RELATED CONTENT : Food security

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    22
    5:30 pm March 2022

    حديث الثلاثاء: كيف يتأثر القطاع الفلاحي بالمغرب بالتغير المناخي وما تأثيره على النسيج الاجتماعي والاقتصادي؟

    يخصص مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد حلقة برنامجه الأسبوعي "حديث الثلاثاء" لمناقشة تأثر القطاع الفلاحي بالمغرب بالتغير المناخي ومدى تأثيره على النسيج الاجتماعي والاقتصادي، مع عفاف زرقيق، باحثة في الاقتصاد والطاقة، مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد. شكَّل تغير المناخ على الدوام، إحدى الإكراهات الأساسية أمام تنمية القطاع الفلاحي بالمغرب. فسيناريوهات التغيرات المناخية تشير إلى أن مناخ المملكة سيصبح أكثر قحولة وذلك بسبب قلة التساقطات المطرية وارتفاع درجات الحرارة، إضافة الى الظواهر الطبيعية الأخرى الحادة والمتكررة. ما من شأنه أن يؤثر سلباً على الموارد المائية والتنوع البيولوجي وكذا المشهد الفلاحي. بعد أربعة عقود من اعتماده سياسة تشييد السدود لضمان الأمن المائي، بدأ المغرب خلال الأعوام الأخيرة في تنويع برامجه للحد من أزمة ندرة المياه، وإصدار قوانين تضمن الحق في الماء لجميع ال ...

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    09
    1:30 pm March 2022

    L’agriculture africaine face au défi hydrique

    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub, Economiste Senior, participera à une table ronde virtuelle sous le thème « L’agriculture africaine Face au défi hydrique ». Organisé par i-conférences, ce webinaire ouvrira le débat sur les problématiques de l’eau en Afrique et l’utilisation des ressources hydriques dans le domaine agricole, ainsi permettra de mieux comprendre les enjeux liés à la stratégie de rationalisation de la gestion des ressources et le rôle de l’innovation pour des nouvelles techniques d'irrigation. Axes d’intervention : - Décryptage des politiques de l’eau suivies en Afrique et débat sur l’utilisation des ressources hydriques dans le domaine agricole - Quelles différences à relever entre les régions tropicales, arides et semi-arides en Afrique ? - Quels sont les principes f ...
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    Opportunities and Challenges for Food Security Innovations in the Arab World
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    April 5, 2024
    National and regional visions for the future of water and food security have been at the forefront of sustainability talks. Nevertheless, the role of soil in water and food security and carbon management needs to be highlighted and integrated into these discussions and visions. The dynamic characterization of soil as a medium that accounts for the long-term impact of the agro-environmental conditions is of utmost importance to sustainability of these resources and to sustainable dev ...
  • Perspectives on Hunger
    Eilish Zembilci, Duke University, Isabelle Tsakok, Alexander de Waal
    January 30, 2024
    Tune in to understand the motivators of food related insecurity, the historical roots of Western responses to global food insecurity and how policies can be built to encourage food stabil ...
  • Rising Food Prices: Understanding the Impact on Developing Economies
    November 29, 2023
    To emphasize the importance of addressing this issue and discuss the potential actions that need to be taken to ensure food security and sustainable development in these nations, the Policy Center for the New South is organizing a webinar titled “Rising Food Prices: Understanding the Im...
  • The Power of Innovation for Sustainable Development
    Afaf Zarkik, Jean-Louis Arcand
    September 27, 2023
    In this episode, we delve into the critical issues of climate change, energy transition, and food security in Africa. Our discussion highlights the multifaceted impact of climate change o ...
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    The Challenge of Achieving Food Security During Turbulent Times The Case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    September 12, 2023
    Nigeria has the potential to be an economic powerhouse, but food insecurity stalks a large share of its population. Over the last fifteen years, undernutrition has increased from over 7% (2004-06) to nearly 13% of the population (2017-2019). The COVID-19 pandemic of course exacerbated health and nutrition problems. With the current high inflation, an additional 4 million people have been pushed into poverty, from 90 million (Dec. 2022) to 94 million (April 2023) (WBG, June 2023). S ...
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    The Challenge of Achieving Food Security During Turbulent Times: The Case of the Republic of Ghana
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    July 11, 2023
    Ghana achieved lower middle-income country status by 2011. However, its growth path in the previous decades did not lay the foundations for the economic transformation of Ghanaian agriculture and therefore its overall economy. It relied primarily on extractive and non-renewable resources (gold and oil) and cocoa exports, and it did not diversify. While much progress was made in poverty reduction, pervasive low productivity and job informality continue to condemn millions to poverty, ...
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    Policy Pathways for Inclusive and Sustainable Tropical Agriculture: Experiences from Brazil and Africa
    Authors
    Ahmed Ouhnini
    Larissa Wachholz
    Bruno Brasil
    June 20, 2023
    This policy brief was originally published on T20 India website   Supportive policies for tropical agriculture have helped millions of small-scale farmers in Brazil step out of poverty by improving government capacity to design legal frameworks to strengthen agricultural production and family farming. Scientific and technological developments have enabled small-scale Brazilian farmers to produce food while considering local tropical conditions. In contrast, tropical agriculture s ...
