Food Security, Nutrition and Commercialisation in sub-Saharan Africa – a Synthesis of Afrint Findings

Abstract

While macro-level data as well as sub-sector studies across a number of African countries suggest improvements in agricultural production over the past couple of decades, the extent to which such growth has been based on smallholder production and, as such, has affected smallholder food security and commercialisation is unknown (Wiggins, Keats and Sumberg 2015). The potential for evaluating the possibilities for pro-poor agricultural growth and the commercialisation pathways tied to such growth is hampered by a lack of longitudinal data that traces the evolution of smallholder consumption, food security, nutritional diversity and commercialisation over time. Moreover, while the regional (and sometimes even local) prospects for production as well as commercialisation are reported to vary widely, a regional approach to pro-poor agricultural growth is seldom taken. Finally, although studies of gendered time-use in agricultural production and its nutritional outcomes exist, few studies consider the links between food security, gender and pathways of commercialisation. This paper does not therefore focus on production as such, but explores the connection between commercialisation and food security. The analysis is based primarily on descriptive statistics; it does not aim to explore causal relations but rather to assemble data to elucidate changes over time in crosssectional patterns. The paper uses data from the Afrint database covering roughly 2,100 smallholders in six African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, surveyed in 2002, 2008 and 2013. It addresses key aspects of food and nutrition security and their linkages to commercialisation. Following a presentation of the data at the country level, regional comparisons will be made, discussing the linkages between food security outcomes and particular commercialisation pathways for the final wave of panel data (2008–13).