Does Agricultural Land Moderate the Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in African Countries? Evidence from One and Two-Step GMM

This study investigates the impact of climate change, as proxied by carbon dioxide emission on food security, and measured by the food production index (FPI) using an unbalanced panel of 52 African countries. In addition, the study examines the moderating effect of climate change and agricultural land on food security. Using one- and two-step system generalised method of moments (SYGMM), the findings indicate that climate change has a positive and significant effect on food security in the panel of African countries as well as in all the five regions of Africa, namely, Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa. Also, higher or lower agricultural landmass does not necessarily moderate the impact of climate change on food security in Africa, except for South Africa. The policy implication is that plants needed a certain amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission to survive and be healthy in African countries. The study also implies that an increased (CO2) emission arising from the use of modernised machinery can enhance agricultural productivity, hence ensuring food availability that leads to food security. The suggestion is that African countries should find a way of managing the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to not impair food security.