  • The Weaponization of Food: Ukraine's Struggle for Survival and its Global Consequences
    Authors
    Helmut Sorge
    June 15, 2023
    If you search on “Google” for a pizzeria in Kyiv, you have many choices, such as “Mimosa Brooklyn Pizza”, “Mamamia”, or “Vesuveo”.  If bombs or supersonic missiles do not scare you, more formal dining pleasures exist. “Feel like a star”, reads one of the ads for the “Matisse”, located on the 15th floor of the “Cityhotel” in the historic part of town - an eatery 52 meters up could be a tempting target for Russian missile attacks. Wladimir Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing- ...
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    Short of Water and Under Increasing Pressure to Deliver Food Security: Key Policy Considerations - The Case of the Kingdom of Morocco
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    May 3, 2023
    For over six decades, Morocco has largely equated the achievement of food self-sufficiency (FSS) in ‘strategic’ food commodities to achieving food security. Successive governments have succeeded in guaranteeing the availability of and access to these commodities for the poor and vulnerable. In so doing, they have maintained social stability by fulfilling a basic social contract with the people. This is a major achievement, but the financial, economic, and environmental costs of this ...
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    Financing Climate Action: Equity Challenges and Practical Solutions
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    April 26, 2023
    It is estimated that $1 trillion to $6 trillion per year (up to 2050) needs to be invested globally if the world is to stay below the 2°C global warming ceiling of the Paris Agreement and to meet its adaptation goals. Currently, investments stand at about $630 billion per year, way below the original target. And although great efforts have been made in the climate-finance area, more than 70% of the funds deployed have gone to one sector, renewable energy, followed by the transportat ...
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    North Africa’s Invisible Partner: Exploring India’s Political and Economic Influence in the Region
    Authors
    Abdessalam Saad Jaldi
    Hamza Mjahed
    April 10, 2023
    This policy paper examines India’s growing engagement in North Africa, focusing on five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Despite lacking a distinct regional policy for North Africa, India has amplified its bilateral engagement with these countries, underpinned by a steadfast commitment to the principle of South-South cooperation. Through its strategic moves in North Africa, India has established a powerful southern-west axis for its foreign policy that stretch ...
  • Linking Food and National Security in Africa: Lessons from Russia-Ukraine Conflict
    Authors
    Seleman Yusuph Kitenge
    February 28, 2023
    Seleman Yusuph Kitenge an alumnus of Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders program. Learn more about him here. Introduction Food security refers to the availability of sufficient, safe, nutritious food for all people to maintain a healthy and active life (FAO, 2021; Suleri, 2022). It affects people at global, regional, national, sub-national, and household levels, and presents itself in different forms, including chronic, acute, and transient. Food insecurity exacerbates social tensi ...
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    Systems approach to water management
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    February 13, 2023
    The fundamental role that water resources play in human development has been highlighted in multiple ways; the United Nations SDGs underline 17 different goals and over a hundred targets to be achieved by 2030. Out of 169 SDG targets, 59 were found to have direct links and synergies with the water goal SDG6 (UN Water, 2016). Careful policy making and interventions need to be implemented to avoid conflict among sectors and tradeoffs must be well established. The Integrated Water Reso ...
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    Chaînes globales de valeur tourmentées : Risques et opportunités pour l’agriculture et l’alimentation
    Authors
    Abdelmonim Amcharaa
    Hassnae Maad
    February 1, 2023
    La double crise actuelle de l’énergie et du conflit militaire en Ukraine freine énormément les processus qui se développaient dans l’ère post-Covid 19. Dans ce contexte fragile et tourmenté, la vulnérabilité touche également les chaînes globales de valeur et les systèmes agroalimentaires. La vulnérabilité de la Chaîne Globale de Valeur (GVC) est une fonction de la capacité d’adaptation (CA) face aux chocs et aux impacts potentiels que présentent la fragmentation du ...
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    Short of Water and Under Increasing Pressure to Deliver Food Security: Key Policy Considerations The Case of the Arab Republic of Egypt
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    January 2, 2023
    Climate change threatens to reduce the water flow in the Nile and increase the frequency and severity of droughts and floods in Egypt, which already suffers from water scarcity. This threat is a looming crisis as it seriously undermines the Government of Egypt’s long standing food self-sufficiency approach to food security, an approach which is wasteful of increasingly precious arable land and water resources, while achieving neither more food self-sufficiency nor meaningful food se ...
  • Mediterranean Value Chains: between leveraging on the intra-regional growth opportunities and promoting the development
    Authors
    Saloi El Yamani
    Sabrine Emran
    November 25, 2022
    In a global context shaped by a three-dimensional crisis: the Covid-19 crisis, the climate change crisis, and the Russia-Ukraine war, the issues of connectivity, value chains, and the green transition are at the heart of the current policy debates all over the globe. In this regard, the Policy Center for the New South has organized, jointly with the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), a conference on November 2nd, 2022, under the theme “Connectivity, Value Chains, and the Green Tr ...
