Agricultural Expenditures and Food Security: Evidence from Sub Saharan African Countries

This paper sets out to investigate the effects of agricultural expenditures on two dimensions of food security in Sub Saharan Africa from 2000-2016. The Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) econometric technique was applied on data from World Development Indicator, Regional Strategic Alliance and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS), the World Governing Indicator, the African Development Indicators, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) data bases. Our results depicted that public agricultural expenditure has negative and significant effects on food availability and utilization while domestic private agricultural expenditure and human capital foster both dimensions of food security. Foreign aid for agriculture has no effects on food availability but promotes food utilization while economic infrastructure promotes food availability but the effects on food utilization are positive and not significant. On the basis of the results, we recommend that SSA African government should increase the size of public agricultural expenditure, increase the level of economic infrastructures so as to crowd in private agricultural investment, lobby for more foreign aid for agriculture, improve the quality of institutions and design different policies to target different dimensions of food security.