Food security is an issue of high importance for Sub-Saharan African countries. With the on-going process of regional integration, the promotion of regional trade between neighbouring countries is one strategy to enhance food security.The study introduces an Analytical Framework (AF) to evaluate the potentials of regional trade to enhance food security. Three working levels are defined: (1) A desk study to identify relevant countries or regions, (2) a fact-finding mission to collect in-depth data ...

This study analyzes growth options in agricultural sub-sectors to accelerate overall economic growth and reduce poverty in Nigeria in the next nine years (2009-17) using an economy-wide, dynamic computable general equilibrium (DCGE) model. The model results show that if the individual agricultural subsectors' growth targets set by the Nigerian government can be achieved, the country will have 9.5 percent of agricultural annual growth and 8.0 percent of GDP growth in the next 10 years. The national ...

The aflatoxin class of mycotoxins is one of the most important food safety concerns at domestic and international levels. The widespread occurrence of aflatoxin contamination in Africa and other tropical countries is a major potential hazard to humans and domesticated animals, and causes severe health and economic problems. Africa is in a precarious position because the environmental conditions and cultural practices across the continent favor fungal attacks of crops and commodities. Other factors ...

Mycotoxins have both economic and health impacts because they contaminate human food and animal feeds. A central question is whether there are food processing strategies that reduce mycotoxin levels in food products. In this chapter we critically review food processing methods tested in Africa for their efficacy in reducing mycotoxin contamination in maize and peanut. These methods include cleaning, separation of screenings, washing, steeping, aqueous extraction, dehulling, milling, fermentation, ...

Ear-rot-causing fungi, including Aspergillus and Fusarium spp., are common in maize in West and Central Africa. These fungi contaminate maize with mycotoxins that pose serious potential health hazards to humans in these areas. A collaborative germplasm screening project was initiated between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service in 1998 to develop maize germplasm with resistance to ...

This study assesses public investment required for agricultural growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria. Using time series data for public spending and agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth, the econometrically estimated results show that one percent of growth in agricultural spending generates 0.24 percent of growth in agricultural TFP. To support 9.5 percent in agricultural annual growth in 2009-17, a growth rate from the economy-wide analysis on options of growth for poverty ...