Risk and Resilience

In 2011, agricultural ministers from the G-20 countries met in Paris to discuss how best to mitigate the adverse effects of price volatility following the food price shocks of 2007-08 and 2010-11.  One of the outcomes of the ministerial was the creation of the Agricultural Market information System (AMIS), which aims to provide better and more timely information on market supply and demand and thus to enable more informed policymaking.  Another outcome was the support of a pilot program to establish a regional humanitarian grain reserve in the ECOWAS countries of West Africa.&nbsp

Maize plays a vital role in food security in Africa south of the Sahara, providing an estimated 40-50 percent of the calories consumed by poor populations. [1] However, the crop is also very susceptible to climate-driven shocks, particularly variable rainfall and drought. While drought-tolerant maize varieties have become more widely available in recent years, the adoption of these new varieties depends on farmers’ perceptions of the crop’s benefits – and their willingness to pay for those benefits.

Africa south of the Sahara currently faces a range of shocks - from civil conflict to increasing incidence of transboundary plant and animal pests and diseases to climate-related shocks stemming from both climate change and recent El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena. According to the most recent edition of FAO’s “Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Africa” , taken together, these shocks pose a threat to recent progress made in the region to attain food and nutrition security.

In Africa south of the Sahara, lack of access to financial services and products poses a serious challenge for agricultural growth and productivity. Many smallholder farmers are cash-poor; it is common for farmers in the region to sell their crops immediately after harvest in order to meet their immediate cash needs rather than waiting for prices to go up and thus increasing their profits. This lack of available capital, coupled with the difficulty smallholders often face in accessing credit, limits their ability to invest in their farms and in other incoming generating activities.

According to a special report put forth last week by FEWS Net, several areas of Nigeria likely experienced famine during 2016 and continue to face the threat of famine into 2017.

One area of particular concern is Bama Local Government Area (LGA), where the majority of the population is concentrated in Bama Town and Banki Town. FEWS Net reports that available evidence indicates that at least 2,000 people in these towns died from famine-related causes between January and September.