With a primary focus on examining the World Trade Organization's trade liberalization policy and food security in Africa: a case study of Kenya, the study aims to evaluate the impact of WTO trade liberalization policies on food security in Africa, evaluate the impact of trade liberalization on food security in Kenya, and finally, examine the challenges presented to Kenya by the WTO policies on food security. The research will use a case study design and a mixed-approaches strategy that blends qualitative and quantitative methods. To gather and arrange descriptive data, a qualitative technique will be employed. Quantitative techniques will be used to make it possible to collect and manage numerical data that will be used to measure changes, forecast relationships, and characterize features, as opposed to this method, which will be used to investigate qualitative variables that cannot be measured in the conventional sense. As an analytical tool for the study, liberalism theory will be used. The analysis found that the state of food security in Africa paints a gloomy picture of the future and is not conducive to reaching the targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) — to end hunger, give everyone access to enough food, always — and to end all kinds of malnutrition. In 2020, approximately 281.6 million Africans, 20 percent of Africa‘s total population, faced hunger, which was more than the 2019 figure by 46.3 million. 2014 marked the onset of this declining trend after great long-standing improvements in the food security of the continent. Other than hunger, many Africans are victims of pervasive micronutrient deficiencies, while obesity and overweight already pose substantial public health concerns in various African nations. According to the analysis, Kenya is subject to domestic support reductions and is prohibited from adopting new export subsidies as a WTO member. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture put an end to the historical disparity in the use of export subsidies between industrialized and poor countries. While developed nations were allowed to use existing export subsidies subject to reduction commitment, developing nations were barred from introducing new forms of export subsidies thus resulting in unfair competitive advantage in favor of developed nations. The WTO policies of trade liberalization aiming to reduce domestic support such as export subsidies expose local farmers and producers to increased cost of farm inputs that were originally subsidized. The study found that Kenya's actions to combat the threat of food insecurity are constrained by the WTO's rules regarding the liberalization of the food trade, which the country must abide by as a member of the organization that controls international commerce. These rules encompass the AoA-mandated public stockholding as well as policy issues like sanitary and phytosanitary measures, market access, export prohibitions and limitations, supply of export subsidies and domestic assistance, and export prohibitions and restrictions. The WTO is made up of various countries within unequal capacity in the decision-making process a condition worsened by limited transparency in the key operations of WTO. The effective participation of Kenya and other developing as well as LDCs in the deliberations of WTO is limited by understaffing. Therefore, few developed nations dominated the WTO‘s decision-making process. The study recommends that there is need to refine the policies of WTO to adequately address the current menace of food insecurity in Africa this is because the implementation of WTO trade liberalization policies in Africa further exposes the continent to more challenges in the quest to have a longlasting solution to its food security menace. The results of the analysis show a strong correlation between food insecurity and WTO liberalization policy. Therefore, research should be done to determine whether there is a connection between food insecurity in Africa and WTO trade liberalization policies in the agriculture sector.

show more