BOLA O. AKANJI AFRICAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE, ADDIS ABABA, OCTOBER, 2011.

BOLA O. AKANJI

AFRICAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE, ADDIS ABABA, OCTOBER, 2011

Outline of presentationFood security – economic or social

development goal??Social and economic correlates of food

security in SSALimitations of conceptualization; threat to

gender inclusive growthGender transmissions to food security: Policy

transformation of the CAADPOther threats to gender-inclusive growth Emerging Issues and policy implications Policy recommendations

Bola Akanji. Food security, Gender and Human development. AEC, Addis, 2011

Stylized facts about Food (in)security in sub-Saharan Africa Structural problems of the agricultural sector remain a major

threat to its growth Institutional factors – policy gaffs and poor governance of

resources Structural adjustment without structural transformation –

macro –micro growth paradox The current food crisis is worsening food insecurity in Africa

(statistics are widely documented) The financial crisis is a major factor due to constraint on

financial (aid)flows, reduction in remittances, greater speculation in agricultural markets

Climate change poses new threats due to decimation of resources, worst hit are agrarian communities of African countries without technologies for adaptation

Gender Role Stereotypes Women are central to food security mainly at the subsistence or

Small Farmer Commercialization (SFC) level; Resource poor farmers are agents of environmental

degradation; are they agents of adaptation and mitigation? Low human development is a symptom of food insecurity – is it

also a cause??


Evolving phenomena requiring greater research and new levels of conceptualization (empirical and conceptual works)Threats to inclusive growth:

Is food security a social or economic goal in Africa – do we have the proper conceptualization

Policy transformation is imminent (via CAADP) – greater productivity, commercialization, structural transformation and women farmers??

Greater corporate interest in African agriculture and new threats on domestic food production and prices (and land)

Food Security indicators are closely related to both economic and social (human development indicators -MDGs) mainly via the gender transmission.

Climate change and conflicts over diminishing resources

Other conflicts (political, domestic etc)Bola Akanji. Food security, Gender and Human development. AEC, Addis, 2011



Figure 9a: Trends in Food (In)Security and Female Labour force Participation

Source: unstats/Millennium Indicators

Figure 1b: Correlation of Food (In)Security with MDG Four - Child Mortality



Figure 2a: Human Development and Food Security Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa

Figure 2b: Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender Development Index (GDI) Trends in Selected African Countries


NEED FOR PROPER CONCEPTUALIZATIONWhat are the gender and human development

transmissions within the Four-Way Conceptualization?


DEMAND SIDE•Food Stability(Post-harvest /external shocks – policy and environmental shocks)

•Food Utilisation (Household and the social and infrastructural environment),

Mediating Gender Assignments (MDGs)•Physical •Social •Economic •Cultural•Environmental•Political

SUPPLY SIDE•Food Availability (resources and productivity)

•Food Access (Food markets, food prices and livelihood options)

SUSTAINABLEFOOD SECURITY

Figure 3: A Conceptual Model of Sustainable Food Security and Human Development (Author’s Concept)


Resonates with the 4 Pillars of CAADPPillar 1: Extending the area under sustainable land

management and reliable water control systems – privatization, commercialization and commodity value chains (availability)

Pillar 2: Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access; - Improved agricultural trade and market systems (access)

Pillar 3: Increasing food supply, reducing hunger, and improving responses to food emergency crises; Building human capital, infrastructure and institutional capacity (stability and adequacy)

Pillar 4: Improving agriculture research, technology dissemination and adoption - Promoting sustainable environmental management and technological support (stability


Transmission Channels from Gender to Food (in)Security (Defeminization)

Food Availability Gender constraints on farm resources – land, water, efficient

energy sources will continue to curtail commercialization - productivity and output;

Policy transformation – specifically CAADP and national policies that emphasize greater privatization and commercialization – worsen this alienation of women’s farmers

Land-grabbing is a new potent threat that will worsen access to land of women farm enterprises;

Food security strategies that focus on women as agents (CAADP 3)still retain elements of old assumptions about gender roles – emphasis on their subsistence, small farmer commercialization and food aid, rather than on greater food access via entrepreneurship and inclusive markets

Climate change poses increasing threat on productivity of poor land-scarce farmers, in particular women farmers in the absence of adequate adaptation strategies

Deeper and more negative gender impacts on food security (output) arise via the human development nexus: As more and more small farmers are bypassed, there is has rebound effect of greater food insecurity and wellbeing at the micro-level: What impacts on achievement of the MDGs?

Defeminization of agriculture may appear to be the norm as opposed to much touted feminization; is this good or bad for African agriculture? Is it good or bad for inclusive growth?


