Future Challenges for the World Food Economy and Sub-Saharan Africa: Major Environmental and Socioeconomic Drivers of Change

In this chapter, we explore the nature of several key drivers of change in global food systems and describe the food security situation in sub-Saharan Africa within that context. One of the challenges facing the continent and the sub-Saharan region in particular is that of continuing exposure to market-driven price shocks that expose import-dependent countries to the increasing volatility of world commodity markets. Given their differing levels of price transmission, not all countries in sub-Saharan Africa face the same level of exposure to global price movements, but the overall trend of increasing import dependency will leave more of the region in a vulnerable position with respect to global market trends if improvements are not made in the internal infrastructure that supports the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Among the improvements needed are investments in irrigation and on-farm production technologies, post-harvest processing, and storage and distribution infrastructure, as well as increased agricultural R&D focused on improving yields of key staple crops under the increasing levels of abiotic and biotic stresses that will inevitably come with global environmental change. Aside from long-term climate change, the increased variability in climate that is already being experienced in many parts of the subcontinent will also require additional attention, investment and policy action. Within the context of sub-Saharan Africa, the gendered dimensions of poverty and malnutrition must also be closely examined in order to design effective and long-lasting policy interventions-either in terms of direct agricultural policy or social protection mechanisms.