Abstract

In an era of global environmental challenges, understanding the dynamics of food production is crucial, particularly in regions prone to food insecurity and susceptible to climatic variations. Despite extensive research on agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a thorough examination of the combined effects of various determinants, including food prices and institutional quality, on food security remains limited. Using panel data from 2002 to 2020, this study explores the effects of agricultural land, population growth, environmental degradation, income per capita, food prices, capital formation, and institutional quality on food security in 32 SSA countries. Based on the Pedroni and Kao cointegration test outcomes, a long-run correlation between food security and its influencing factors is evident. The findings from the pooled mean group (PMG) models reveal that extended agricultural land leads to enhanced food security both in the short- and long-run. Likewise, population expansion, rising per capita income, and capital formation drive higher food demand, contributing positively to food security outcomes. Conversely, environmental degradation poses a significant threat, impairing food security in the SSA. Mixed results are observed with food prices, where higher prices can both enhance and reduce food security. The poor institutional quality in SSA correlates with food insecurity. Importantly, the Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality test results reveal bidirectional causality between food security and most variables, except for food inflation and institutional quality. The method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) strengthens the robustness of the study findings. Building on these insights, the study recommends focusing on sustainable land use practices, effective environmental management strategies, increased agricultural investment, governance reforms, and implementing balanced pricing mechanisms.

Introduction

Food security remains a prominent global concern, as asserted in Sustainable Development Goal 2 of the 2030 Agenda. The goal of ending hunger, food insecurity, and undernutrition has been the focus of recent studies [ 1 , 2 ]. Ensuring access to food and its availability is vital for enhancing human development and potential, as it plays a critical role in strengthening human capabilities [ 3 ]. Numerous interrelated variables, including population expansion, climatic issues, conflicts, and land degradation, have threatened global food security [ 4 , 5 ]. Since the beginning of the industrial age, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have increased, resulting in greater radiative force that affects the atmosphere, leading to the warming of the earth’s surface and climatic changes [ 6 ]. Consequently, elevated air temperatures, heavy rainfall, and prolonged droughts affected water availability and agricultural yield, ultimately leading to a reduction in food availability and compromising food security [ 7 ]. Environmental shifts greatly affect the lives of rural residents, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), who rely predominantly on agriculture for sustenance [ 8 ]. Hence, recognizing and adopting sustainable development strategies is essential to ensuring food security and self-reliance within the agricultural sector while also meeting the growing need for food in the face of land degradation [ 9 ].

Evaluating food security is crucial for aid, famine risk monitoring, nutrition assessment, and policy shaping, requiring global attention from professionals, policymakers, and researchers [ 10 ]. As FAO et al. [ 11 ] highlight, food security is a binary state—a person can be either food-secure or insecure. Food security has continuously acquired prominence and economic relevance since the 1974 World Food Conference, which focused heavily on issues related to hunger, famine, and the food crisis [ 12 , 13 ]. Although the description of food security has developed over time, it continues to denote a condition where all individuals consistently possess physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, nutritionally adequate food that meets their dietary preferences and requirements, enabling them to maintain active and healthy lifestyles. The four main pillars of this comprehensive definition are utilization, affordability, stability, and availability [ 14 , 15 ]. The declining production of major food crops due to environmental degradation has food security implications in low-income countries [ 2 ]. Besides, Pérez-Escamilla [ 16 ] points out that inadequate food has harmful consequences for physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being, disrupting social and environmental balance with far-reaching implications. Additionally, Burchi and De Muro [ 17 ] suggested that inadequate education, health, and essential life skills can contribute to food insecurity.

Conclusion

In the context of mounting global environmental trials, it becomes imperative to comprehend the complexities of food security dynamics, especially in areas grappling with food shortages, vulnerable to climatic fluctuations, and undergoing rapid demographic transformations. Although there is a substantial body of research addressing agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, a comprehensive analysis of the collective impact of diverse factors, such as food pricing dynamics and the quality of institutional frameworks, on food security is still notably scarce. Therefore, this study utilizes panel data from 2002 to 2020 to examine the effects of agricultural land, population growth, environmental degradation, food prices, gross capital formation, and institutional quality on food security in 32 SSA countries. The study identified cross-sectional dependence to apply panel cointegration methods such as PMG and MG and refuted the null hypothesis that the slope coefficients are homogeneous. Regarding this, we employed second-generation unit root tests, specifically CADF and CIPS, to ascertain the integration order of the variables, revealing a mixed stationarity of I (0) and I (1). Furthermore, the long-run cointegration relationship between the scrutinized variables and food security was established through Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests. The MMQR analysis confirmed the robustness of the long-run findings obtained through the PMG method. Additionally, the study utilized the Dumitrescu-Hurlin test to ascertain the causality pathways among these variables.