Is Trade Openness Relevant in Reducing Food Deficit? Evidence from African Countries

Food deficit is one of the main problems of the developing countries which could be attributed to various determinants and factors. This study highlights the role of trade openness in eradicating food deficits in Sub-Saharan African countries. The estimation techniques employed in this study are capable to control the unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity problems. The findings show that increased trade openness, agricultural production, and population growth have negatively influenced the food deficit problem. Similarly, inflation and domestic investment also appeared to help curb the problem of food deficit. Furthermore, per-person income and political stability have worsened the food deficit problem, while government consumption has not had any significant impact on the food deficit. It is suggested that the African economies shall speed up the process of trade liberalization, and pay favorable attention to the agricultural sector and domestic investment in the presence of moderate inflation to eradicate food deficit.

Keywords:

Food Deficit , Food security , Trade openness