than in the least-developed countries. The weighted average food security index for the period under study was abysmal 44.54%, indicating moderate food insecurity in Africa. Originality / scientific novelty. In the context of food security literature in Africa, this study is the first attempt at exploring the agricultural producer price – agricultural sustainability nexus based on the moderating impact of public investments on agriculture with the Global Food Security Index (GFSI), a composite food security model developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Among our study proposals it is a call for a detour from the current agricultural investment and producer price policies especially the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ regional frameworks which have proved to be less progressive and less transformative to more robust country/sector-specific frameworks that have the potential to better the fortunes of agriculture and improve food security. Practical value / implications. The current state of agricultural producer price in most African countries is ample proof that the role and importance of the producer price have been gravely diminished. Despite governments’ efforts towards improving food security, the evidence as presented in this study supports the fact that those efforts have not achieved much success. The study, which contains a number of recommendations, highlights agricultural producer price as a potentially important driver of agricultural sustainability and sustainable food security in Africa.

Africa’s Development Corridors as Pathways to Agricultural Development, Regional Economic Integration and Food Security in Africa

PurposeThis paper aims to review scientific contributions that are essential to reduce the challenges to food security in Africa through food processing and appropriate storage technologies.Design/methodology/approachSeveral literature studies on the role of food processing and appropriate storage technologies in ensuring food security and food availability in Africa were critically reviewed.FindingsThe study revealed that the world faces multiple challenges to food security including under nutrition and overconsumption, rising food prices, population growth, rapid diet transitions, threats to agricultural production, inefficient production practices and supply chains and declining investment in food system research. Many people lack adequate amounts of foods that are rich in the nutrients needed for a healthy and productive life. According to FAO, 1996, chronic undernutrition affects 43 per cent of the Africa’s population or some 215 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. Food security is highly instrumental to the economic growth and sustainability of any country. The use of simple but effective on- and off-farm storage facilities and agro-processing technology should be promoted to add value to products and increase their shelf-life. The Strategic Grain Reserve Scheme should be modernized, strengthened and upgraded to a National Food Reserve Program, which will enable it to handle all staples and essential food products. This will help in attainment of national food security goal. It is also crucial to promote and develop agro-processing in the various African countries for the evolution of virile agro-allied industries and rural micro-enterprises.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reviewed the role of food processing and appropriate food storage technologies in ensuring food security and availability in Africa. There are insufficient data and information on adoption of new food processing and appropriate storage technologies in Africa. Although, there have been some instances where the introduction of modern techniques has resulted in products rejection by consumers.Practical implicationsThe paper helps in reviewing food situation in Africa and how to make food available for the people and Africa food secured.Social implicationsThis paper revealed strategies that could be used to improve food security and ensuring food availability in Africa.Originality/valueThis review paper is of value to policymakers, government agencies responsible for food quality control and assurance and consumers to make food available and affordable for the people.

Extreme climate change is posing an increasing threat to human welfare across countries. Specifically, the devastating floods coupled with the looming spectre of drought are argued to explain cross-country differences in food security. While the debate continues and uncertainties about the precise influence of climate change on food security linger, the question of whether climate change plays a pivotal role in increased hunger and food insecurity across countries remains unanswered. This study presented new evidence of the role of climate change in Africa’s food security. We utilised the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator to analyse climate change trends. We also employed the pooled mean group technique and the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test to investigate the effect of climate change on food security in 15 African countries between 1970 and 2016. Our empirical findings revealed three things. First, rainfall plays a decisive role in Africa’s food security when examined broadly. However, the significance of the effect of rainfall varied substantially across the 15 countries. Second, we find no robust impact of temperature on food security in the long run. However, the short-run results showed that extreme temperatures impede food security, with varying magnitudes across countries. Third, except for rainfall, a bidirectional causality exists between food security and temperature in Africa. Given the risks associated with rain-fed agriculture, we argue that African countries need to limit their dependence on rain-fed agriculture to boost food production.