Transmission Channels from Gender contd (Livelihood and FLP)

Food AccessGlobal interest in African agriculture (commodities) and natural resources and Commodity market development threaten food security by bypassing community food markets Female Labour force Participation (FLP) appears to be strongly related to the central role of agriculture in the economy. The FLP factor is strongly implicated in food accessibility and food utilization via the income and agro-industrial channels

Agricultural growth and changing technology-labour mix has implications for FLP: what are new possibilities for labour absorption for rural? New commodity value chains will provide more agro-based employment and food access: ability of majority of female farmers to engage with the process?

Expanded agricultural markets for women, (e.g cut-flower and other high-value agricultural systems) - tends to perpetrate other negative gender effects - wage gaps, poor conditions of work, increasing informalization and income (food) insecurity

Increasing female empowerment accompanied with increasing domestic and community conflicts and violence against women.


Transmission Channels from Gender to Food Security (education and infrastructure)

Food Utilization Small farmer commercialization tends to threaten household consumption at

the initial stages: Is SFC a threat to food security (utilization/adequacy) Gender inequalities in technology access and use dampens post-harvest

utilization and availability Mother’s education and FLP tend to have positive influence on child nutrition and health, mediated by time poverty: is there a trade-off between FLP and child care?

Gender inequalities in access to nutrition and through female life cycle impact on life-long development; reinforce feminized poverty and food insecurity

Food Stability (environment and conflicts) Conflicts - creating greater vulnerability by severing access to community

food supply system; women and children often worst hit. HIV-AIDS – infecting households and affecting female workers and carers:

impacts on effective and productive mandays, poverty and household wellbeing: are we addressing HIV/AIDS from a holistic perspective?

Climate change poses greater threat of seasonal scarcity, displacement and poverty, in particular female-headed and female-maintained households

As we focus more on the greening of economies, we may significantly address climate change adaptation: how should we best address the mitigation without involving the stakeholders (resource-poor women farmers)?

Food and financial crisis – gendered patterns of coping: women’s lack of assets, face reduced remittances.


Policy Issues/challengesDe-feminization – gender inequality or platform

for St??Inclusive agrarian growth – governance of

resources?Cultural rigidities about land and entitlement –

more reasons for de-feminization?Promote FLP in rural areas – what is the trade-off

with child nutrition and development? Commodification of care economy??

Livelihoods in CVD; Policy and budget imperative (social consideration)

Women as agents of degradation; also agents of mitigation


Policy RecommendationsInclusive growth policies to focus on Social

Policy IndexStrategic policy frameworks that integrate

gender and human development into agriculture and food policies; CAADP needs continuous re-conceptualization, strongly integrate MGDs; Gender Action Plans (strategic programmes

for women empowerment) to be conceptualized within extant agricultural policies


New Frameworks for inclusive growth:A new mindset about women farmers in agrarian

growth processInclusive growth is “both an outcome and a

process. ---- it ensures that everyone can participate in the growth process, both in terms of decision-making for organizing the growth progression as well as in participating in the growth itself. --------, it also makes sure that everyone shares equitably the benefits of growth --- implies participation and benefit-sharing. Participation without benefit-sharing makes growth unjust, and sharing benefits without participation makes it a welfare outcome” (IPC-IG, undated.)

Inclusive policy, must safeguard both the social and economic progress achieved; - share risks and benefits of development actions, avoid “free riding” and “overburdening of the poor”

Must continually assess the legislative and other frameworks for participation in the growth process


Strategic Programme for Rural Women’s Empowerment: Engagement with CAADP Pillars

Pillar One: African Women Feed AfricaPillar two: African Women keep agricultural markets goingPillar three: African women’s agency in adaptation and mitigation of climate changePillar four: African Women Light up Africa

Source: UNWomen 2011: Securing the rights and livelihood of rural women in the context of food crisis and climate change. New York


Policy recommendations contd Reverse defeminization through collective action in the governance

of resources Agricultural growth (corporatization) must develop around

community production systems and food markets Alternative livelihood for poor rural women outside land-based

agriculture: FLP in CVD, green economy, food aid programmes, emerging

high-value agricultureGreen economy jobs!!! New livelihoods around natural resources – land water,

forests also serves to mitigate climate change Green economy jobs for low-income women offer smart,

efficient energy solutions and enhance food access vis income channel

Leverage the ability of women farmers to engage in commodity value chains – public policy and budgets

Address human capacity of rural women – to enhance food utilization and child development (direct cause and effect)

Food aid programmes – that empower women both in the supply (production) and distribution systems

Building on Best Practices Many strategies have proven beneficial to address the concerns in

other developing countries. Bola Akanji. Food security, Gender and Human development. AEC, Addis, 2011

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BOLA O. AKANJI AFRICAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE, ADDIS ABABA, OCTOBER, 2011.

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