October 2, 2025 | Nairobi, Kenya
PEP Research Fellow Dr. Eleni Yitbarek shared insights on the subject of food crises as part of a high-level panel discussion.
As food prices remain stubbornly high across Africa, vulnerable households continue to grapple with the rising cost of basic staples—even as global prices ease. Domestic shocks, including poor harvests, conflict, and inflation, have kept food costs elevated, affecting nutrition, education, and livelihoods across the continent.
On October 2, 2025, Dr. Eleni Yitbarek—PEP and ERSA Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Pretoria—represented the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) at a high-level panel discussion on “Higher food prices in low-income Africa: causes, impacts, and responses.”
The session, held during the SPARC & Jameel Observatory event in Nairobi, was co-convened by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), PEP, Economic Research Forum (ERF), ODI Global, and SPARC.
The discussion was on insights from a collaborative research initiative analyzing the impacts of the Russia–Ukraine war on African economies and food systems. Led jointly by AERC, PEP, ERF, and ODI, the project assessed how global food and fuel price shocks are transmitted to local markets, their effects on household welfare, and the effectiveness of policy responses across multiple countries. Funded by IDRC and Global Affairs Canada, and implemented with support from Cowater International, the initiative also drew on complementary SPARC studies on food price dynamics in Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, and Uganda.
Dr. Yitbarek at the event
In her remarks, Dr. Yitbarek emphasized that “there is no single policy that works everywhere,” since food crises are deeply context-specific, varying across countries and even between rural and urban areas. Drawing on her recent research on the welfare effects of food inflation in Ethiopia, she noted that both rural and urban households suffered when prices spiked— “with the poor bearing the greatest burden.”
She highlighted that the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) played a crucial role in protecting rural households, though similar protection was lacking in urban areas.
Dr. Yitbarek also reflected on how the nature of food crises has evolved over time.
“In the 1980s, crises were mainly triggered by drought and harvest failures; in 2007–08, by global price spikes; and since 2015, by multiple overlapping shocks including climate change, conflict, economic instability, and global disruptions such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.”
She explained that today’s crises are therefore “more complex, more frequent, and affect a broader population, including urban households.”
From Relief to Resilience
Dr. Yitbarek further stressed that poverty in Africa remains highly persistent—once households fall into poverty, it is difficult for them to climb out.
“Policy should not only try to alleviate poverty after the fact but should also aim to prevent households from falling into poverty in the first place, as protection is both cheaper and more effective than recovery.”
Given these challenges, she argued that traditional famine relief alone is no longer sufficient. Instead, policy must focus on resilience and prevention through three key strategies:
- Shock-responsive social protection that can scale up rapidly during crises.
- Indexing and targeting transfers to inflation and to the most vulnerable groups; and
Preparedness and coordination among governments, donors, and NGOs.
Concluding her remarks, she underscored that while “there is no universal recipe,” resilient, shock-responsive, and well-coordinated safety nets—especially cash-based programs—are among the most effective and cost-efficient tools for protecting families during food crises and reducing persistent poverty over the long term.