Food is required by all living things without which life processes will be on halt. Food security defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security is a condition in which people have access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food at all times that meet their dietary needs for a healthy life. The importance of biodiversity in the conservation of African foods for the sustenance of healthy and nutritious diets cannot be overemphasized. It is crucial for improving food security, conservation, livelihood, human well-being, and ecosystem services in Africa, and can be said to be a basis the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2. However, there has been a steady decline in species biodiversity for food and agriculture at the level of genetic composition, species, and ecosystem levels resulting in deteriorating diet quality and subsequently increase in the risk of malnutrition. The natural resources which may serve as for food include diverse vegetation, various species of sea life, including fishes, crabs, prawns, and shrimps, as well as animals. All of these have been depended on by mankind since time immemorial. Some African countries have been using some biodiversity friendly approaches, yet their usage needs to be amplified to increase the potentials of food security and biodiversity across Africa. These approaches can increase the plant and animal sources by increasing their ability and ensures sustained production for the long-term survival of mankind. However, the biodiversity that underpins much of modern agriculture is fast disappearing as our reliance on plants and animal species has led to increased biodiversity loss which puts food security livelihoods and health at risk. In this chapter, some biodiversity friendly approach as it enhances food security in Africa is expounded. Biodiversity conservation strategies practised in Africa, plant and animal sources of biodiversity, and the application of biodiversity friendly approaches to food production are also discussed. Likewise, the peculiarity of Africa potentials towards the biodiversity of food and animals is well captured in this chapter.KeywordsAgricultureConservation strategiesFood securitySustainable Development GoalsWest Africa

Expanding food production to commensurate with population growth has often come at a cost resulting from environmental problems. Industries generate pollutants that destroy the environment and negatively affect the level of food security. These trends threaten the sustainability of food systems and undermine the capacity to meet food security needs. Against this backdrop, this study examines how the green environment influences food security in Africa. To further articulate the novelty and contributions of the research to the extant literature, the study also examines the interaction effect of the green environment and social protection on food security. The study engaged panel data consisting of 37 African countries listed in the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. The data was sourced from Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) and the World Development Indicators (WDI) for the period 2005 to 2019 and applied the system Generalised Method of Moments (SGMM). The result shows that a green environment and social protection are statistically significant and positively determine the level of food security in Africa. In addition, the result shows that a green environment and social protection interaction positively and significantly influence food security. The implication is that a 1% increase in the drive for a green environment may improve the level of food security by 0.8%. Also, increases in the level of social protection intervention may increase food security by 1.2%. The interaction between social protection and food security can increase food security by 0.96%. In summary, it is found that African countries under study have moderate social protection coverage and policy for environmental management and sustainability required to drive food security. The discussions of the findings and policy implications of the study are underscored in the paper.

Despite the persistent income inequality and climate change shocks in Africa, there is limited research on their effects on food security. Hence, this study adopted a mixed-methods approach including a bibliometric analysis and content analysis to examine emerging themes in the literature on climate change, inequality and poverty, and food insecurity in Africa. The bibliometric data used were retrieved from the Scopus database for the period 2000–2022. The exercise revealed an increasing trend in the number of publications in the field, as well as strong collaboration between African countries. Specifically, most of the leading research was published by Kenyan, USA, and UK institutes. From the analysis, seven themes emerged; namely; (1) the impact of governance and policy on poverty alleviation, nutrition status, and food security; (2) the role of innovation and sustainable agriculture in mitigating climate change in developing countries; (3) integrating gender in evaluations of the impact of climate change on food security and livelihoods in Africa; (4) climate change adaptation among smallholders in building resilience for nutrition; (5) the role of institutions in assisting smallholders mitigate and adapt to climate shocks; (6) inequality, food unavailability, and agricultural production; and (7) gendered impacts of climate-smart agriculture in climate adaptation and mitigation. We also found out that there was a dearth of longitudinal studies on these seven themes. Another key element revealed by the study was the lack of policies that address the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change; hence, there is limited research on the agricultural gender productivity gap. Policies based on the tenants of socio-economic inclusion need to guide the distribution of wealth and economic participation in order to reduce inequality and improve food security and nutrition outcomes.

The study investigates food security in Africa and utilises secondary data sourced from the World Data Banks from 1980 to 2019 on ten African countries; Angola, Central African Republic, Cote D'Ivoire, Cameroon, Egypt, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa selected using the convenience sampling technique. The objectives of the study were to examine the impact of agricultural export/import on food security and establish the direction of causality among agricultural export/import and food security in the selected African countries. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test were adopted in the evaluation of the study hypotheses. Food security was measured in terms of availability and accessibility was proxied by food production index (FPI) and GDP per capita respectively. The result reveals that agricultural exports (AGREXP) has a negative and insignificant impact on food security in the selected African countries while agricultural imports (AGRIMP) has a positive and significant impact on food security. We also found evidence of unidirectional causality between agricultural export and food security and between agricultural import and food security, at a 5% level of significance. We conclude that agricultural import has a positive effect on food security while agricultural export has a negative insignificant effect on food security. It is therefore recommended that, in view of the rapid urbanization in Africa, agricultural imports and trade liberalization should be further used to boost food security in order to achieve the sustainable goal of zero hunger in African cities.