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    Regional market integration within the AfCFTA to further agri-food transformation and food security - The case of the Republic of Madagascar
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    November 11, 2022
    If the recent peaceful transfer of power in Madagascar heralds a new trend, then the Malagasy people can dream big. For decades, the exercise of economic-cum-political power in the hands of a tiny elite has held the entire nation hostage. Today, the high poverty rate—around 80% (2021) stands in stark contrast to the natural resource abundance of this huge enormous island. There is hope, however, that with political stability, the Plan d’Émergence Madagascar (PEM) President Andry R ...
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    Towards a Pan-African Approach to Food Security
    Authors
    Hafez Ghanem
    November 2, 2022
    This brief argues for a pan-African food security initiative that would: 1). encourage free trade in food products between African countries; 2). promote multi-country regional investments in infrastructure to enhance agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change; 3). support public-private partnerships to establish fertilizer factories across the continent; 4). create an African council responsible for coordinating and encouraging agricultural research and development; ...
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    African Security in Times of Uncertainties 6th Edition - SUMMARY REPORT
    Authors
    Rachid El Houdaigui
    October 21, 2022
    The sixth African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO) was held on July 20-21, 2022, under the theme 'African Security in Times of Uncertainties'. The two-day event was composed of five panels and one report discussion.  • Panel 1: The Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on Africa • Panel 2: Conflict Resolution and w in Africa • Panel 3: The Worsening of the Food-Security Challenge in Africa • Panel 4: Security Implications of Climate Change in Africa • Panel 5: African F ...
  • Is technology the answer to the African food crisis?
    Eniola Mafe & Helmut Sorge
    October 14, 2022
    In a conversation with PCNS Columnist Helmut Sorge, Eniola Mafe who is a strategist, international development leader, Founder at Eniola Mafe Advisory, lead of 2030 Vision Initiative and ...
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    Regional market integration within AfCFTA to further agri-food transformation and food security The case of the Republic of Rwanda
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    August 30, 2022
    Rwanda is famous for its remarkable socio-economic performance after the ravages of the Genocide against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has followed a state-led development model with stunning results. Despite these substantial accomplishments, Rwanda is still a low-income country with extensive poverty. Its agriculture is still of low productivity and highly vulnerable to climate change. Structural transformation has we ...
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    La guerre en Ukraine : premiers enseignements à tirer pour la sécurité alimentaire de l'Afrique
    Authors
    Henri-Louis Vedie
    August 5, 2022
    Le conflit russo-ukrainien fragilise la sécurité alimentaire d'un grand nombre de pays africains, la Russie et l'Ukraine étant deux acteurs majeurs du marché agricole mondial, particulièrement celui du blé. C'est pourquoi, l'approvisionnement en blé du continent est au premier rang concerné par ce conflit qui perdure, dont le premier enseignement concerne le risque de non approvisionnement, en blé russe et ukrainien, des pays qui en sont le plus dépendants. Cette étude montre qu'il ...
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    Outcome of the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference. What's in it for Africa and Morocco?
    Authors
    Said El Hachimi
    July 27, 2022
    Sleepless nights and the tireless search for compromise allowed WTO members to agree on concrete deliverables during the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference held last June. Those results reinforce Multilateralism. And this is a significant gain given the multiplicity of global crises that surround us. The Outcome include 6 Agreements, Declarations and Ministerial Decisions that respond to some of today's challenges, notably on Fisheries and Ocean Sustainability as well as responses to P ...
  • L'Afrique face aux incertitudes
    Helmut Sorge, Rama Yade
    July 22, 2022
    L'ancienne secrétaire d'État chargée des Affaires étrangères et des Droits de l'homme, Rama Yade, met le point sur la position de l’Europe face aux difficultés de l’Afrique en temps d’inc ...
  • APSACO 6th edition : African Security in times of uncertainties - DAY2
    July 21, 2022
    2021 was a year of global geopolitical disruption and geo-economic upheaval. As events gather momentum, the world enters a period of geopolitical and geo-economic transition; the end of one historical cycle foreshadowing the uncertain prospects of a new one. We are henceforth, in presen...
  • المؤتمر السنوي للسلم والأمن بإفريقيا : الامن الافريقي في زمن الارتيابات ـ اليوم الثاني - APSACO
    July 21, 2022
    كانت سنة 2021 سنة اضطراب جيو-سياسي وانقلاب جيو-اقتصادي عالميين. ومع تزايد زخم الأحداث، دخل العالم فترة تحول جيو-سياسي وجيو-اقتصادي تعلن نهاية دورة تاريخية وتُنبِّؤ بآفاق غير مؤكدة لدورة جديدة. وعليه، فإننا من الآن فصاعداً أمام تغير عالمي حقيقي ينطوي على نقاط ضغط متعددة وقوىً دافعة جيو-س...
  • المؤتمر السنوي للسلم والأمن بإفريقيا : الامن الافريقي في زمن الارتيابات ـ اليوم الأول - APSACO
    July 20, 2022
    كانت سنة 2021 سنة اضطراب جيو-سياسي وانقلاب جيو-اقتصادي عالميين. ومع تزايد زخم الأحداث، دخل العالم فترة تحول جيو-سياسي وجيو-اقتصادي تعلن نهاية دورة تاريخية وتُنبِّؤ بآفاق غير مؤكدة لدورة جديدة. وعليه، فإننا من الآن فصاعداً أمام تغير عالمي حقيقي ينطوي على نقاط ضغط متعددة وقوىً دافعة جيو-س...
