LINKAGES BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND FOOD SECURITY: AN ECLECTIC PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The causal linkage between food security and economic growth hasn’t been fully resolved. That is, does food security contribute to economic growth or does economic growth result in food security; or is there a two-way causal relationship between economic growth and food security? The causality has not yet been ascertained. Drawing on previous research and insights, this study attempted to find and understand the relationship between food availability and economic growth. A review of existing secondary studies indicates that food insecurity, low food intake and the variable access to food endemic in Ethiopia, is not due to the lack of economic growth and income distribution. Rather, excluding transitory food insecurity, chronic food insecurity in Ethiopia seems to derive directly from inflationary pressures, resulting from excess in the money supply, population growth, budgetary deficits, imprudently addressing the “supply side” of food production during favorable seasons, the lack of adequate storage systems for stocking food items that could be used to tackle food insecurity during shocking periods, a fragile natural resource base, and weak institutions. Particularly for policy makers, the study’s findings contribute to an understanding of some of the crucial factors that could lead to a reduction of food insecurity and help to design advance strategies to alleviate food insecurity in Ethiopia.