Social Inclusion, Innovation and Food Security in West Africa

Abstract

To achieve the United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDGs) by 2030, especially goal 2 (SDG-2) which is to “end hunger, achieve sustainable food security, improved nutrition and promote agriculture” this study examines how innovation and social inclusion affect food security in West Africa. The study applies the system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) on a panel data of 15 West African countries for the period 2005–2018. The result from system GMM shows that innovation and social inclusion are drivers of food security. The implication of this is that increased level of social inclusion and innovation in West African may increase the level of food security by about 41.5% and 13.6% respectively. Therefore, the study concludes that to feed the growing African population, social inclusion should be improved to mitigate risk, vulnerability and socioeconomic shocks faced by farming households. In addition, innovation in agricultural should be enhanced to drive productivity, thereby leading to a sustainable food security.