GPPi publishes paper on European approaches to food security

GPPi Research Associate Alexander Gaus has written a new paper that analyzes European donor support for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Titled Food Security. A Mapping of European Approaches, the study was released on 15 March 2012 and funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In his paper, Gaus concludes that the quality of aid to food security requires more policy coherence among the Europeans and international donors.

Despite economic growth in countries such as Angola, Nigeria or Ghana, agriculture is a sector hugely neglected for decades across Africa. Economies of scale exist only in a few countries due to low levels of mechanization, fertilizer use and processing of raw materials. Instead, smallholder farmers are the backbone of the agricultural sector and the backbone of African food security. Yet it is almost impossible for these farmers to fulfill this role given the virtual absence of market integration and investment from the public and private sectors in rural economies. As a result, 300 million rural people in Africa struggle to feed themselves and their families. Aggravated by the impacts of climate change and increasing foreign investments in arable land that neglect the rights and needs of the poor, the food crisis felt across Africa will grow with every year of inaction.

What are the top four European donors – the European Commission, France, Germany and the United Kingdom – doing to support lasting solutions to the hunger crisis felt in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa? This report provides a mapping and comparison of the policies and activities of these donors addressing food insecurity. It analyzes official aid flows and seeks to provide a first set of answers on how they could improve their policies and their coordination to develop complementary approaches and thus increase their impact in the fight against hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa.