The Real Causes of Food Insecurity in Africa: Helping Dr. De Schutter (UN) and Director Pascal Lamy (WTO) Identify the Causes of Hunger in Africa

Africa’s Trade Law Newsletter, Issue 4, January 2012

8 Pages Posted: 5 May 2012

See all articles by Henri Joel Nkuepo

Henri Joel Nkuepo

University of Iowa - School of Law; George Washington University - Law School

Date Written: January 30, 2012

Abstract

Africa is generally regarded as the continent of negative extremes; hunger, wars, deserts, poverty, illiteracy, coup d’état, to name just a few. To some people, including high ranked politicians, Africa is a country and should be dealt with as such. Further, African countries are often put in the same ‘box’ with other developing countries including China, Brazil, and India. These misapprehensions make it difficult to identify and solve the problems of the continent; particularly the issue of food insecurity. Last year, the U N rapporteur on the right to food, Dr. De Schutter, accused the WTO for stopping African countries from implementing policies to address food insecurity and Pascal Lamy responded. This paper, acknowledging their efforts, aims to help them understand and address the problem of hunger in Africa. It argues that Africa remains the continent of negative extremes because developed countries and international organizations do not really understand (or because they ignore) the roots causes of African problems and often propose solutions for the wrong problems.

Keywords: Food insecurity, food security, Africa, WTO, UN, hunger, Africa's Trade Newsletters

Suggested Citation

Nkuepo, Henri Joel and Nkuepo, Henri Joel, The Real Causes of Food Insecurity in Africa: Helping Dr. De Schutter (UN) and Director Pascal Lamy (WTO) Identify the Causes of Hunger in Africa (January 30, 2012). Africa’s Trade Law Newsletter, Issue 4, January 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2051074

Henri Joel Nkuepo (Contact Author)

George Washington University - Law School ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States

University of Iowa - School of Law ( email )

424 BLB
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States
+15158229103 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.uiowa.edu/

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
977
Abstract Views
4,373
Rank
43,457
PlumX Metrics