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    Implications of Food Systems for Food Security: The case of the Republic of Mozambique
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    July 20, 2022
    Implications of Food Systems for Food Security: The case of the Republic of Mozambique Mozambique is resource-rich and strategically located on the east coast of Africa between Tanzania and South Africa. Its mineral wealth includes coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, gold, rubies, and natural gas. Valuable marine stocks include crustaceans, demersal and pelagic fish which populate its long coastline. Its agriculture is endowed with plentiful land, water, and a generally favorable clima ...
  • APSACO 6th edition : African Security in times of uncertainties - DAY1
    July 20, 2022
    2021 was a year of global geopolitical disruption and geo-economic upheaval. As events gather momentum, the world enters a period of geopolitical and geo-economic transition; the end of one historical cycle foreshadowing the uncertain prospects of a new one. We are henceforth, in presen...
  • Food Export Bans Will Make the Food Crisis Worse
    Authors
    Joseph Hammond
    July 18, 2022
    The world is facing its worst food crisis in 70 years as a perfect storm of geopolitical events contributes to a spike in prices. Wheat alone has jumped 53% since the start of the year. Alarmingly, a number of governments have responded to the crisis with export bans. Governments and organizations worldwide must act decisively to avoid knee-jerk neo-mercantilism, which would add to the volatility in the global economy. Globalization is at a fragile moment, and mercantilism still lur ...
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    Implications of Food Systems for Food Security: The case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    June 21, 2022
    Oil dominates Nigeria’s economy- “Africa’s Giant”. Oil revenues are both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because they are the single most important contributor to government revenues; a curse because, through the Dutch Disease, they undermine the productivity and competitiveness of other non-oil sectors, primarily agriculture and agri-processing; and manufacturing, two major sources of non-oil employment and incomes. Since Nigerian governments did not try to counter the Dutch Dis ...
  • Africafé : Les enjeux de la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique
    June 16, 2022
    Africafé est une émission du Policy Center for the New South qui décrypte l’actualité des organisations africaines et de l’Afrique. A travers de courtes interviews, l’émission tente de proposer d’aborder de manière pédagogique les enjeux des organisations africaines et l’actualité du co...
  • Impact of the Ukraine crisis on Food Security
    Nihal El Mquirmi, Isabelle Tsakok, & Rabi Mohtar
    May 20, 2022
    Traders have worried that the war involving Russia and Ukraine could stoke inflation, further disrupt supply chains and derail the global economic recovery. Scarcity of food has led to ri ...
  • The Global Food Price Shock
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    May 18, 2022
    The world food price index collected for the last 60 years by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hit its highest record in March, declining gently in April. Pandemic, war and death in Ukraine, and droughts in the last 2 years… Such a combination looks apocalyptical. Now it is adding global hunger risks, because of the food price crisis. The rise in global food prices started in mid-2020 because supply chain disruptions triggered food stockpiling. Mobility r ...
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    The Russia-Ukraine War and Food Security in Morocco
    Authors
    Abdelaaziz Ait Ali
    Uri Dadush
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Isabelle Tsakok
    April 29, 2022
    Following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drought in North Africa, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – large exporters of food and, in the case of Russia, energy— may inflict increased hunger on the food insecure in Morocco – despite mitigating measures by the government. Morocco is so far successfully shielding its large poor and vulnerable population by subsidizing essential commodities. With memories of the violent protests during the 2007/08 food and fuel crisis s ...
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    Implications of Food Systems for Food Security: The case of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    April 21, 2022
    For the second time, Côte d'Ivoire is known for being a "miracle economy" –high aggregate GDP growth of 8% per year since 2012. Despite this achievement, its food systems are unable to deliver food security to most Ivoirians. These systems are being undermined by several structural factors, which include broad-based low productivity and limited diversification of its agri-food sector; the high numbers of extremely poor, some 30% of the population; and the vulnerable who are millions ...
  • Integrated Transition Toward Sustainability: The Case of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Morocco
    Authors
    Afaf Zarkik
    Ahmed Ouhnini
    March 1, 2022
    Known for being a climate change hotspot, Morocco is at the forefront of a climate disaster. Consequences are already being felt, whether in the form of increasing temperature or a downward trend in precipitations, which directly threaten the water security and, by extension, the social-ecological systems of the country. The systems by which food, energy, and water are produced, distributed, and consumed heavily depend on one another. Their implicit feedbacks and links are not linea ...
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    Food for Trade or Food for National Food Security: A Dilemma for Drylands
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    December 10, 2021
    Addressing the increasing demands for water, energy, and food requires a coherent methodology to ensure that  societies have access to them and that conflict over them is avoided. For example, agriculture and food production  require water and energy; energy production also requires water and, in some instances, agricultural products.  Water distribution and treatment can be very energy intensive. Therefore, the benefits of approaching the Water- Energy-Food (WEF) nexus in an integr ...
