Knowledge Portal

This book links the themes of gender, nutrition and the human right to adequate food and proposes an inclusive food sovereignty framework. The authors argue that the human right to adequate food and nutrition are evolving concept and identifies two structural “disconnects” that fuel food insecurity for a billion people, and disproportionally affecting women, children, and rural food producers. These are the separation of women’s rights from their right to adequate food and nutrition, and the fragmented attention to food as commodity and the medicalization of nutritional health. »

his article on the Food Security Portal states that international cereal prices remain significantly below last year’s levels due to abundant global supplies and strong export competition. While the Food Price Monitoring and Analysis of FAO shows that cereal prices are low, the regional story is more mixed. Grain prices continued to decline in most West African countries, but maize prices have soared throughout southern Africa, particularly South Africa and Malawi. »

In this briefing it is argued that urbanization, population growth and environmental change in East Africa are generating distinct food security challenges for urban slum dwellers and the rural poor. The author argues that the relation between rural and urban areas will change, especially in relation to food security. By 2050, the proportion of urban residents in East Africa will increase from 25 to 44 per cent. »

This Report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development (APPG) give recommendations on how to support and scale up smallholder agribusiness development in sub-Saharan Africa. This report represents a summary of the wide variety of case studies, evidence and learning presented to the APPG. Enabling the development of small-scale agri-enterprise is a long-term venture and will only be realised in an inclusive way if women, who represent 70% of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, are specifically targeted. »

elaborates on the linkages between women’s engagement in farming and nutrition within rural households. Many studies have shown that one way to improve nutrition among rural households is to increase women’s engagement in farming since increasing women’s control of food production and their power to make decisions, leads to better nutrition for their families. However, increasing women’s time in agriculture may also have adverse effects on their own and their families’ nutrition, taking time away from nutrition-improving domestic work such as preparing food, feeding, childcare, collecting water and firewood, and engaging in good hygiene and sanitation practices. »

The analysis in this article uncovers the drivers for the variation in household food availability in sub-Saharan Africa. It suggest that targeting poverty through improving market access and off-farm opportunities is a better strategy to increase food security than focusing on agricultural production and closing the yield gaps. The analysis builds on data from 93 sites in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, across contrasting agro-ecologies and calculated a simple indicator of food availability. »