IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v7y2015i6p1199-1209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reconciling food and water security objectives of MENA and sub-Saharan Africa: is there a role for large-scale agricultural investments?

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy Williams

Abstract

The attainment of food and water security rank high on the agendas of governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although the objectives are similar, the underlying drivers, resource endowments and opportunities for achieving them are different. Differences between two regions in natural resource endowment and investment capital stock can, in theory, lead to mutually beneficial trade to achieve desired objectives. Concerns about the recent food crises coupled with the disparity in land and water endowment and investable capital between MENA and SSA have led in recent years to investment in agricultural land in the latter by a number of MENA countries with the aim of producing food. At the same time, many SSA countries seek these investments to infuse capital, technology and know-how into their agricultural sector to improve productivity, food security and rural livelihoods. However, these recent foreign direct agricultural investments have to date performed poorly or have been abandoned without achieving the initial objectives of setting them up. Based on research conducted in selected sub-Saharan countries, this paper analyses the reasons for the failure of these investments. It then reviews a few successful agricultural investments by private sector companies with a long history of operation in SSA. Juxtaposing lessons distilled from failed and successful case studies, the paper argues that large-scale agricultural investments that take advantage of this accumulated knowledge are needed and do have a critical role to play. Such investments, when they also incorporate ecosystems management practices and smallholder inclusive business models in their operations, can serve as appropriate instruments to reconcile the food and water security objectives of both the MENA region and SSA, while promoting sustainable intensification of agriculture and improved rural livelihoods in SSA. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and International Society for Plant Pathology 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Williams, 2015. "Reconciling food and water security objectives of MENA and sub-Saharan Africa: is there a role for large-scale agricultural investments?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1199-1209, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:1199-1209
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0508-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s12571-015-0508-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-015-0508-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marion Dixon, 2014. "The land grab, finance capital, and food regime restructuring: the case of Egypt," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(140), pages 232-248, June.
    2. World Bank, 2009. "Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant : Prospects for Commercial Agriculture in the Guinea Savannah Zone and Beyond [Le réveil du géant assoupi : Perspectives de l’agriculture commerciale dans les sava," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2640.
    3. World Bank, 2015. "World Development Indicators 2015," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21634.
    4. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S. & Headey, D., 2014. "Scarcity amidst abundance? Reassessing the potential for cropland expansion in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 51-65.
    5. Abbott, Philip C. & Thompson, Robert L., 1987. "Changing agricultural comparative advantage," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 97-112, June.
    6. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Headey, Derek D., 2014. "Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-17.
    7. Nakano, Yuko & Bamba, Ibrahim & Diagne, Aliou & Otsuka, Keijiro & Kajisa, Kei, 2011. "The possibility of a rice green revolution in large-scale irrigation schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5560, The World Bank.
    8. Ian Goldin, 1990. "Comparative Advantage: Theory and Application to Developing Country Agriculture," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 16, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chenjia Zhang & Yiping Fang & Xiujuan Chen & Tian Congshan, 2019. "Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in Global Sustainable Livelihood Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    2. Enock Warinda & Dickson M Nyariki & Stephen Wambua & Reuben M Muasya & Munir A Hanjra, 2020. "Sustainable development in East Africa: impact evaluation of regional agricultural development projects in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(1), pages 3-39, February.
    3. F. Jorge Bornemann & David P. Rowell & Barbara Evans & Dan J. Lapworth & Kamazima Lwiza & David M.J. Macdonald & John H. Marsham & Kindie Tesfaye & Matthew J. Ascott & Celia Way, 2019. "Future changes and uncertainty in decision-relevant measures of East African climate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 365-384, October.
    4. Xiaoyu Jiang & Yangfen Chen, 2020. "The Potential of Absorbing Foreign Agricultural Investment to Improve Food Security in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Eckart Woertz & Martin Keulertz, 2015. "Food trade relations of the Middle East and North Africa with tropical countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1101-1111, December.
    6. Jordan Blekking & Dalal Aassouli & Ray Jureidini, 2024. "Food security and large-scale land acquisitions by sovereign wealth funds: a systematic review of the literature from 2012 to 2023," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Hichaambwa, Munguzwe, 2015. "The Geography of Customary Land in Zambia: Is Development Strategy Engaging With The Facts?," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 211222, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Kwame & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, A. & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa’s Changing Farmland Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Miscellaneous Publications 208576, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Deininger,Klaus W. & Xia,Fang & Savastano,Sara, 2015. "Smallholders? land ownership and access in Sub-Saharan Africa: a new landscape ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7285, The World Bank.
    4. Pritchard, Rose & Ryan, Casey M. & Grundy, Isla & van der Horst, Dan, 2018. "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity and Rural Livelihoods: Findings From Six Villages in Zimbabwe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 115-124.
    5. Derek D. Headey, 2016. "The evolution of global farming land: facts and interpretations," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 185-196, November.
    6. Larson,Donald F. & Muraoka,Rie & Otsuka,Keijiro, 2016. "On the central role of small farms in African rural development strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7710, The World Bank.
    7. Jayne, Thomas S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Felix & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, Anthony & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa's Changing Farmland Ownership: The Rise of the Emergent Investor Farmer," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212028, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Maria Cipollina & Nadia Cuffaro & Giovanna D’Agostino, 2018. "Land Inequality and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Headey, Derek D. & Jayne, T.S., 2014. "Adaptation to land constraints: Is Africa different?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 18-33.
    10. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Xia, Fang, 2017. "Smallholders’ land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    11. Baumert, Sophia & Fisher, Janet & Ryan, Casey & Woollen, Emily & Vollmer, Frank & Artur, Luis & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Mahamane, Mansour, 2019. "Forgone opportunities of large-scale agricultural investment: A comparison of three models of soya production in Central Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    12. Desiere, Sam & D'Haese, Marijke, 2015. "Boserup versus Malthus: does population pressure drive agricultural intensification? Evidence from Burundi," 89th Annual Conference, April 13-15, 2015, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 204296, Agricultural Economics Society.
    13. Sarah Ephrida Tione, 2020. "Agricultural Resources and Trade Strategies: Response to Falling Land-to-Labor Ratios in Malawi," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-32, December.
    14. Dong-Gill Kim & Elisa Grieco & Antonio Bombelli & Jonathan E. Hickman & Alberto Sanz-Cobena, 2021. "Challenges and opportunities for enhancing food security and greenhouse gas mitigation in smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa. A review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(2), pages 457-476, April.
    15. Nin-Pratt, Alejandro, 2015. "Agricultural intensification in Africa: A regional analysis:," IFPRI discussion papers 1433, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Kopper, Sarah A., 2018. "Agricultural labor markets and fertilizer demand: Intensification is not a single factor problem for non-separable households," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274184, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Kibrom A. Abay & Lina Abdelfattah & Hoda El‐Enbaby & Mai Mahmoud & Clemens Breisinger, 2022. "Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(5), pages 792-810, September.
    18. Jeffrey Chiwuikem Chiaka & Lin Zhen, 2021. "Land Use, Environmental, and Food Consumption Patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2015: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    19. Wiggins, S., 2016. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 1 - Agricultural and rural development reconsidered: a guide to issues and debates," IFAD Research Series 280035, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    20. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:1199-1209. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.