High food prices in east and southern Africa: Four steps to boost production and make markets work better – ZAWYA

Report on Food Security and Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa

Introduction: The Challenge to Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger)

Nations in eastern and southern Africa are confronting a significant challenge to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger). Despite favourable harvests in 2025, the region continues to experience high and volatile food prices. This situation is exacerbated by the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related weather shocks, posing a direct threat to food security and nutritional outcomes. The G20 Food Security Task Force has acknowledged this persistent crisis, highlighting the paradox of widespread hunger amidst sufficient global food production. This report analyses the market failures and structural deficits hindering the region’s progress towards the SDGs and proposes a framework for action.

Analysis of Key Barriers to Sustainable Development

Market Inefficiencies and Price Volatility

The primary obstacle to food security is the severe dysfunction within regional agricultural markets, which undermines both SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Data from the African Market Observatory reveals critical issues:

• Extreme Price Disparities: Maize prices demonstrate significant variance, with prices in Kenya exceeding US$450/tonne while post-harvest prices in Zambia were around US$200/tonne. This gap far exceeds transportation costs, indicating market fragmentation and policy failures such as export restrictions.
• Input and Commodity Costs: High prices for essential inputs like fertiliser and commodities such as vegetable oil and rice persist across the region.
• Impact on Nutrition: Price differentials for soybeans, a key component of animal feed, inhibit the expansion of poultry and fish farming, which are crucial for improving nutrition for low-income households.

Climate Change and Infrastructure Deficits

The region’s vulnerability to climate change directly impacts SDG 13 (Climate Action) and its ability to build resilient food systems. This is compounded by significant infrastructure gaps, which impede progress on SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

• Climate Shocks: The aftermath of events like the 2024 El Niño demonstrates the region’s susceptibility to climate shocks, which disrupt production and supply chains.
• Infrastructure Gaps: A lack of investment in storage, logistics, processing facilities, and water management systems prevents the region from capitalizing on its abundant arable land and water resources.
• Import Dependency: Despite its agricultural potential, the region remains a substantial net importer of staple foods, highlighting a failure to develop sustainable, self-sufficient agro-industrial strategies.

A Strategic Framework for Achieving the SDGs

Fostering Regional Cooperation for SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)

The G20’s adoption of the “ubuntu” philosophy underscores the need for enhanced regional cooperation. Current “beggar thy neighbour” policies, such as trade restrictions during droughts, are counterproductive. A collaborative approach is essential for building integrated and fair regional markets. A critical failure in partnership is the lack of regional data in global platforms like the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), which prevents transparent market monitoring and coordinated policy responses.

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture and Economic Growth (SDG 2, SDG 8, and SDG 9)

Eastern and southern Africa has the potential to become a global leader in the production of crops like maize and soybeans. Realizing this potential is key to achieving several SDGs:

• SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Expanding sustainable production and developing value-adding food processing industries can ensure food security and improve nutrition.
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): A robust agro-industrial sector can create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
• SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure): Strategic investment in agricultural infrastructure is foundational for building a resilient and productive economy.

Recommendations for Action

To address these challenges and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, a multi-faceted approach is required:

1. Establish Regional Market Monitoring: In line with SDG 2 and SDG 10, it is essential to implement robust monitoring of food prices, trade flows, and market structures. This will guard against market manipulation and provide the data needed for evidence-based policy, especially in response to climate shocks (SDG 13).
2. Strengthen Governance and Enforcement: To support SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), governance of food value chains must be improved. This includes enforcing clear rules against anti-competitive practices and empowering competition authorities to regulate cross-border market power abuses.
3. Invest in Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Achieving SDG 9 and SDG 13 requires significant investment in infrastructure. Priority should be given to storage facilities and appropriate irrigation systems to improve yields, enhance resilience to climate change, and mitigate market volatility.
4. Mobilise Financing for Producers: To advance SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 8, financing must be directed towards the small and medium-scale producers who are the backbone of the region’s agricultural sector.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger: This is the central theme of the article, which focuses on food security, hunger, malnutrition, volatile food prices, and the need to improve agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa.
• SDG 13: Climate Action: The article explicitly links food insecurity to “climate-related weather shocks” that are becoming “deeper and more frequent,” highlighting the need for adaptation and resilience in the agricultural sector.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The article discusses the role of the G20 Food Security Task Force, the need for regional cooperation to replace “beggar thy neighbour” policies like export restrictions, and the importance of shared market information systems (like the African Market Observatory and AMIS).
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: The text identifies the need for investments in “storage, logistics and processing” as essential for building a resilient and efficient food system.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The article points to the region’s potential to expand agricultural production, which would improve yields, create value-adding opportunities, and support the livelihoods of “small and medium-scale producers who form the backbone of agricultural production.”

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
  • The article directly addresses this by highlighting the “wide and persistent extent of hunger and malnutrition” in Africa.
• Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers.
  • The article advocates for mobilizing financing for “small and medium-scale producers” and creating fair regional markets to improve their outcomes.
• Target 2.c: Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility.
  • This is a core focus of the article, which discusses “high and volatile food prices,” “excessive price volatility,” and the crucial role of market monitoring through platforms like the African Market Observatory to provide price data and ensure fair markets.
• Target 9.1: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being.
  • The article calls for “investments in infrastructure such as storage facilities and appropriate irrigation” to improve resilience and safeguard against volatile markets.
• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
  • The article emphasizes that “climate-related weather shocks will be deeper and more frequent” and calls for measures like improved water management and infrastructure to “adapt to the effects of climate change.”
• Target 17.11: Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020.
  • The article critiques “export restrictions” maintained by countries like Zambia, which hinder regional trade and prevent farmers in surplus regions from supplying neighbours facing shortages.
• Target 17.14: Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development.
  • The article criticizes “beggar thy neighbour” policies and calls for a cooperative approach, as envisioned by the G20’s adoption of the “ubuntu” philosophy, to create coherent food security policies across borders.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator 2.c.1: Indicator of food price anomalies: The article is built around this indicator. It explicitly mentions “high and volatile food prices,” “food inflation,” and provides concrete price data that demonstrates volatility and market failure.
  • Specific Data Points: Maize prices in Kenya (above US$450/tonne), maize prices in Zambia (around US$200/tonne), and a 20% price fall in soymeal in Kenya after import policies changed. The African Market Observatory is presented as a tool specifically designed to track this type of data.
• Prevalence of Undernourishment (Indicator 2.1.1): While no specific statistics are given, the article’s reference to the “wide and persistent extent of hunger and malnutrition” implies that this is a key metric for assessing the problem.
• Agricultural trade policies (related to Target 17.11): The article directly mentions “export restrictions” in Zambia as a negative policy action. The presence or absence of such trade barriers serves as a direct, though qualitative, indicator of progress towards open regional markets.
• Existence of market information systems (related to Target 2.c): The article points to the existence and data coverage of market monitoring platforms as an indicator of progress. It highlights the value of the African Market Observatory and notes the gap in the global Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), which “has no data on markets in sub-Saharan African countries except South Africa and Nigeria.”

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: zawya.com