"In Will Africa Feed China?, Deborah Brautigam, one of the world's leading experts on China and Africa, challenges the conventional wisdom that the Chinese are leading the great African land grab. Her eye-opening analysis sheds new light on the myths and realities of China's evolving global quest for food security"--

Interestingly, some relief from today's woes may come from ancient human practices. While current agri-food production models rely on abundant supplies of water, energy, and arable land and generate significant greenhouse gas emissions in addition to forest and biodiversity loss, past practices point toward more affordable and sustainable paths. Different forms of insect farming and soilless crop farming, or hydroponics, have existed for centuries. In this report the authors make a persuasive case that frontier agriculture, particularly insect and hydroponic farming, can complement conventional agriculture. Both technologies reuse society's agricultural and organic industrial waste to produce nutritious food and animal feed without continuing to deplete the planet's land and water resources, thereby converting the world's wasteful linear food economy into a sustainable, circular food economy. As the report shows, insect and hydroponic farming can create jobs, diversify livelihoods, improve nutrition, and provide many other benefits in African and fragile, conflict-affected countries. Together with other investments in climate-smart agriculture, such as trees on farms, alternate wetting and drying rice systems, conservation agriculture, and sustainable livestock, these technologies are part of a promising menu of solutions that can help countries move their land, food, water, and agriculture systems toward greater sustainability and reduced emissions. This is a key consideration as the World Bank renews its commitment to support countries' climate action plans. This book is the Bank's first attempt to look at insect and hydroponic farming as possible solutions to the world's climate and food and nutrition security crisis and may represent a new chapter in the Bank's evolving efforts to help feed and sustain the planet.

The rise in global food prices and the ever-growing food import bill have prompted sharp attention on agricultural policies in Africa. African policy makers are grappling with what unstable food prices mean for their countries; how these price movements will affect their food security situation; how the private sector is likely to respond; and what governments themselves can do. In addition, they fear that global warming may significantly change the location of food production within Africa. This report discusses how opening up cross-border trade will boost the potential for greater food production in Africa and contribute to food security by improving poor people’s access to food and by increasing returns to poor farmers for the food they produce.

Food Crop Production by Smallholder Farmers in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Improvement evaluates traditional cultivation practices used by smallholder farmers, providing a synthesis of the latest information on increasing crop yield through adoption of research innovations. The book catalogs smallholder cultivation practices and recommends innovative strategies for improving the agriculture sector including: management practices that reduce net carbon emissions; technologies that improve soil structures and conserve the natural resources base; means of empowering female resources along value chains; and government commitment to adopt policies that enhance agriculture productivity by encouraging farmers to use environmentally sound cultivation technologies. Traditional farming techniques often produce negative impacts on the environment and ecosystem resulting in outbreaks of diseases and pests. In addition to the region’s recurrent droughts, these outbreaks of numerous diseases and pests, weeds and other invasive plants put thousands at risk of poverty and hunger, as well as malnutrition. This book presents enhanced agricultural production technologies for ensuring adequate food production, safety and nutritional quality for the population of Southern Africa and forms the basis for an increased SADC regional effort in food production through which financial and trade institutions can improve stakeholder capacities, encourage micro-enterprise development and enhance employment and regional trade. Provides a critical synthesis of data and information for increasing crop yield through adoption of research innovations Evaluates traditional and scientific interventions that address food security issues of the poor farmers in the region Presents agro-ecologies of countries in the region and how they relate to various cultivation practices Catalogs smallholder cultivation practices and recommends innovative strategies for improving the agriculture sector

Africa requires a new agricultural transformation that is appropriate for Africa, that recognizes the continent's diverse environments and climates, and that takes into account its histories and cultures while benefiting rural smallholder farmers and their families. In this boldly optimistic book, Sir Gordon Conway, Ousmane Badiane, and Katrin Glatzel describe the key challenges faced by Africa's smallholder farmers and present the concepts and practices of Sustainable Intensification (SI) as opportunities to sustainably transform Africa's agriculture sector and the livelihoods of millions of smallholders. The way forward, they write, will be an agriculture sector deeply rooted within SI: producing more with less, using fertilizers and pesticides more prudently, adapting to climate change, improving natural capital, adopting new technologies, and building resilience at every stage of the agriculture value chain. Food for All in Africa envisions a virtuous circle generated through agricultural development rooted in SI that results in greater yields, healthier diets, improved livelihoods for farmers, and sustainable economic opportunities for the rural poor that in turn generate further investment. It describes the benefits of digital technologies for farmers and the challenges of transforming African agricultural policies and creating effective and inspiring leadership. Food for All in Africa demonstrates why we should take on the challenge and provides ideas and methods through which it can be met.

Africa is facing a food crisis of unprecedented proportions. Millions are expected to be at risk of worsening hunger in the near future due to the rippling effects of the war in Ukraine, which are compounding the devastating impacts that conflicts, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic are having on the most vulnerable. In this context, social and gender inequalities are also on the rise, with women and girls being among the most affected by these shocks. Despite efforts made in several countries, the African continent is not on track to meet the food security and nutrition targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger for 2030, and certainly the Malabo targets of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025. The most recent estimates show that nearly 282 million people in Africa (about 20 percent of the population) were undernourished in 2022, an increase of 57 million people since the COVID-19 pandemic began. About 868 million people were moderately or severely food-insecure and more than one-third of them – 342 million people – were severely food-insecure. The present edition of the report presents the latest analysis of the prevalence and trends in undernourishment, food insecurity, and malnutrition. In addition, it includes, for the first time, estimates of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet, which are useful indicators of people’s economic access to nutritious foods and healthy diets. The deterioration of the food security situation and the lack of progress towards the WHO global nutrition targets make it imperative for countries to step up their efforts if they are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The call for greater action remains true in view of the projected lower rate of economic growth, high general and food price inflation, and raising borrowing costs on domestic and international markets since 2022.