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    Food Security in the Context of COVID-19: The Public Health Challenge | The Case of the Republic of Mauritius
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    October 28, 2021
    Mauritius  is  a  refutation  of  the  proposition  that  food  self-sufficiency  at  all  costs  is  the  way  to  achieve  food  security.  Mauritius,  a  trade-dependent  island  economy,  imports  around  three  quarters  of  its  food  consumption. It is food self-sufficient in only local vegetables and fruits. Post-independence governments have succeeded in virtually eliminating extreme poverty. Mauritius has grown at an annual average of 5.3% or 4.4% in per-capita terms for d ...
  • Global governance challenges of the 21st century
    Salma Daoudi & Marcus de Freitas
    July 02, 2021
    With the intensification of globalization dynamics, risks to the stability of the international system have grown to the extent that formerly localized threats are no longer locally conta ...
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    Policy options for food systems transformation in Africa - from the perspective of African universities and think tanks
    Authors
    Fadi Abdelradi
    Assefa Admassie
    John Asafu Adjaye
    Miltone Ayieko
    Ousmane Badiane
    Katrin Glatzel
    Sheryl Hendriks
    Mame Samba Mbaye
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Racha Ramadan
    Tol Fadi Abdelradi
    Assefa Admassie
    John Asafu Adjaye
    Miltone Ayi
    May 25, 2021
    Within the context of the United Nations Food Systems Summit taking place in September 2021, this brief discusses key drivers of food systems in Africa, as well as the challenges and opportunities for transformation. It concludes with specific policy options that could considerably accelerate progress towards the transformation of food systems across the continent. Specifically, this policy brief makes five recommendations: it recommends that investment in research and development f ...
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    Genetically Modified Organisms: Promising or Problematic for Food Security? A Review of Major Developments in Selected Developing Countries - Part II
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    February 16, 2021
    Selected experiences with GMOs in industrialized and developing countries show that the promise of bioengineering for strengthening food security cannot materialize unless and until GMOs are accepted by the vast majority of consumers as being safe and environmentally friendly. To date, the main effort has been on the supply side: bioengineered plants have desirable traits helpful to farmers, e.g., increased yields, resistance to pests, resilience to weather extremes in a warming wor ...
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    African Cities in Times of COVID-19: Resilience against all Odds
    Authors
    Paola Maniga
    Yassine Moustanjidi
    February 15, 2021
    The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed new vulnerabilities in social, infrastructure, and governance systems. In the first months of the pandemic, there was a genuine concern about the capacity of the Global South to contain the spread of the virus. African cities were particularly vulnerable, with some experts1, including the head of WHO2, predicting a catastrophe for the continent. Despite the structural and chronic challenges that African cities face, including informality, poverty, a ...
  • Food insecurity: a major challenge to overcome 
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub, Isabelle Tsakok
    February 04, 2021
    Ensuring food security for a growing population is one of the major challenges of the coming decades. The scarcity of natural resources, the negative impact of climate change on agricultu ...
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    Genetically Modified Organisms: Promising or Problematic for Food Security? A Review of Major Developments in Selected Industrialized Countries - Part I
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    January 8, 2021
    Building on decades of biochemistry research, bioengineers have successfully transferred genes across species to produce living organisms (plants and animals, including fish) with desired traits. Unlike traditional breeding practiced over 10,000 years, this process takes years not centuries from initial conception to field testing and commercialization. Given its precision and range of application, biotechnology has even been compared to ‘playing God’. Since the mid-1990s, major gen ...
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    Selective review of food security policy worldwide: what can be learned from international experiences in order to shape food security policy in africa? - Part II
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    November 26, 2020
    Food security for all requires (i) sustained productivity growth and competitiveness, not only of agriculture but of the entire economy; (ii) a social safety net; and (iii) resilience in the face of periodic shocks. This is the central message of this review. Two popular concepts in food security for all are food self-sufficiency (FSS) and food sovereignty (FSY). While countries have pursued different policies to achieve FSS, the common element in their approaches is the misguided ...
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    A Water-Energy-Food Nexus approach for conducting trade-off analysis: Morocco's phosphate industry in the Khouribga region
    Authors
    Sang-Hyun Lee
    Amjad T. Assi
    Bassel Daher
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Rabi Mohtar
    October 5, 2020
    Our Senior Fellow Rabi Mohtar has co-authored with our economist, Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub along other researchers a research paper entitled « A Water-Energy-Food Nexus approach for conducting trade-off analysis: Morocco’s phosphate industry in the Khouribga region » in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Journal (Volume 24, Issue 10). The study objective was to develop and use the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Phosphate (WEF-P) Tool to evaluate the impact of Morocco’s phosphate industry ...
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    Food Security in the Context of COVID-19: The Public Health Challenge, The Case of the Republic of South Africa
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    September 4, 2020
    South Africa shows that being food self-sufficient is a far cry from being food secure when poverty is extensive, the majority of people suffer from the “quadruple burden of disease”1 , the economy is highly unequal, and when improving the quality of the public health infrastructure remains a major challenge despite successive governments’ efforts. The major factors that undermine food security and health in South Africa are directly or indirectly due to the long history of social ...