This study investigates the impact of spatio- temporal correlation using four spatio-temporal models: Spatio-Temporal Poisson Linear Trend Model (SPLTM), Poisson Temporal Model (TMS), Spatio-Temporal Poisson Anova Model (SPAM), and Spatio-Temporal Poisson Separable Model (STSM) concerning food security and nutrition in Africa. Evaluating model goodness of fit using the Watanabe Akaike Information Criterion (WAIC) and assessing bias through root mean square error and mean absolute error values revealed a consistent monotonic pattern. SPLTM consistently demonstrates a propensity for overestimating food security, while TMS exhibits a diverse bias profile, shifting between overestimation and underestimation based on varying correlation settings. SPAM emerges as a beacon of reliability, showcasing minimal bias and WAIC across diverse scenarios, while STSM consistently underestimates food security, particularly in regions marked by low to moderate spatio-temporal correlation. SPAM consistently outperforms other models, making it a top choice for modeling food security and nutrition dynamics in Africa. This research highlights the impact of spatial and temporal correlations on food security and nutrition patterns and provides guidance for model selection and refinement. Researchers are encouraged to meticulously evaluate the biases and goodness of fit characteristics of models, ensuring their alignment with the specific attributes of their data and research goals. This knowledge empowers researchers to select models that offer reliability and consistency, enhancing the applicability of their findings.

Mycotoxins are among the major food contaminants, especially in Africa and in many developing countries. Contamination by mycotoxins has greater consequences in terms of both human and animal health as well as economics of these countries. This phenomenon may impact negatively Africa’s food availability and food security scenarios. This review evaluated mycotoxins in foods, safety of foods, consumer health and Africa’s food security. This review also gave comprehensive information on socio-economic implications of mycotoxins of foods and the effects on food security in Africa. In Africa, information concerning food contamination by mycotoxins is very scanty and the problem of storing agricultural produce under poor storage conditions that may predispose food to fungal infestation and subsequent mycotoxin contamination are common in African countries. Consumption of moldy produce or food contaminated with mycotoxins and the dangers of mycotoxicoses as well as the impact on public health necessitated a comprehensive approach to reduce the impact on public health and consumer safety. The challenges of food shortages, wars and conflicts, poor governance and planning in African countries have increased the problems of mycotoxins in Africa. In order to improve food safety, consumer health and availability of needed food by the teeming African population, education and enlightenment of Africans on the economic and health implications of mycotoxins are very crucial. The major techniques for control and mitigation of mycotoxins need to be explained to consumers. A robust regulatory control and effective analyses and detection of mycotoxins as well as good produce handling and storage are important to stem the tides of effects of mycotoxins in foods in Africa countries to improve consumer health and food security.

Foods that are produced and processed locally using some forms of traditional knowledge are important for achieving food and nutrition security in Africa. These food crops are generally nutritious, being rich in essential nutrients and bioactive food compounds necessary for health promotion. Additionally, most African indigenous food crops are better adapted to local growing conditions, fulfil economic needs and are highly resistant to abiotic and climate-induced stresses. Hence, the proper utilisation of locally grown and wild foods crops will help contribute to the improvement of food security, nutrition value, health, and income generation in the African continent. In this review, we focus not only on the determinants of food insecurity in Africa but also discuss the scope, nutrition, and health impact of some common locally grown foods in Africa. We also highlight some traditional processing methods for harnessing the value of these foods, as well as farming and economic/agribusiness practices that can be used to promote the cultivation of foods in an African context. In conclusion, we reiterate that the production and processing of sustainable, locally available foods is essential to providing long-term food security for Africa. There is, therefore, the need for empowerment of local farmers and increased investments in research as well as the formulation of national/regional policies that intend to reduce food insecurity with emphasis on indigenous sustainable food systems for improved access to locally available, nutritious, and healthy foods in Africa.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the projected increase in the human population stands at 2 billion people by 2050. At the same time, world food production has been witnessing a declining trend over recent years, and 690 million (8.9%) of the world’s population are already in severe starvation. Climate variability and climate change impacts on food security are very eminent today. Against this backdrop, this study explored the real effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa by applying the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and the Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs) estimation techniques on data from 2001 to 2018 for 38 selected African countries. The findings reveal that higher amounts of precipitation positively influence food security along two dimensions: food availability and utilization. Hotter temperatures negatively impact food availability and utilization. However, it aids food accessibility in Africa. Similarly, carbon dioxide emissions improve food availability and are harmful to food accessibility and utilization in Africa. Consequently, the effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa are undesirable, thereby putting the continent at risk of food insecurity over the long run. These findings provide practical implications for policy change to address the disastrous effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa.