Agriculture under the Doha round and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Food security is of particular concern to many developing countries and a daily problem for large parts of the population. 'Food security as a concept originated only in the mid-1970s, in the discussions of international food problems at a time of global food crisis." The initial focus was primarily on food supply problems _ of assuring the availability and to some degree the price stability of basic foodstuffs at the international and national level. 'In 1983, FAO expanded its concept to include securing access by vulnerable people to available supplies, implying that attention should be balanced between the demand and supply side of the food securityequation.,2 Trade theory tells us that developing countries, since they tend to be gifted with abundant land, labour and natural resources, should have a comparative advantage in agriculture. Considering the existence of comparative advantage in these countries, it is reasonable to expect these countries to be able to supply food for the inhabitants. However, of the 39 countries worldwide that faced food emergencies at the beginning of 2003,25 are found in Africa." The practice and rules of international trade play a key role in achieving world food security and fostering agricultures." However, due to the protectionist policies that were followed by countries deterred the growth of global agricultural trade.