ECONOMIC GROWTH AND FOOD SECURITY

 Introduction

In the last article poverty was defined and its relation to food security explained. This article explains the role of economic growth as a pre-requisite to enhancing food security. Interventions that promote food security at different levels require financial. 

Human and material resources for implementation and these resources can only be generated through increased economic growth. The article recognises the fact that economic growth alone would not automatically ensure food security for all people but that other mechanisms have to be put in place to ensure redistribution of resources arising from economic growth.

Economic Growth in Food Security

Definition of Economic Growth

Economic growth is the incremental value in monetary berms of the wealth of a nation. The total value of goods and services produced by a nation are measured using a compound index called Gross Domestic Product or GDP. 

The growth of GDP from one year to the other is measured in percentage terms which may be positive, static or negative depending on the performance of the economy. The higher the economic growth rate the higher the amount of financial resources that a country can have available for further investment in various sectors of the economy.

Impact of Economic Growth on Food Security

When a country achieves higher levels of economic growth relative to the size of the economy and population size, potential is created for increased resources to flow towards interventions that address food insecurity both in the short term and long term. 

However, it is also possible for the wealth from economic growth to be concentrated in a small section of society such that deliberate strategies and incentive mechanisms have to be put in place in order to facilitate the flow of resources from economic growth towards attainment of food security.