The impact of public agriculture expenditure on food security and nutrition in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Date
2021
Authors
Emmillian, Chifundo Kasililika-Mlagha
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
Food insecurity and malnutrition have worsened despite numerous commitments by African
governments and their leaders to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition as captured in the
Sustainable Development Goals and Africa's Agenda 2063. Africa's 2014 Malabo Declaration
on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved
Livelihoods set out the need to increase agricultural expenditure to reduce food insecurity and
malnutrition. However, analyses of the impact of public expenditure on agriculture in Africa
have focused on poverty reduction and economic growth, with very little analysis of the impact
on food security and nutrition. This study sought to fill this gap with respect to countries in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC). A panel data analysis for the years 2000
to 2016 was employed using a fixed-effect generalised least squares estimation. Four food
security indicators were used, namely, the average dietary energy supply adequacy; the
prevalence of undernourishment; the prevalence of stunting; and per capita food production
variability. The share of public agriculture expenditure in total public expenditure was used as
a proxy for government expenditure on agriculture. The results showed that public expenditure
on agriculture was associated with a significant positive impact on the average dietary energy
supply adequacy and per capita food production variability. In the study, increased government
expenditure on agriculture was associated with a decline in the prevalence of undernourishment
over this period. There was no sufficient evidence to show that government agriculture
expenditure on agriculture was associated with changes in the prevalence of stunting. The nine
SADC countries included in the analysis need to put more effort into acting on their
commitments, strengthening strategies to address the issue of food insecurity and malnutrition.
The nine SADC countries need to promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture and the
diversification of agricultural production to improve nutrition. They also need to increase the
development and use of biofortified food crops. As food security is essentially a public good,
public resources are needed to stimulate research and development, the adoption of
technologies and practices and sharing the knowledge of the benefits of these practices among
communities.
Description
Keywords
public agriculture expenditure; food security and nutrition; Malabo Declaration; fixed effects; Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme; Southern African Development Community