GLOBALIZATION, INNOVATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A GMM APPROACH

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of the interaction between globalization and innovation on food security in sub-Saharan Africa over the period of 21 years, that is between 2001 to 2021. It employed secondary data which was sourced from the World Development Indicators to measure food security in terms of availability represented as “Gross Domestic Product per Capita, PPP, Dissemination (constant 2017 international $)”, accessibility represented by the “Food production Index (2014-2016 = 100)”, also, globalization and innovation quantified using Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and access to mobile internet subscription (% of total population), respectively. The study used the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for estimation. The results of the Generalized Method of Moments analysis showed that globalization has a direct and statistically insignificant impact on food security when measured in terms of availability with a co-efficient value of 0.071 but an indirect and significant impact on accessibility with a coefficient value of-1.467. Innovation, on the other hand, was shown to have a direct and insignificant effect on availability but direct and significant impact on accessibility with coefficient values of 0.301 and 10.722, respectively. In achieving the objective of the study, the results of the GMM analysis revealed that the interaction between globalization and innovation has an indirect and significant effect on availability and a direct and significant impact on accessibility with coefficient values of-0.076 and 0.809, respectively. Based on these findings, this study recommends that a balance should be struck between globalization and innovation to improve food availability and sustainable agricultural practices should be given priority.