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Knowledge4Policy
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  • Publication | 2025
How Africa Eats - Trade, Food Security and Climate Risks
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Using a data-led approach, this book examines in detail what Africa eats and where and how it is produced. It investigates how finance, investment, foreign aid, institutions, actors and capacities interact with policies in holding Africa back from becoming an agricultural powerhouse despite having 60 per cent of the world’s arable land area.

The book evaluates how climate change exacerbates the continent’s challenges and scrutinises the sustainability of production systems in the face of environmental volatility. Experts in trade policy, international law and development unpack the barriers that currently limit the growth of intra-African food trade, including the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and model the expected impact of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on agricultural trade.

The extent of food deprivation in Africa is sobering. The United Nations estimates that a fifth of the African population is undernourished, and a quarter live with the day-to-day experience of severe food insecurity. How Africa Eats provides a vital, open access resource for academics, policymakers and trade experts seeking to address the continent’s food insecurity in the face of urgent threats from climate change, trade barriers and complex policy challenges.