Inter-locked crises, competing value chains, and food security in Africa

project summary

<table> <tbody> <tr> <td>The inter-locking of three crises (food, energy/climate change and financial crises) is affecting the configuration of food and biofuel value chains and access to food in Africa. The impact of high international food prices on production and food security is complex, depending on whether countries and farming households are net food buyers or sellers. High oil and fertilizer prices affect the net profitability of food production and trade. Competing demand for biofuel production and animal feed further complicates the picture. At the same time, the financial crisis affects flows of food, biofuel and feedstock by placing limitations on trade finance. This initiative aims at developing a research and capacity building programme that would tackle these complex dynamics and develop appropriate policy and strategic tools related to food, energy and finance. This would be achieved through an examination of how the inter-locking crises lead to the restructuring of global value chains for selected grains, fish, biofuel, animal feed and fertilizer, and how these changes impact regional and local food provision systems, food security and farm income. The country selection would cover both Francophone West Africa and Eastern/Southern Africa and be based on a matrix including net food exporters (e.g. Burkina Faso and Zambia), small net food importers (Mali, Tanzania or Uganda), a large food importer (Senegal), and biofuel producers (Zambia and Senegal).</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>