Achieving the “zero hunger” goal in Africa: Beyond the direct effects of infrastructure development

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Isaac Ketu
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wfp2.12062

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Achieving the “zero hunger”goal in Africa:

Beyond the direct effects of infrastructure

development

Isaac Ketu

1,2

1

Dschang School of Economics and

Management, University of Dschang,

Dschang, Cameroon

2

Research Laboratory in Fundamental

and Applied Economics (LAREFA),

Dschang, Cameroon

Correspondence

Isaac Ketu, Dschang School of Economics and

Management, University of Dschang, Dschang,

Cameroon.

Email: isaacketu00@gmail.com

Funding information

No funds, grants, or other support was

received.

Abstract

The relevance of the worldwide commitment to end

hunger as stated in Sustainable Development Goal 2.1

makes it crucial to understand the trend of undernour-

ishment and the accompanying determinants that are

still underexplored. Using a sample of 41 African coun-

tries covering the 2003–2019 period, this paper contrib-

utes to the literature by examining the direct and

indirect effects of infrastructure development on the

prevalence of undernourishment (PoU). Findings from

the system generalized method of moments show that

infrastructure development (including ICT, water and

sanitation, transport, and electricity) significantly

reduces the PoU and child stunting. Interestingly, the

causal mediation analysis reveals that human capital,

governance, and economic growth are the main chan-

nels through which infrastructure development reduces

hunger in Africa. Among policy implications, the

development of reliable infrastructures remains a pre-

requisite for attaining the “zero hunger”goal in Africa.

KEYWORDS

Africa, infrastructure development, stunting, undernourishment

Received: 20 August 2023Revised: 9 September 2023Accepted: 15 September 2023

DOI: 10.1002/wfp2.12062

204 © 2023 Policy Studies Organization.World Food Policy. 2023;9:204–227.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/wfp2

1|INTRODUCTION

Despite global commitment to reduce poverty and end hunger as stated precisely in Sustainable

Development Goal 2, the number of undernourished people is still unacceptably high. In 2015,

the trend of global hunger

1

rather reversed after more than two decades of steady decrease, and

the number of undernourished people progressively increased. As such, 821 million people, or

one in 10 people globally, were undernourished in the globe in 2018, up 36.4 million from 2015

(WHO, 2018). In many developing nations, its prevalence is significantly worse (see Figure 1),

with Sub-Saharan Africa leading the way with 20.3% of cases, followed by South Asia (14.5%),

compared with a global average of 8.9% in 2019 (World Bank, 2022). After 2019, the number of

people faced with hunger further increased (122 million more people faced hunger in 2022 than

in 2019, before the pandemic), exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in

Ukraine.

2

As one may expect, the African region is more affected than other developing

regions.

Because of its far-reaching adverse effects on mental, physical, and human development in

addition to economic and social effects (Bidou & Droy, 2007; Black et al., 2013; Branca &

Ferrari, 2002; Sen, 1982; Timmer, 2000; WHO, 2018), policymakers and scholars have proposed

ways to fight against the prevalence of undernourishment. It has been shown, for instance, that

remittances (Azizi, 2018), trade openness and democracy (Dithmer & Abdulai, 2017), and eco-

nomic growth (Harttgen et al., 2013; Soriano & Garrido, 2016) are important for reducing

undernourishment. Other studies emphasize the importance of agricultural aid (Mary

et al., 2018,2020) as well as expenditures in health and education (Headey, 2013). However,

Anríquez et al. (2013) believe that rising food costs are worsening the nutritional status of the

populace, whereas Kamenya et al. (2022) and Fontan Sers and Mughal (2019) provide evidence

of the positive benefits of public spending in agricultural research and development expenditure

on undernourishment. Surprisingly, the role of infrastructure development on such efforts

remains sparsely assessed.

There are good reasons to believe that infrastructure development can reduce

3

the preva-

lence of undernourishment. Infrastructure development might have a positive influence on

local food availability and use, then on local food production, conservation, and preparation

(Edward et al., 2020). Theoretically, transportation infrastructure, including roads, railways,

and airports, is essential for facilitating the movement of goods and inputs such as fertilizers,

seeds, and equipment. It also enables the efficient transport of food and food aid from produc-

tion areas to markets, reducing food waste and ensuring a stable supply of food (Pirie, 1993;

Sasidharan, 2017).

For agro-processing companies to expand and provide high-value addition and better job

possibilities, a sufficient energy infrastructure, including renewable energy, is essential. In rural

regions, where the majority of agricultural operations occur, it is also vital to provide accessible,

1

The Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Agenda 2030, which aims for eradicating hunger in all its facets by 2030,

defines food security as “Zero Hunger.”

2

See FAO: https://www.fao.org/3/cc3017en/online/state-food-security-and-nutrition-2023/food-security-nutrition-

indicators.html (accessed on 09/09/2023).

3

This intuition might also not be true because investments in new and maintenance infrastructure require huge capital

that often leads to increase debt and translating into rising prices that could further increase hunger (Anríquez

et al., 2013). Furthermore, Headey (2013), in assessing the drivers of nutritional performance, found no evidence that

infrastructure is directly important. This result could however depend on the sample considered, timeframe, and the

neglect of transmission channels.

KETU 205