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    Selective Review of Food Security Policy Worldwide: What can be learned from international experiences in order to shape food security policy in Africa?
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    June 25, 2020
    We are living through unprecedented times. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens not only our health, but the very foundation of life itself: our food security. Now more than ever, we are forced to rethink our food security as we witness the widespread dislocations to our food system, forcing millions to beg for food for the first time. During normal times, our world produces enough nutritious food for all but millions still go hungry every day. Why does this happen and what can be done t ...
  • COVID-19 : Sécurité alimentaire et fondements de l'espoir
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    May 21, 2020
    S'il y a un point positif dans cette pandémie de COVID-19, c'est la prise de conscience de l'importance de ce qui nous est le plus cher : la sécurité alimentaire et les fondements de l'espoir. Sécurité alimentaire : Ceux d'entre nous qui jouissent de la sécurité alimentaire réalisent à quel point nous dépendons de chaque maillon de la chaîne agroalimentaire. Pour les citadins, un des premiers signes que cette chaîne est rompue est la présence de rayons vides - pénurie d'approvisio ...
  • COVID-19: Food Security and the Foundations of Hope
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    May 21, 2020
    If there is any silver lining to this COVID-19 pandemic, it is the realization of the importance of some of what we hold most dear: food security, and the foundations of hope. Food Security: Those of us who enjoy food security realize how much we depend on every link of the agri-food chain. For urbanites, a first sign that this chain is broken is empty shelves—supply shortages and panic buying. We suddenly appreciate the appeal of food self-sufficiency or food sovereignty: develop ...
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    Ensuring Food Security During the Covid-19 Pandemic
    Authors
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    April 10, 2020
    Food insecurity is not a new concern. Many people around the world are already undernourished because of several factors, including climatic, economic, and political factors. Unfortunately, in times of crisis, as currently with COVID-19, food insecurity becomes more acute and requires urgent intervention to mitigate the negative impact on people's access to food. Aware of this, many governments have implemented different short-term measures to tackle this issue. However, it is impor ...
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    From Asian Green Revolution 1.0 to Sustainable Green Revolution 2.0
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Tharcisse Guedegbe
    September 27, 2019
    This paper is about the basic principles which should guide fertilizer policy for smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa It is not about detailed country-specific prescriptions on the “how” of policy. This important task should constitute the substance of detailed country studies. The overarching goal here is to use fertilizer to spearhead and sustain an African Green Revolution (GR). In this paper, fertilizer use is not considered as an end in itself, but as a necessary mean ...
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    A Nexus Approach for the MENA Region—From Concept to Knowledge to Action
    Authors
    Holger Hoff
    Sajed Aqel Alrahaife
    Rana El Hajj
    Kerstin Lohr
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Nadim Farajalla
    Kerstin Fritzsche
    Guy Jobbins
    Gül Özerol
    Robert Schultz
    Anne Ulrich
    May 13, 2019
    Adopting an integrated approach to the management and governance of natural resources including land, water and energy is seen as an effective way to improve the sphere of production while respecting the environment. Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub, economist at the Policy Center for the New South, was invited by Stockholm Environment Institute, alongside other prestigious research centers with expertise in environmental studies, to co-author this research paper and share her analysis of th ...
  • ARCADIA 2019: Africa and the Global Commodities Markets
    Authors
    Under the direction of
    Philippe Chalmin
    Yves Jégourel
    April 9, 2019
    Commodity prices were once again marked by significant volatility in 2017 and 2018. While there are many economic factors to explain this, politics were also present—trade tensions between China and the United States and, more generally, a rise in uncertainties—weighing upon the global macroeconomic outlook and the ‘dynamism of the markets’. Africa, which has countries with strong growth rates, has, however, been able to show solid economic performance, and this trajectory is not li ...
  • ARCADIA 2019 : l’Afrique et les marchés mondiaux de matières premières
    Authors
    Sous la direction de
    Philippe Chalmin
    Yves Jégourel
    April 9, 2019
    Les cours des matières premières ont, une fois encore, été marqués par une importante volatilité en 2017 et 2018. Si de nombreux facteurs économiques permettent de l’expliquer, la raison politique fut également bien présente. Les Annual Report tensions commerciales entre la Chine et les États-Unis on Commodity et, plus globalement, la montée des incertitudes ont pesé Analytics and sur les perspectives macroéconomiques mondiales et sur Dynamics « le dynamisme des marchés ». Comptant ...
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    ATLANTIC CURRENTS 5th Edition: Overcoming the Choke Points
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    Badr Mandri
    El Mostafa Rezrazi
    Eric Ntumba
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Hafsat Abiola
    Mbuih Zukane
    Mohamed Benaïssa
    Mohammed Loulichki
    Otaviano Canuto
    Paulo Antonio Paranagua
    Rachid El Houdaigui
    Rim Berahab
    Soukeyna Ndiaye Ba
    Tharcisse Guèdègbé
    Uri Dadush
    Yassine Msadfa
    Younes Abouyoub
    Youssef Mahmoud
    Maha Skah
    December 13, 2018
    The yearly Atlantic Currents publication aims to provide a detailed analysis and a fresh perspective about ongoing cultural, economic, political and security dynamics that are shaping the wider Atlantic area today. Launched in December during the Atlantic Dialogues Conference, previous editions explored ways to change mental maps and examined promising opportunities for the African continent. The chapters in this edition of the Atlantic Currents aim to cover key issues and choke po ...
