The World Trade Organization’s legal framework and Africa’s food security

This chapter undertakes an assessment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) legal framework in relation to food security in Africa. It begins by positing an often-overlooked paradox: the contradictory role that food security plays in international trade. Countries with the means to subsidise production provide food not only for domestic consumption but also for trading in open markets or for giving away as food aid. This enhances global food availability but disincentivises production in poorer and net food-importing countries. Much of the work on food and agriculture in the multilateral trading system is aimed at resolving this conundrum.