Hidden hunger in Benin: the scope and prospectus.

Abstract

Hunger is a worldwide problem, and Africa is the continent with the world?s highest percentage of hungry persons; Benin is one of Africa?s poorest and hungriest countries, and this paper addresses those issues and then identifies the factors that predict hunger in that country. Benin has a substantial rural population, slightly over half of the sample used in this study resides in rural areas, and those respondents will receive some attention in this paper, especially because the paper looks closely at literature?s suggestion that African farmers may be hungrier than the rest of the population, and also that gender may be a factor. This study is based on a national probability sample of 1,200 Benin respondents included in Round 6 of the Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2014. The search is for policy related factors that might help alleviate Benin?s hunger problem. To preview the findings, this study did not find any light at the end of the tunnel regarding hunger for Benin.The findings do provide information about the extent of hidden hunger in Benin. The results highlight the role of poverty as the root cause of hunger in Benin. The study found support for the notion that farmers are hungrier than other respondents, but gender and urban ?rural differences disappeared in the analysis. The surpring findings were that respondent?s perceptions that the government was not ensuring that people have enough to eat and not handling improvement of the living standards of the poor were highly, as well as age, significant predictors of hunger in Benin.