Africa’s worsening food crisis demands a new approach to agriculture, one that goes beyond the conventional methods that have failed to deliver food security across the continent. According to the UN’s 2024 report on food security, Africa has the highest levels of food insecurity, with 20.4% of its population about 298.4 million people suffering from undernourishment, a figure more than double the global average. This trend has been steadily worsening since 2015, with climate change and conflict exacerbating the problem. However, a deeper issue lies in the very strategies Africa has employed to combat food insecurity.
The root of the problem lies in the agricultural models inherited from the colonial period, which continue to dominate Africa’s approach to food production. During the colonial era, agricultural practices were designed to benefit colonial powers, focusing on the production of export crops that served European economies. Despite the criticism these models have faced, they still heavily influence the continent’s agricultural policies today. The prevailing assumption is that increasing food production will automatically solve food insecurity. This focus on production, however, only addresses one aspect of food security availability while overlooking the other critical dimensions: access, stability, utilization, sustainability, and agency.
In many cases, food insecurity isn’t just about the absolute lack of food but people’s inability to access the food that is available. Factors such as unstable food prices, lack of cooking fuel, and unsustainable farming practices all contribute to the problem. For example, in Mali, a focus on cotton production aimed at boosting economic growth led to soil degradation and increased debt among farmers, ultimately worsening child malnutrition. Similarly, South Africa’s post-apartheid land reforms, which prioritized large-scale commercial agriculture, have largely failed to reduce malnutrition or improve food security.
Another fundamental challenge is the undervaluation of agricultural development for its own sake. In many African countries, agriculture is seen merely as a stepping stone to industrialization, with an overemphasis on commercial farming. This approach typically focuses on monocultures and expensive inputs like fertilizers, which are often unaffordable for small-scale farmers. These farmers, who focus on subsistence farming or selling produce in local markets, play a crucial role in ensuring food security for the poor. Unfortunately, their farming methods, which are often more sustainable and better suited to local conditions, are undervalued in favor of commercial farming models that promise economic growth but fail to address hunger and malnutrition.
In light of the growing evidence that conventional agricultural strategies have failed, it is time to embrace a different approach: agroecology. Agroecology, which emphasizes farming in harmony with nature, offers a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to commercial agriculture. It combines scientific research with the traditional knowledge of farmers to design farming systems that are more resilient and less reliant on costly external inputs. Agroecological practices, such as polycropping (planting different crops together) and agroforestry (integrating trees with crops), have been shown to enhance biodiversity, improve soil fertility, and reduce pest problems, all while increasing food production.
While no African country has fully adopted agroecology, there are promising examples of its potential. In Mali, for instance, the temporary abandonment of cotton cultivation in 2007-2008 led to a surge in sorghum production, which helped avert the social unrest and food price protests seen in neighboring countries. Additionally, small-scale land reforms in South Africa, where larger farms were divided into smaller plots, have shown higher success rates in improving food security. These cases suggest that a shift away from large-scale commercial agriculture towards more localized, agroecological approaches could be the key to addressing the continent’s food security challenges.
Agroecology is not just a theoretical solution but a practical one backed by many African civil society organizations, including the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and the Network of West African Farmer Organisations and Agricultural Producers. However, African governments and international donors have been slow to recognize its potential. Nonetheless, there are signs of change. Senegal’s former agriculture minister, Papa Abdoulaye Seck, who was trained as an agronomist, now advocates for agroecology as a more sustainable approach to agriculture. Additionally, the European Union has begun funding experimental agroecology programs in Africa, signaling a shift in global attitudes towards agricultural development on the continent.
To address Africa’s food insecurity crisis, a major change in perspective is needed. It is time to move away from outdated colonial-era agricultural models and embrace more sustainable, decolonized approaches like agroecology. If this shift happens, future generations may look back at this period as the turning point that marked the end of intellectual colonization in agriculture and the beginning of a new era in food security for Africa.
