Promoting synthetic fertilisers to solve Africa's food security challenges fails to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition. Policymakers and stakeholders should embrace a more transparent and evidence-based approach.
It is hard to predict when exactly food prices will spike again, but there is little doubt that more shocks will come. The consequences are likely to be compounded if a few companies still hold inordinate power over the world’s food systems.
By emphasising a multi-stakeholder approach to political decision-making, international institutions have enabled corporate actors to dominate the conversation about how and what we eat. But addressing hunger and malnutrition requires a strategy that focuses on human rights and government accountability.