  • Food Security in Morocco and India: Different Challenges for Joint Answers?
    Authors
    Ihssane Guennoun
    August 1, 2018
    “This article has been originally published in 'Morocco in Focus 2018,' the magazine of the Moroccan Embassy in New Delhi, India on the occasion of the Morocco National Day 2018.” Introduction In an article published last year, the author stressed the role of partnership between Morocco and India for the inclusive growth of small farmers. There is no doubt that agriculture remains a major instrument for human development both in India and in Africa. Several international reports h ...
  • Food Trade Policy and the Dietary Transition
    Authors
    Will Martin
    March 23, 2018
    The irony facing many developing countries today is that increased food trade and the implications of globalization has created a situation where certain segments of the population are simply put, eating too much, while just in their proximity lies a more significant segment of the population who are suffering from the complete opposite, malnutrition. This policy brief aims at explaining this double sided sword. ...
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    Agricultural Trade and Food Security
    Authors
    Will Martin
    December 5, 2017
    The second United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2) includes the goal to: “End hunger and achieve food security and improved nutrition” by 2030. While such an ambitious goal will clearly involve a wide range of policies and actors, this policy brief focuses on the role of trade policies in affecting food and nutrition security. Extensive and frequently contentious, debate swirls about whether trade in agricultural products is beneficial or detrimental for food security, pa ...
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    Chine - Maroc - Afrique Un partenariat agroalimentaire novateur
    Authors
    Fathallah Oualalou
    October 10, 2017
    L’objet de ce travail est de proposer la mise en place d’un partenariat de progrès entre la Chine et le Maroc, centré sur la question agroalimentaire en Afrique. C’est dans ce continent que la demande alimentaire va augmenter d’une façon très sensible au cours du XXIème siècle notamment en raison de sa progression démographique et de l’accélération de son urbanisation. L’Afrique est dans l’obligation de réussir sa révolution agricole pour combattre la faim et la pauvreté, accéder à ...
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    What Role Can Renewable Energy and Water and Food Securities Play for North Africa and the Middle East ?
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    July 28, 2017
    Renewable energy technologies are projected to have substantial growth in the coming decades, especially given the environmental, social and economic drivers observed globally. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region encloses abundant alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower. The concern is more whether the Arab region will be able to respond to and manage the growth opportunities in this emerging sector. This Policy Brief explores opportunities and chall ...
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    Africa and global commodity markets: from cyclical realities to structural
    Authors
    Yves Jégourel
    June 9, 2017
    In June 2017, the second Annual Report on Commodity Analytics and Dynamics In Africa (Arcadia report) was published, in collaboration between the OCP Policy Center and CyclOpe. Its aim is to annually report on the evolution of the economic, legal, financial and societal links between Africa and the world commodity markets, both with regard to the cyclical changes in the markets, and to the structural changes or failures that may have emerged. Focusing on 2016 and early 2017, the Arc ...
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    Relance de la productivité agricole en Afrique : l’espoir d’une sécurité alimentaire
    Authors
    Onasis Tharcisse A. Guedegbe
    Mohammed Rachid Doukkali
    March 31, 2017
    L’entrée des économies africaines dans le nouveau millénaire s’est accompagnée de performances économiques remarquables, par rapport aux décennies antérieures. Le secteur agricole, qui demeure la clé de voûte du développement économique et social, n’est pas resté en marge. Globalement, ce secteur continue d’enregistrer une croissance robuste, tirée par une hausse de la productivité, mesurée de façon partielle et globale. Les résultats à plus basse échelle laissent toutefois entrevoi ...
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    Revival of Agricultural Productivity in Africa: Hoping for Better Food Security
    Authors
    Onasis Tharcisse A. Guedegbe
    Mohammed Rachid Doukkali
    March 31, 2017
    In comparison to previous decades, remarkable economic performance accompanied the entry of African economies into the new millennium. The agricultural sector, which remains the cornerstone of economic and social development, has not remained on the sidelines. Overall, this sector continues to show robust growth, driven by an increase in productivity, measured in part and overall terms. However, lower-level results point to serious disparities and a need to strengthen progress towar ...
  • Oxford Economic Papers : Food price volatility and its consequences
    Authors
    Volume 69, Issue 3
    Introduction by Rabah Arezki
    Karim El Aynaoui
    Yaw Nyarko
    July 14, 2016
    OCP Policy Center and its partners, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED) at the New York University are pleased to announce the publication of a Special Issue on "Food Price Volatility and its Consequences" in Oxford Economic Papers. The papers selected in this special issue were first presented in February 2014 at an international conference organized in Rabat in collaboration with the IMF's Research Department and  t ...
