Sub-Saharan Africa food security conditions could improve in 2021

Published 2021년 4월 26일

Tridge summary

The article provides an overview of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on food security in sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily reliant on food imports. Initially, there were concerns about potential food shortages due to economic slowdowns and export bans by major grain-exporting countries. However, with the G20's intervention and favorable weather conditions in 2020-21, there has been a notable increase in maize production in several southern and east African countries, which could mitigate food insecurity. Despite challenges like corruption and inefficiencies in delivering farmer inputs, there is reason to expect improvements in food availability and poverty levels in 2021. Additionally, the article discusses the impact of the pandemic on South Africa's consumer food price inflation, noting an increase in prices for essential food items in the first quarter of 2021 but anticipating a decrease in the latter half of the year. It also highlights the importance of infrastructure development to support agriculture and reduce post-harvest losses in Africa.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, sub-Saharan Africa faced a potential rise in food insecurity, which was underpinned by the anticipated slowdown in economic activity, loss of income, and a ban on grain exports by major exporting countries such as India, Russia, Cambodia, and Vietnam had introduced. Sub-Saharan Africa is a net importer of food, with the World Bank having estimated that an additional 26 million people would fall into extreme poverty (defined as those living under US$1.90 per day in 2011 PPP) in 2020. By mid-2020, the concern about trade restrictions had waned as the G20 discouraged global grain-exporting countries from banning exports. Domestic evaluation of supplies by exporting countries provided comfort for sufficient food supplies in the world market. The slowdown in economic activity played out as expected, with sub-Saharan Africa's economy contracting by 1,9% in 2020, according to estimates by the IMF. Also, there were widespread job losses in the sub-Saharan ...

Source: Farmingportal