- African countries are becoming food-secure by lowering food prices, improving market access
African countries are becoming food-secure by lowering food prices, improving market access and showing strong commitments to food security strategies and policies, according to a report.
Tanzania has topped world rankings for its improved food security over the last decade, defying the double impact of climate change and COVID-19 that continues to wreak havoc on global food systems.
The East African country grew its score by 13.3 points, the highest among the world’s 10 most-improved nations over the period, shows the Global Food Security Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, on behalf of Corteva Agriscience.
Other African countries that made the Top 10 cut are Algeria (3rd) and Kenya (10th), each with a significant rise attributed to their ability to tackle affordability, instill safety nets and boost market access.
“They have also cut back on volatility in production and committed to food security strategies and adaptation policies,” said the authors of the index.
Food security and access policy commitments, addressing volatility of agricultural production and reduction in average food prices led to Tanzania’s (ranked 86th globally) stellar improvement in food security.
54th-ranked Algeria grew its score by 10.7 points after cutting down the percentage of its population living below the global poverty line and improving food supply, while Kenya (90th) improved its score by 8.5 points, by boosting micronutrient availability in its food products.
Apart from affordability, availability, quality and natural resources - the key pillars of food security - the index also tracks the impact of income and economic inequality, gender inequality, and environmental and natural resources inequality on food systems across 113 countries. Morocco (8.5 points) and Guinea (8.3 points) also scored highly as improvement in food security trends showed improvement across African nations over the 10-year period.
“The countries that are models for food security are those that score highly on all four pillars of food security,” according to the index.
Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Senegal, Benin and Togo recorded improvements of more than five points on their food security scores over the 10-year review period.
Over the last year, Tunisia (2.5 points), Madagascar (2.4 points) and Algeria (2.3 points) made it onto the list of the world’s 10 countries that recorded the biggest changes in overall score.
According to the index, a twin impact of COVID-19 and climate change continues to put a strain on global food systems, making it difficult for many countries to improve their agricultural productivity.
Those sentiments were echoed by the World Bank in a brief published on October 21, citing the rising number of countries facing growing levels of acute food insecurity.
“Even before Covid-19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger were on the rise due to various factors including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change and pests,” said the World Bank brief.
In Africa, about one-in-five people (21 percent of the population) faced hunger during 2020, according to a Food and Agriculture Organisation report, “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021.”
Pratima Singh, a project lead for the Global Food Security Index at Economist Impact, has called on countries to consider future-proofing food supply by investing in technology, agricultural research and development.
“We must prioritise agricultural adaptation, including through national and regional policies, and disaster risk management plans, to develop sustainable food production, systems and implement resilient agricultural practices,” Singh said.
Tullow, which struck oil nine years ago, has been under pressure from Kenya to develop the Turkana oil wells that it expects to produce up to 120,000 barrels per day once production starts.
Kenya first announced the discovery of oil in Block 10BB and 13T in Turkana in March 2012, raising hopes of petro-dollars needed to fuel economic growth. But the country is yet to fully commercialise crude oil.
Kenya had set a December 2021 deadline for Tullow to present a comprehensive investment plan for oil production in Turkana or risk losing concession on two exploration fields in the area.
Tullow and its partners in the project, Africa Oil and Total, had initially planned to reach a final investment decision in 2019 and production of the first oil between this year and next year.
A deep-pocketed strategic partner would enable Tullow to cushion its risks for the multi-billion project that includes setting up a crude pipeline and processing facilities for the oilfields.
Tullow, which operates the project, announced earlier it plans to sell a significant chunk of its 50 percent stake in the blocks, having hit financial hurdles of its own.
The Ministry of Energy has played down concerns of delays on Kenya’s oil dreams saying the plans had finally taken shape.
“The project is more investable,” said Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau.
Kenya’s contract with Tullow signed for the concession of the two blocks in the Lokichar Basin — the 4,719 square kilometre 13T and 6,172 square kilometre 10BB — contained a clause allowing the government to exercise a back-in right, which essentially means buying back a percentage of the ownership before production kicks in.These rights allow Kenyans to own part of the oil-producing blocks once they are certified to hold reserves, protecting taxpayers from the highly risky initial exploration stage.
Mr Kamau, who had indicated earlier that the government held the right to buy back 15 percent stake in one block and 20 percent in the other, said the government does not have to exercise that option.
The British firm expects to recover 585 million barrels of oil from the project over the full life of the field.
The commercially extractable volume climbed to 585 million barrels from the previous estimate of 433 million barrels, according to an audit by British petroleum consulting firm Gaffney Cline Associates (GCA).
Tullow, which has been operating in Africa since 1986, raised the lower end of its 2021 production target to reflect increased output from its Central-African Simba field while it pushed the planned maintenance shutdown of the Ghanaian Jubilee plant into 2022.
At the current crude price of $75.50 a barrel, the potential crude in the reservoir would be valued at Ksh23.66 trillion ($215 billion) while the proven commercially viable reserves are valued at Ksh4.86 trillion ($44.1 billion).
Kenya would not, however, earn the whole amount when production starts, with a big percentage going to production and shipping costs.
Tullow and its joint venture partners have completed the redesign of the Kenya development project, the company said in September, adding the total gross capex for the project is expected to be about $3.4 billion, higher than the previous outlook.
Profit after tax came in at $93 million for the six months ended June, from a loss of $1.33 billion last year due to impairment charges. Tullow refinanced its $2.3 billion debt pile earlier this year.
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