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Executive Summary, and Introduction
Executive Summary, and Introduction
Food Security and Food Self Sufficiency in Africa
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The first four years of the 1990s indicate that African economies have grown by an
estimated mere 1.5 per cent per annum - worse than during the "lost decade" of the 1980s
when Africa's economic annual growth rate was on average 1.8 per cent during the period 1980-1990.
This growth is barely half of the rate of growth of Africa's population and is well below the annual
average growth target of 4 per cent set by the World Food Conference in 1974, and still worse than the
6 per cent set in the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.
Not only more people go to bed hungry every day but a great number of the African
population was brought into a state of insecurity and instability due to the breakdown in the social
fabrics and to the expansion of war, ethnic conflicts, political turmoil, crime and diseases such as
the pandemic AIDS. It is becoming even harder for the international community to keep some countries
in peace and in one piece. Agricultural production which increased at an annual average growth rate
of 2.9 per cent in 1961-1970, dropped to a negative growth of -2.4 per cent in 1991-1992. Per caput
food production growth rate fell from a poor value of -0.1 per cent per annum in 1981-1990 to yet an
alarming mediocre estimate of -5.3 per cent per annum in 1991-1992. Africa which was a small net
exporter of food in 1960-1970, having achieved a food self-sufficiency ratio (SSR)
of 102, saw this ratio decline to 75 in the 1978-1982 period.
Africa has become a continent in transition. Transition from continuous
economic mismanagement and social fabric deterioration compounded by a debilitating increasing
external debt, from unconvincing and uncoordinated drive to genuine democracy, towards a permanent
market oriented economic system. This transition period will need 15 to 20 years.
There is again an urgent need to analyze Africa's food security issues in relation to the
performance of the region's agriculture food sector and discuss the constraints to increased
agricultural food production especially those of policy origin; once more, appropriate and
strengthened strategies are needed to help solve the continent's food insecurity problems and
highlight priorities likely to improve food security in Africa. Hunger is evil, and it is worse when
hunger and loss of hope or lack of faith to take action go together. Opening up new horizons in
objectives and needed action will be required for those who have lost them; and this will call for
inter-country cooperation among the African countries which must identify their resources and
priorities to enhance food and agricultural production including agro-industry in the continent.
Meeting food production demand in years to come suggests the importance of appropriate
policies and approaches. A 5 per cent growth rate is ambitious, but not impossible. To achieve the
growth target, all the African countries will need to create an enabling environment, control
population growth, harness new technologies, build and strengthen considerably their own capacities,
safeguard natural resources, and strengthen regional economic cooperation and integration.
Fundamentally, there are five major conditions to agricultural progress in Africa: it must be
environmentally sustainable; compatible with population growth rate; technologically feasible to
increase yields to raise output; economically there have to be incentives (quality growth, equity and
economic policies) not just exhortations; organizationally farmers must be provided with the delivery
system - infrastructures and institutions; and based on regional economic cooperation and integration.
30 March 1995
I. INTRODUCTION
The first four years of the 1990s indicate that African economies have grown by an estimated
mere 1.5 per cent per annum - worse than during the "lost decade" of the 1980s when Africa's
economic annual growth rate was on average 1.8 per cent during the period 1980-1990. This growth is
barely half of the rate of growth of Africa's population and is well below the annual average growth
target of 4 per cent set by the World Food Conference in 1974, and still worse than the 6 per cent set
in the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF).
This trend of continuing decline in the global economic performance also continues to translate
itself into a further slide into hunger and poverty. Available data, in fact, reveal that the per
caput GDP in Africa fell to $US716 in 1993 from $806 in 1980 and $741 in 1990 (ECA, 1995) ECA, 1995.
