Africa’s food insecurity eases: The next task is making the gains harder to reverse

Animal source foods are the highest-cost food group in Africa, and 69 per cent of African countries rank in the highest-cost tercile globally for this category, while starchy staples contribute relatively little to the total cost of a healthy diet.

Point them at animal health, breeding and aquaculture, at cold chains, rural roads and cheaper power, at research into the fruits, vegetables, and legumes every healthy diet needs, and the cost structure that keeps two in three Africans priced out begins to move.

A blanket 10 per cent production subsidy cuts the cost of a healthy diet by about 4 per cent in Africa, roughly half of what the same money buys in Latin America, so the question is where those budgets are aimed more than how large they are.