The Food Crisis: A New-Found Momentum to Redefine African Agricultural Policies

The unprecedented magnitude of the current global food crisis took the world by surprise. Its hardest-hit victim, Sub-Saharan Africa (“SSA”), is in the midst of its worst food crisis in recent history. Immediate responses such as food-aid and cash-handout programs, although necessary to address the urgent humanitarian dimensions of the food crisis, are not long-term solutions. Attaining a sustainable solution to SSA’s reoccurring food crises requires that African governments engage the international community in candid discourses tackling the crisis’ main cause, namely the inherent structural fallacies of these countries’ agricultural policies. The recent food riots and civil unrest that occurred in many of these countries should incentivize such policy discourse, as SSA’s fragile peace is closely linked with governments’ willingness and ability to offer and sustain long- term solutions to food security