The problem of food security continues to receive particular attention in both developing and developed countries (Sun & Zhang, 2021). This situation has been further exacerbated especially in developing countries with the advent of the Covid pandemic19 (Amare and al., 2021). Worldwide, between 702 million and 828 million people will be suffering from hunger in 2021, or 103 million more between 2019 and 2020. In Africa, the situation worsened to 248 million people in 2021. In addition, more than half (57.9% in 2021) of the population is severely or moderately food insecure. This compares to just 30% worldwide at the same time (FAO, 2022c).
In addition, a drastic increase in food prices due to trade and circulation restrictions has also been observed. As a result, 46 countries in the world are in need of external food assistance, of which about 75% are African countries (FAO, 2022b). Thus, in a context of climate change and other natural shocks with additional demographic pressure and ever-increasing war conflicts, the eradication of hunger remains a major global challenge. Moreover, food insecurity and malnutrition have direct consequences on human health and development. This in turn contributes to low individual productivity and therefore a delay in economic development. As a result, reaching the goal of zero hunger by 2030 remains an illusion, especially in sub-Saharan African countries.
Food security exists when people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009). This definition emphasizes that food availability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for food security. Thus, access, stability and utilization are distinguished as other fundamental pillars. To understand the problem, it is therefore important to take into account all four dimensions and make a scientific assessment of the phenomenon at the local, regional and global levels. Moreover, the analysis of the food supply and demand situation in Sub-Saharan Africa shows that the majority of these countries have import needs in 2022 (FAO, 2022a). This implies that the problem of food insecurity remains a structural phenomenon in developing countries.
The survival of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa remains largely dependent on agriculture. Thus, to assert their sovereignty, at the continental level and within regional groupings, food security issues are the underpinning of policy lines such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, Agenda 2063, common trade and agricultural policies. However, the stimuli of Egbendewe and al., (2016) have shown that under the influence of climate change, many countries in West Africa, for example, will continue to import food as demand increases more than the area's production coverage. As a result, the problem of food security remains a threat.
In this dynamic, trade openness should be a major factor in achieving food security, at least in the short term. However, the literature on food security and trade openness in SSA remains largely theoretical (Dieu-Donne & Tite, 2022). Thus, theoretically, trade openness can affect food security through changes in income, diet diversity and quality, productivity gains, substitution effects, food price volatility (Panagariya, 2002). However, it is not surprising that the role of trade openness is contested. Indeed, agricultural trade liberalization can have a negative effect on the incomes of domestic producers even if it benefits exporters and consumers (De Schutter, 2009).
Empirically, the lack of consensus is equally noticed in developed and developing countries. Some authors such as Abdullateef & Ijaiya,(2010) and Bezuneh & Yiheyis, (2009) have found negative effects of trade openness on food security. On the other hand, Fusco and al., (2020) and Dithmer & Abdulai, (2017) have found positive effects. The lack of both theoretical and empirical consensus in the economic literature reopens the debate in a context of pandemic, natural disasters increasingly abundant with wars mostly in countries providing food and agricultural inputs. Thus, this paper aims to re-examine the effect of trade openness on food security in Sub-Saharan African countries.
This study contributes to the literature for two main reasons. First, the context and coverage area of the analysis. Indeed, in the SSA area to our knowledge very few studies have been conducted in this sense (Golo, 2019). However, these have not taken into account the role of the quality of institutions, the geographical location of countries and natural disasters. Second, most studies have used poverty indicators instead of direct food security indicators Fusco and al., 2020). This study takes all of these shortcomings into account and remains an emerging study using a dynamic panel approach with the generalized method of moments to understand the overall level of food security in SSA.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical and empirical framework, Section 3 the empirical model, the estimation strategy and the data. Section 4 presents the results and discussion. Conclusions are presented in section 5.
1. Trade openness and food security: theoretical and empirical relationship
Since the work of Smith, (1776) and Ricardo, (1817), the problem of the effect of trade openness on various aspects of the economy, in this case food security, has attracted several researchers who have made it a privileged field of investigation. However, a reading of the theoretical and empirical work on this link reveals contradictions.
1.1 Positive effect of trade openness on food security
Heterodox think that trade openness would positively affect food security through availability (Kendall & Pimentel, 1994) availability, diversity and quality of products (Guerrieri & Caffarelli, 2012) quality of products, increased supply of inputs, and technology (Ethier, 1982) and technology transfer (Hassine & Kandil, 2009). Some empirical studies have confirmed this positive relationship. This is the case of the work of Dithmer & Abdulai, (2017) and Fusco and al., (2020).
1.2 Negative impact of trade openness on food security
In contrast to the first thesis, the orthodox argue that trade openness has a negative or mixed effect on food security. According to the argued thesis, trade openness leads to unsustainable development, a reshaping of the global food supply chain, impacts on the environment, nutrition and population health. This poses a threat to food security. Advocates of this thesis include Bush, (2001) and Wittman and al., (2010). Some empirical studies have confirmed this thesis Assoumou-Ella & Eba-Nguema, 2019, Bezuneh & Yiheyis, 2014).
The review shows not only the contradiction of the expected effect of trade openness on food security, but also the importance of an appropriate model for the analysis. In order to better understand the problem, this study uses a dynamic panel with several indicators of food security and trade openness in the context of Sub-Saharan African countries.