The “triple burden” of malnutrition poses a public health challenge across sub-Saharan Africa, where high levels of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in rural areas are accompanied by increases in overnutrition and malnutrition. obesity in cities. Climate change is a major factor in food insecurity on the continent: in 2018, 237 million people in sub-Saharan Africa suffered from undernourishment.
Many countries rely on the production of a single crop to ensure their national food security. Maize is one of the dominant crops in sub-Saharan Africa, covering a significant portion of the total harvested agricultural area in many countries, particularly in southern and eastern Africa. Therefore, staple crops like corn account for a significant portion of food consumption.
A recent World Bank report, “Productive diversification in African agriculture and its effects on resilience and nutrition explores whether specialization in the production of a single crop negatively affects household nutritional outcomes and climate resilience. It also studies how countries can diversify their agricultural production towards a wider range of crops.
Main messages:
- Diversification on the farm allows greater dietary diversity for direct household consumption. But when it comes to smallholder income, it is important to find the right level of diversification because beyond an optimal level, the positive benefits of diversification on farm income diminish.
- Farm diversification and specialization of agricultural production can improve a household’s resilience to climate-related risks, but diversified production systems mean a more resilient agroecosystem.
- Diversification can generate savings due to its positive effects on the agroecosystem, which reduces the need for production inputs such as fertilizers or pesticides.
- Diversification and specialization within the farm should be seen as complementary: while individual farms often increase their productivity and competitiveness through specialization, diversification of actors and composition of products at the community or landscape level provide access to diversified and nutritious food products, sources of income and employment opportunities.
- The demand for and resulting benefits of nutritious foods depend on the food environment. Nutrition education, awareness-raising and the provision of nutritious foods are essential to improving nutrition in Africa.
The study also identifies several measures that support farmers’ production decisions and focuses on the impact of policy measures and public spending in sub-Saharan Africa, which are often linked to large-scale agricultural input support programs and have resulted in increased specialization within agricultural holdings. This report highlights that there is no universal solution to promote diversification and offers a selection of policies available to governments that can promote or restrict diversification, including:
- Governments should revise input support subsidies and public spending whether they favor a single product and consider designing agricultural input support programs that enable the acquisition of a wider range of inputs and services; and limit their direct market interventions through sales and purchases of staple crops. Government interventions should only be permitted for the purpose of maintaining strategic reserves.
- More effort should be made towards the creation of a favorable market environment operate by putting in place appropriate institutions and regulations (e.g. on standardization, provision of weather and price information, competition, trade finance or dispute resolution mechanisms), but also by strengthening physical investments and supporting rural-rural and rural-urban transport connections and service.
- Invest more in agricultural research and development focusing on gender, climate and nutrition-sensitive practices, technologies and services, as well as providing timely and relevant agricultural advisory services, training and information, tailored to different types of farmers .
- Intensify advocacy for nutritional awareness and educational programs aimed at maximizing consumption of nutritious foods from both their own production and market purchases.
- Review policies and laws on land and water ownership, with the aim of ensure equitable access and tenure security to natural resources that increase productivity for small farmers.
The report was developed in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), as well as the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI ).
