I – OVERVIEW OF FOOD INSECURITY IN AFRICA
In concrete terms, food insecurity exists when people lack sustainable physical or economic access to food that is sufficiently safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable to live a healthy and productive life.
Food insecurity has several degrees of severity, as shown in the table below:
II – STATE OF PLAY ON FOOD INSECURITY
At the end of 2022, in a joint statement, the FAO, UNICEF and WFP predicted that Central and West Africa would reach a record of 48 million people (including 9 million children) suffering from food insecurity in 2023 if nothing was done[i]. This is an increase of almost 13 million, compared to the 35 million victims (including 6.7 million children) identified in 2022 by the Harmonized Framework for Food Security Analysis. This figure corresponds to 8% of the population in these parts of Africa unable to meet their basic food and nutritional needs.
Despite the deployment of numerous initiatives and the mobilization of substantial funds by governments and development partners over many years, the situation seems to be worsening over the years.
In 2023, according to the Global Report on Food Crises, the situation in Africa remained worrying:
How can we understand this worsening situation? Doesn’t this inability to provide sustainable solutions to the food crisis in Africa lie in the non-functional status of states? In other words, can the functional state be the answer to overcoming chronic food insecurity in Africa?
Our hypothesis: The lack of a functional state is the major factor explaining the persistence of food crises in Africa.
III – OUR HYPOTHESIS: THE FUNCTIONAL STATE DEFICIT IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN THE PERSISTENCE AND AGGRAVATION OF FOOD CRISES IN AFRICA!
Traditional causes of food insecurity worldwide
There are five main traditional causes of food insecurity in the world:
The Global Food Crisis Report 2021 reveals that conflict and insecurity have plunged nearly 100 million people worldwide into acute food insecurity.[ii]
These security crises were accompanied by an economic shock that affected 40 million people, and extreme weather conditions that affected 16 million people. According to the report, the causes of food crises should not be considered in isolation, but rather as mutually intertwined factors that very often occur in a cyclical fashion. They thus affect the coping strategies and resilience of populations worldwide and cause more damage in fragile countries such as those in Africa.
Factors aggravating the food crisis in Africa.
In addition to the five above-mentioned causes, African countries have other specific factors that aggravate food crises:
Factor 1: Insufficient development of the agricultural sector in Africa
African governments have not implemented policies that prevent food crises from recurring. Most countries have failed to put in place sustainable agricultural policies to ensure long-term food security.
According to a study conducted by OXFAM in 2021, 39 African countries have reduced the share of their budget devoted to agriculture by 18% between 2019 and 2021, with 26 of them, or two-thirds, devoting less than 5% of their national budget to agriculture.[iii] Yet 20 years ago, under the Maputo Protocol, all these countries committed to devoting at least 10% of their national budgets to agriculture.
Factor 2: Africa’s strong demographic growth
Africa is currently the world’s second largest continent, with a population of around 1.216 billion and an estimated annual growth rate of 3.7%. The demand for food production has therefore risen with this flagrant increase in population. The result is food insecurity, as production does not meet demand due to the ever-increasing population.
Factor 3: Rural exodus and galloping urbanization in Africa
The increase in rural exodus due to urbanization plays a key role in the emergence of food insecurity in Africa. The level of urbanization in Africa, currently 44.4%, will reach 58.9% by 2050. From 500 million today, they will be 950 million in 2050. And yet, most of the agricultural workforce lives in rural areas.
Factor 4: International crises with strong repercussions in Africa
Most African countries are dependent on other regions of the world for food imports. The disruption of value chains because of COVID 19 has increased the number of people falling into poverty by at least 30 million. The war between Russia and Ukraine is also having a major impact on food insecurity in Africa. Africa depends on imports of certain products from Europe and other war-torn regions.
Additional factor: Non-functional states: Another key cause of recurrent food crises in Africa
While we cannot deny the relevance of the causes and factors mentioned above, we can argue that another key element needs to be considered. This is the functionality of the State, which can, over time, anticipate, mitigate, and even overcome these various crises.
State dysfunctionality is the most frequent cause of development problems in Africa. It is the indispensable key factor to which African citizens, institutions and development partners do not pay sufficient attention to.
The inability of governments to plan and implement appropriate policies is a major problem. The persistence of conflict, insecurity and other major crises in these countries does not help to deal effectively with the food crisis.
We can no longer think of sustainable solutions without considering the level of functionality of the states in which the crises occur. If we fail to do so, we condemn ourselves to never breaking the cycle of failures and dependencies we’ve been observing for decades. Considering the functionality of the state must be an essential factor for development interventions in Africa if we are to achieve effective results today.
If better results are to be achieved, it will undoubtedly be necessary to improve the design and deployment of strategies aimed at equipping these states with the capacity to meet the various challenges they face.
What do we mean by a functional state, and how can it help to solve the problem of food insecurity in Africa?
IV – THE CONCEPT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE IN AFRICA
1. What is a functional state?
The functional state is a concept developed by STRATEGIES! based on in-depth reflection on the functioning of states in Africa and more than 28 years’ experience in supporting both states and development organizations in drawing up and implementing governance strategies at continental, sub-regional, national, and local levels.
The functional state lies on three key pillars: presence, security and safety, and hope.
These various elements, presented briefly, can be applied to different aspects of governance. In this case, the aim is to highlight the added value of the functional State in the dynamics of sustainable resolution of the successive food crises that African countries have been facing for years.
