Food systems and food security in Africa: Looking back and projecting forwards

Achieving universal food and nutrition security in Africa is a pressing challenge and a crucial pillar of global prosperity, well-being and development. This introductory chapter defines the challenge of transforming Africa’s agri-food systems to achieve food security for a rapidly growing population. We discuss how food systems and food security are embedded in complex and slow-moving ecological, economic and political processes. We argue that strong agricultural output gains and continued reliance on food imports are inevitable for achieving sufficient and adequate food supply in the coming decades. We illustrate that both cereal yields and the agricultural workforce share correlate strongly with food security outcomes, that Africa is lagging in both dimensions, and that lacklustre progress has been achieved in recent decades. Moreover, the food security gains of both yield gains and structural change are comparatively low in Africa. Change of pace is urgent and motivates this edited volume.