The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food System Governance in Africa

Abstract

Across Africa’s poorest countries, attention to food security has become increasingly urgent as climate change challenges the stability of food production and impedes agricultural productivity. With the 2002 Maputo Declaration, governments pledged to allocate at least 10% of the national budgets to promotion of agriculture and food production. They have also committed to the Nationally Deter-mined Contributions (NDCs) for climate mitigation and adaptation. How, in the face of climate change and growing food insecurity, are governments balancing these, potentially conflicting, goals and initiatives? How, if at all, do food system, agricultural and climate policy align? And equally important, are national and local governments even equipped to address climate- and food system-related challenges of rural and urban communities? And across different contexts, which political and economic factors - such as institutions, policy setups, land tenure systems, and political actors - affect local communities’ food (in)security and climate change vulnerability? This panel puts together empirical and theoretical contributions speaking to these important questions and thereby seeks to advance debates on the inter-section between climate change, food security, political economy and governance.

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