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Updating agricultural-food systems is needed to feed Africa's growing population. Researchers looked at how free trade and agricultural development could help ensure food security for Africa.
About one-fifth of Africa's population doesn't have enough food to eat. The uncertainty of global food markets poses a risk to the food supply on the continent. Efforts to upscale agricultural production in Africa used to rely on establishing new crop lands instead of intensifying yield, which led to environmental degradation and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Finding a sustainable solution to meet the increasing food demand is important as the population is projected to double by 2050.
Eliminating hunger, ensuring sustainable production growth, and inducing broader economic transformation in Africa are some of the benefits of modernization and regional integration of agricultural-food systems. To identify the best ways to bring about these developments, an international research team led by KU Leuven and IIASA analyzed the potential impacts of two critical developments.
The team used the IIASA Global Biosphere Management Model to model agriculture, forestry, and bioenergy in eight African regions. An agricultural development scenario where crop yield is increased and the costs of local trade are reduced is one of the scenarios analyzed.
The study lead author is a researcher at KU Leuven and a guest researcher at IIASA. Continental trade effects or the sustainable impacts of agricultural development have been the focus of previous studies. Both components are investigated in a model framework.
Free trade alone won't solve the issue of hunger and greenhouse gas emissions as trade integration will lead to the relocation of production. Africa's trade balance with the rest of the world improved as a result of the agricultural development scenario. A slight increase in greenhouse gas emissions was caused by the land-use changes.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement entered into force in 2021, and its national implementation strategies are currently unfolding all across the continent.
The reduction in outside food imports was further enhanced when the researchers combined free trade with agricultural development. The results of the study will hopefully lead policymakers to invest in agricultural development and trade integration.
Aligning continental free trade and local agricultural development policies will be crucial to achieving trade, food security, and climate objectives. The study author says that close cooperation between the policy areas of African trade is important.
More information: Charlotte Janssens et al, A sustainable future for Africa through continental free trade and agricultural development, Nature Food (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-022-00572-1 Journal information: Nature Food Provided by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
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