Inequality, population growth, and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract

Despite increasing population and inequality in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and their tendencies to aggravate hunger there is still dearth of knowledge on their effects on hunger in the region. Therefore, the study used data for 46 SSA countries from 2007 to 2017 to examine the effects of inequality and population on hunger by adopting the System Generalized Method of Moment approach as it is specifically applicable in this situation. Results showed that inequality (p < 0.01) and population growth (p < 0.1) significantly increased the level of hunger, while GDP per capita (p < 0.01) and Food Production index (p < 0.1) significantly reduced hunger in the region. Arellano-Bond test confirmed the validity of the GMM results by rejecting the null hypothesis of non-existence of autocorrelation of the first order and accepting that of the second order in the disturbance term, while the Hansen and Sargan tests affirmed that variables used as instruments were valid in line with expectations. Robustness of the result was also confirmed as the coefficient of the lagged response variable (0.8701) fell between the fixed effect model estimate (0.5165) and pooled OLS estimate (0.9571) in line with theory. The study recommended policies capable of reducing inequality, boosting economic growth, and controlling excessive population growth, while food production and value addition are encouraged in order to avert hunger in the region.