Food security and agricultural markets:

An analysis of the impacts of food price shocks on sub-Saharan countries

Abstract

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the food price crises in 2007-2008 and 2011-2012 led to increases in the number of undernourished people worldwide. In this study, we address the issue of food insecurity by analyzing the main causes behind the food price shocks in the 2000s. Moreover, we also investigate whether the sub-Saharan countries are most vulnerable to these shocks, as often pointed out by specialized literature. To this end, we analyzed the correlation between the maize domestic prices—the most cultivated and consumed grain in this region—and the daily kilocalories consumption in African countries. Results show that the poorest nations, i.e. the ones with per capita income below $ 1,400, suffer most from food prices crisis. Most African countries have advanced in addressing food insecurity issues. However, in some nations, the maize price shock in 2007‒2008 was a throwback in this progress, causing daily kilocalorie consumption to fall by half in relation to levels of early-2000s.