Food Security In an Age of Falling Commodity and Food Prices: The Case of Sub‐Saharan Africa

• Published date: 01 March 2016
• Date: 01 March 2016
• Author: Gérard Azoulay
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.10

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World Food Policy - Volume 2 Issue 2/Volume 3 Issue 1, Fall 2015/Spring 2016

Introduction

The strong growth of world food

production during the past 50 years

did not bring to an end the diverse

manifestations of hunger. We can observe

a simultaneous occurrence of a global

equilibrium of the world food balance

and the persistence of a high percentage

of the world’s population that does not

adequately meet its nutritional needs: 795

million people fail to adequately satisfy

their nutritional needs, 1.3 billion people

live on <1 dollar a day, and suer from

nutritional deciencies in micronutrients

and macronutrients.

ese 795 million people are

unable to produce or to buy what is

needed to live. ose who are hungry are

not predominantly consumers who do

not have enough money to buy their food.

ey are mainly producers of agricultural

products: 75% live in rural areas and

among them, 90% are poor peasants and

farm workers; the remaining 25% are

sentenced to the exodus by poverty, poor

peasants who live in the city, in shanty

towns or camps. is rural migration

represents ~50 to 60 million people per

year. Hunger is not only a consequence

of poverty, but also one of its causes,

undermining the productive potential of

individuals (Azoulay, 2006).

Gérard AzoulayA

Food Security In an Age of Falling Commodity and

Food Prices: e Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

A Université Paris Sud.

Within a context characterized by a simultaneous occurrence of a global

equilibrium of the world food balance and the persistence of a high percentage

of the world’s population that does not adequately meet its nutritional needs,

this article intends to concentrate on the impacts of falling food prices on food

security focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA is not the region that

accounts for the most important number of people suering from hunger, but is

a region that experiences the highest prevalence of hunger.

e article considers the driving forces of the rising/falling prices of food and

commodities. It analyzes the impact of falling food prices on the food security

situation in SSA, and discusses the main constraints of food policies and

strategies in SSA.

Keywords: Food, prices, food security, policies, Sub-Saharan Africa

doi: 10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.10

154

Food Security In an Age of Falling Commodity and Food Prices: e Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

Within this overall context, this

article attempts to concentrate on the

impacts of falling prices of food and

commodities on food security focusing

on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA is not

the region that accounts for the most

important number of people suering

from hunger, but the region which knows

the highest prevalence of hunger.

e article is divided into three

parts: in the rst part, the driving forces

of the rising/falling prices of food and

commodities are considered. In the

second part, the impacts of falling food

prices on the food security situation in

SSA are examined. Finally, the main

constraints of food policies and strategies

in SSA are discussed.1

e Driving Forces of the Rising/

Falling Prices of Food and

Commodities

e Food Price Trend

During several decades world food

prices used to be depressed by the

dumping of surpluses by western

nations. But aer 2005, and specically

in 2008, food prices globally rose to

unprecedented levels. Prices increased

again in mid-2011, exceeding 2008 levels

and remaining relatively high through

2011.

ere was a strong belief that the

world had entered a new era of not just

high but also rising and volatile food

prices, in contrast to previous decades

characterized by low prices.

1 is article was presented and discussed in a round table at the International Conference on World

Food Policy: Future Faces of Food and Farming; Regional Challenges; Bangkok 17–18 December

2015, organized by e Royal Society of ailand.

Figure 1: Food Price Index in Nominal and Real Terms: 1961–2016

Source: FAO Food Price Index: http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/