Governance, morality and food security in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper is concerned with the search for food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Its main thesis is, since government interventions in agriculture may result in vulnerability to a food crisis, a government must therefore bear the responsibility for protecting those who become vulnerable as a consequence of its behaviour or that of other agencies operating under its auspices. Planning for food security embodies strategic behaviour which results in some degree of a dependency or vulnerability relationship between (i) producers, consumers and the government or other agencies, and (ii) government and other agencies (domestic or foreign). Therefore, proposals are made regarding (a) the framework for strategic screening of interventions in the different food-related policy areas in order to minimize vulnerability, and (b) the safeguards for ensuring that the inevitable dependency or vulnerability relationships do not degenerate into exploitation and hence sow the seeds of famine or other types of crisis.