Databank of ECA Statistics Division (ECA/STAT/NAC.1/94/2), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
and the number of the poor in Africa south of the Sahara grew at roughly the same rate as the human
population, i.e., about 3 per cent per year in the 1980s. According to the World Bank (1992), the
proportion of people living below the poverty line in the region is likely to jump to 49.7 per cent by
the year 2000 from its value of about 47.6 per cent in 1985. It is also in this region that the daily
per caput food consumption which has never exceeded 2140 kcal/day since the 1960s and is now found to
be 2100 kcal/day say about 85 per cent of internationally recommended requirement for a healthy and
active life. The number of Africa's hungry and malnourished people which was just about 80 million in
the early 1970s, is now believed to be in the range of 175-200 million and is likely to jump to 300
million by the year 2010 if the present trends continue to prevail.
From the above and from a general review of the socio-economic conditions in Africa, a continuous
decline in the capacity of an increasing number of both rural and urban population to access to food
and other basic needs including potable water, health services, education and shelter is eye catching.
Actually over the last decade, household food security situation has reached a threatening emergency
level, which resulted in public distrust of and changes in government across the continent. These
changes in government including the introduction of multipartism have so far had minimal impact on the
socio-economic conditions of the population.
Not only more people go to bed hungry every day but a great number of the African population was
brought into a state of insecurity and instability due to the breakdown in the social fabrics and the
expansion of war, ethnic conflicts, political turmoil, crime and diseases such as the pandemic AIDS.
It is becoming even harder for the international community to keep some countries in peace and in one
piece. Agricultural production which increased at an annual average growth rate of 2.9 per cent in
1961-1970, dropped to a negative growth of -2.4 per cent in 1991-1992. Per caput food production
growth rate fell from a poor value of -0.1 per cent per annum in 1981-1990 to yet an alarming mediocre
estimate of -5.3 per cent per annum in 1991-1992. Africa which was a small net exporter of food in
1960-1970, having achieved a food self-sufficiency ratio (SSR)
of 102, saw this ratio decline to 75 in 1978-1982 period.
Africa has become a continent in transition. Transition from continuous economic
mismanagement and social fabric deterioration compounded by a debilitating increasing external debt,
from unconvincing and uncoordinated drive to genuine democracy, towards a permanent market oriented
economic system. This transition period will need 15 to 20 years.
More than ever before, Africa needs serious and clear rethinking, and a demanding persistence and
consistency in doing things for itself, jettisoning the temptation to rely on graphic images or
pictures of E/ECA/CM.21/10
Page
E/ECA/CM.21/10
Page
misery and starvation to work on the emotions of donors to arouse their sympathy and pity, spurring
them into action to provide alms. The region will be challenged even more to increasingly rely on the
generation of its own resources for development purposes, instead of waiting for foreign aid. Outside
assistance can help but it must be teamed up with African resolve.
There is again an urgent need to analyze Africa's food security issues in relation to the performance
of the region's agriculture food sector and discuss the constraints to increased agricultural food
production especially those of policy origin; once more, appropriate and strengthened strategies are
needed to help solve the continent's food insecurity problems and highlight priorities likely to
improve food security in Africa. Hunger is evil, and it is worse when hunger and loss of hope or
faith to take action go together. Opening up new horizons in objectives and needed action will be
required for those who have lost them; and this will call for inter-country cooperation among the
African countries which must identify their resources and priorities to enhance food and agricultural
production including agro-industry in the continent.
Meeting food production demand in years to come suggests the importance of appropriate policies and
approaches. A 5 per cent growth rate is ambitious, but not impossible. To achieve the growth target,
all the African countries will need to create an enabling environment, control population growth,
harness new technologies, build and strengthen considerably their own capacities, and safeguard
natural resources, and strengthen regional economic cooperation and integration. Fundamentally, there
are five major condi-tions to agricultural progress in Africa: it must be environmentally
sustainable; compatible with population growth rate; technologically feasible to increase yields to
raise output; economically there have to be incen-tives (quality growth, equity and economic policies)
not just exhortations; organizationally farmers must be provided with the delivery system -
infrastructures and institutions; and based on regional economic coopera-tion and integration.
The present report is organized in four chapters. Chapter I or introduction covers the problems and
the objectives; chapter II is concerned with the analysis of food security situation and related major
con-straints in Africa; a priority programme aimed at improving food security in the continent is
proposed in chapter III while the conclusions and recommendations are presented in chapter IV.
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