2. What changes with the inclusion of the State in food crisis management in Africa?
Food crisis situations generally call for emergency solutions to manage the humanitarian aspects (supplying food to disaster victims) and development solutions (agricultural value chains, agricultural inputs, production zones, soil, and stock management, etc.) to resolve the problem in the medium and long term.
Effective consideration of these two aspects is already part of the agenda of governments and development partners, who are the main players involved in resolving these crises.
However, the emphasis is on providing urgent solutions and ensuring the sectoral success of certain agricultural projects, without having a decisive impact on the State, which would ensure sustainable solutions in the future.
Even when resources are mobilized and made available to States to manage sustainable aspects, there are no results, as is the case with emergency situations where international and national humanitarian organizations are very often in the field themselves to carry out operations.
As a result, the resources mobilized for medium- and long-term solutions are sometimes used without producing the expected results. At the end of the process, the result is more indebted states, still dependent on each other, and the same emergencies to be managed with greater severity, as is the case with the current food crisis.
V – ADDED VALUE OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATE CONCEPT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FOOD INSECURITY IN AFRICA
While considering the fact that there are strategies dedicated to the development of agriculture and the management of other factors that contribute to the persistence of food crises, the integration of the concept of the functional state could, in general, make it possible to have:
- A reconciliation between the short term (humanitarian emergencies) and the long term (the development of endogenous capacities to prevent and overcome food challenges);
- Better use of resources mobilized for the development of food security-related sectors in Africa;
- Better coordination of national and international stakeholders’ actions, with a view to effectively strengthening the State (government and decentralized local authorities).
Specifically, with reference to the pillars of the concept, the following potential added value can be noted.
1) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE “PRESENCE” PILLAR
Considering the “PRESENCE” pillar of the State means that, while intervening to manage emergencies, measures and systems are put in place to reinforce the State’s presence in the affected area or sector.
The following questions, relating to the “PRESENCE” pillar, can help strengthen the functionality of states:
- Are the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI) and related services present in key agricultural areas?
- How can MINAGRI and key related services be sustainably strengthened?
- Can population data collection be integrated? Are cash transfer programs an opportunity to build up regional or national databases for better future planning?
- Can major agricultural infrastructures be improved?
- Will local governments be more effective in monitoring and evaluating their territory ?
In summary, how can our intervention strengthen MINAGRI’s presence and operations in the affected area?
2) CONSIDERATION OF THE “SUSTAINABLE SAFETY & SECURITY” PILLAR
Considering the “SUSTAINABLE SAFETY AND SECURITY” pillar means ensuring that the intervention reinforces respect for fundamental rights, the deployment of a functional judicial system, defense, and security forces at the service of the population, and so on.
When applied to food crisis management, this means asking the following questions:
- Can the most vulnerable groups be included in decision-making processes?
- Can ministries be strengthened in terms of staff recruitment, training, and promotion, to reinforce the presence of the state?
- Can civil servants providing agricultural services be trained in human rights, equity, and justice?
- Can the security forces involved be trained in humane, rights-based policing?
- Can citizens, through their associations, be informed of strategies and budgets to ensure impact and accountability ?
In summary, can our intervention make a lasting difference to the way actors are involved and resources are shared?
3) CONSIDERATION OF THE “HOPE” PILLAR
Considering the “HOPE” pillar means that while managing the emergencies of food and humanitarian crises, we are also laying the foundations for the development of a business environment and economic units capable of creating wealth and jobs over the long term.
The following questions can be asked:
- How is technology integrated to strengthen the state?
- How are startups and creative people integrated, strengthened and their relationship with the state balanced throughout the process?
- Can viable businesses be created or strengthened as part of the process?
- How have art and culture been strengthened in the process and integrated as an essential element of the state?
In summary, how do we ensure that we identify and develop both the right conditions for economic development and the emergence of entrepreneurs capable of long-term success?
IN CONCLUSION
When all is said and done, taking the functional state into account in the deployment of any project in African countries is important and necessary insofar as it would enable:
- Better project design through the involvement of the various stakeholders, including the beneficiaries, who are in the best position to formulate their needs and the best way of resolving them.
- Better collaboration between all the system players involved in project implementation.
- The achievement of objectives through satisfactory and sustainable results.
For these reasons, STRATEGIES! strongly recommends that:
- State functionality be considered in the analysis, strategy and implementation actions.
- State functionality should be part of humanitarian (short-term) and development (longer-term) responses.
- Functionality must be part of discussions within member state organizations, bilateral negotiations, and programs.
- Decentralized levels of government must be part of solutions from the outset.
- Citizens (associations, trade unions, the private sector, NGOs, etc.) must be involved from conception to implementation, and in assessing impact and accountability.
- We are convinced that functional states in Africa will certainly be more effective in meeting the challenge of food insecurity.
[i] Source : https://www.fao.org/hunger/fr/#:~:text=Qu’est%2Dce%20que%20l,une%20vie%20active%20et%20saine
[ii] Source : https://www.wfp.org/publications/global-report-food-crises-2021
[iii] Source : https://www.oxfamfrance.org/agriculture-et-securite-alimentaire/faim-dans-le-monde-causes-consequences-solutions/#:~:text=Conflits%2C%20changements%20climatiques%2C%20in%C3%A9galit%C3%A9s%20%3A,personnes%20dans%20le%20monde%207
