PHYSICAL PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: LESSONS FROM THE CREATION STORY

Purpose: In this era of food insecurity in Africa, it is apt to search the archive for how it was planned during creation. Food security was and will remain a problem on the continent if good governance is not in place to plan and manage the various activities. This paper makes a comparison between the Divine provisions during creation and what exists now in Africa, presents the lessons to learn from the story, and recommends the best approaches to plan for sustainable food security in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach: Data were sourced through secondary means, and extracts from the story of creation were made. A comparison method of evaluation was adopted, whereby extracts from the story were compared with reports from the literature on Africa. This helps in identifying areas for improvement. The main conceptual framework for this study was the concept of food security.

Findings: Findings revealed that Africa is blessed with fertile land, but lost to agricultural land mismanagement, many rural and urban areas in Africa lack adequate water supply, and Africa is characterised by bad governance or institutional failure, which impacts on food system.

Research limitations/Implications: The limitations include the use of only the creation story, and no quantitative data were involved in the analysis. The contribution to knowledge is that this study adopted a storytelling method to analyse and proffer solutions to food insecurity in Africa.

Practical implications: It is recommended that comprehensive planning is required when it comes to the issue of food security, but not incremental, as is being adopted by some planners in Africa; planning of phases should be sequential without skipping any activity, and good governance should be put in place by the government at every level.

Originality/value: The study revealed that food security in Africa is determined by good governance, planning and management of resources.