Zero Hunger by 2030–Are we on track? Climate variability and change impacts on food security in Africa

Abstract

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the projected increase in the human population stands at 2 billion people by 2050. At the same time, world food production has been witnessing a declining trend over recent years, and 690 million (8.9%) of the world’s population are already in severe starvation. Climate variability and climate change impacts on food security are very eminent today. Against this backdrop, this study explored the real effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa by applying the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and the Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs) estimation techniques on data from 2001 to 2018 for 38 selected African countries. The findings reveal that higher amounts of precipitation positively influence food security along two dimensions: food availability and utilization. Hotter temperatures negatively impact food availability and utilization. However, it aids food accessibility in Africa. Similarly, carbon dioxide emissions improve food availability and are harmful to food accessibility and utilization in Africa. Consequently, the effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa are undesirable, thereby putting the continent at risk of food insecurity over the long run. These findings provide practical implications for policy change to address the disastrous effects of climate variability and change on food security in Africa.