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    The importance of agricultural policy in terms of security, defense and sovereignty
    Authors
    Abdelhak Bassou
    May 11, 2016
    Does agriculture indeed no longer have any place in national defense strategies? If the European and OECD examples encourage an affirmative answer, the counter-example comes from the United States of America, which considers agriculture and food issues as an integral part of national security. In the US defense doctrine, food security not only concerns the food industry, but it also concerns all areas of security. ...
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    The Role of Soils in Global Water and Food Security
    Authors
    Rabi Mohtar
    April 15, 2016
    Developing policies and strategies for global resource security (water and food) are critical to the healthy future of our planet. The world today faces an increase in the amplitude and frequency of dynamic stresses that greatly challenges our ability to provide effective policies and strategies. We believe that one limiting factor for this challenge is the lack of an adequate, standard quantitative representation that incorporates both the nature of the resource and its natural fun ...
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    Politiques indiennes dans le secteur des phosphates et des engrais: Dimensions internationales et intérieures
    Authors
    Isabelle SAINT-MÉZARD
    November 24, 2015
    L’Inde est aujourd’hui un acteur majeur sur le marché international des engrais, quels que soient les éléments nutritifs considérés. Qu’il s’agisse de ses importations, de sa production intérieure ou bien encore de sa consommation, ce pays affiche des chiffres qui le classent parmi les trois premiers acteurs mondiaux du secteur. Dans le même temps, une analyse interne de la situation en Inde révèle l’existence de nombreuses contraintes. Certaines sont structurelles car liées à la pa ...
  • Atlantic Strategy Group : Summary Discussion
    August 18, 2015
    OCP Policy Center and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in partnership with the Fernando Henrique Cardoso Institute, organized an Atlantic Strategy Group conference on June 23rd and 24th, 2015 in São Paulo, Brazil with a focus on trade, energy, food, and Geopolitical System...
  • Agricultural policies at the service of development
    Authors
    Abdelaaziz Ait Ali
    July 21, 2015
    The 16th Annual Global Development Conference has been dedicated this year to the theme of ‘Agriculture for Sustainable Growth: Challenges and Opportunities for a New ‘Green Revolution’.  One of the sub-themes that has been addressed during this event is related to the design of the optimal agricultural policy supposed to lead towards development, especially in low-income countries. The objective of this blog is to cover the key elements that make an agricultural policy successful a ...
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    Building Sustainable Agriculture for Food security in the Euro-Mediterranean: Challenges and Policy Options
    Authors
    Maria Cristina Paciello
    June 23, 2015
    Sustainable agriculture and food security are of particular concern for the countries of the Middle East andNorth Africa (MENA) region, and represent one of the biggest challenges facing the area. As a consequence of the region’s heavy reliance on food imports, the sharp increase in food prices since 2007 and the consequent world food crisis has had severe adverse effects in several countries, causing macro-economic problems (inflation, trade deficits, fiscal pressure), increased po ...
  • Gulf Food Security: Strategic Concerns, Nutrition and the Necessity for Trade
    Authors
    Eckart Woertz
    April 10, 2015
    1970s : Oil and wheat are strategic commodities, their prices are skyrocketing, Arab countries declare an oil boycott against the US and the US contemplates to retaliate with a grain embargo. Gulf countries are alarmed and look into a plan to develop Sudan as an Arab breadbasket.  This plan, however, unravels by the 1980s amidst political instability, misguided project designs and alleged corruption amongst the Sudanese (Nimeiri) regime. Instead, Saudi Arabia embarks on a subsidize ...
  • Successfully Transforming African Agribusiness through Private Equity Capital - Part I - Solving the Capital Formation Issue
    Authors
    Ezana Bocresion
    March 16, 2015
    Over the next couple of months, we want to explore the investing climate in Sub Saharan Africa (“SSA”) and try to understand where it is and what elements/variables are required to increase the continent’s attractiveness to institutional investors and thereby speed up the continent’s development. We will discuss the Private Equity industry in Africa and delve into the challenges faces. We will then work through how best to address them, and in particular, in the Agribusiness sector. ...
  • Interview Jamal Chahed - UNIT Tunis
    June 13, 2014
    Interview with Jamal Chahed - International Conference on The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Drylands: Bridging Science and Policy 11-13 June 2014, Rabat, Morocco ...
  • Interview Bassel Daher - Researcher
    June 13, 2014
    Interview with Bassel Daher - International Conference on The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Drylands: Bridging Science and Policy 11-13 June 2014, Rabat, Morocco ...
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    Thinking to practice: Applying complexity The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Global Drylands: Bridging Science and Policy
    Authors
    Daniel Yeo
    Global Green Growth Institute Ethiopia
    June 12, 2014
    Since the German government’s Nexus conference in Bonn in 2012, interest in holistic approaches to water, food and energy has exploded under the catchy label of ‘The Nexus’. The core tenet of the ‘Nexus’ approach is that water, energy and food are intrinsically linked at both the bio-physical level and the policy-making level – that decisions and actions on water, food and energy are linked and affect each other. This may be true, but it is not unique to the relationship between wat ...
  • Interview TONY ALAN - KLC and SOAS
    June 12, 2014
    Interview with THONY ALAN - International Conference on The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Drylands: Bridging Science and Policy 11-13 June 2014, Rabat, Morocco ...