What's New

The Africa south of the Sahara Food Security Portal was presented on September 1 at a side event during the 2015 ReSAKSS Conference. The event focused on “Providing Timely Data and Analysis to Improve Food Security in Africa.” 

Earlier this month, Malawi’s government announced a major change to the country’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), an 11-year-old program designed to achieve food self-sufficiency and increased incomes for Malawi’s resource-poor farmers. For the 2015-2016 season, a 50kg bag of fertilizer will cost farmers K3500 (approximately USD 6.31), a 600 percent increase from last year’s cost of K500 (USD 0.90).

Next week, the Africa south of the Sahara Food Security Portal will be presented at a side event during the 2015 ReSAKSS Conference. The event will focus on “Providing Timely Data and Analysis to Improve Food Security in Africa.”

The latest CGIAR report on the impact of climate change on African agriculture argues that increased regional temperatures and a greater risk of pests and diseases will affect crop, livestock, and fisheries productivity throughout Africa. Without effective adaptation measures, regional production of maize and beans could decrease by up to 40% relative to the period 1970-2000, leaving areas like Eastern and Southern Africa with a need to rapidly adapt in order to improve and ensure food security.

This study (a joint undertaking by a number of researchers and published in World Development), conducts a meta-analysis which aims to expose the nature and magnitude of post-harvest losses in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to identify gaps in their assessment and mitigation. Post-harvest losses (PHL) are a crucial factor that affects food security and nutrition across the region.