Landlocked African economies face significantly higher levels of undernourishment than their coastal counterparts, with limited access to seaports and higher transport costs creating a structural disadvantage to food security, according to a new study of 54 African countries.
The research, covering the period from 2001 to 2023, finds that being landlocked is positively and statistically significantly associated with the prevalence of undernourishment. The finding is consistent with the study’s hypothesis that restricted access to seaports and higher trade and transportation costs can adversely affect food security.
The result highlights the importance of transport and trade infrastructure to Africa’s food-security challenge as countries seek to deepen regional economic integration and implement the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The study finds that the landlocked effect persists even after accounting for regional differences and other factors affecting food security. The inclusion of the landlocked-country variable does not change the direction or statistical significance of the study’s main measure of regional economic integration.
That main finding is significant because the research concludes that deeper regional economic integration improves food security across Africa. Using intra-African exports as its measure of integration, the study finds a significant negative relationship between regional integration and the prevalence of undernourishment.
In other words, countries that trade more with other African economies tend to record better food-security outcomes, but the benefits of that integration can be constrained by the physical and logistical disadvantages faced by landlocked economies.
Infrastructure bottleneck
The study’s findings point to transport connectivity as an important factor in determining how effectively regional markets can support food security.
Landlocked countries lack direct access to seaports and must depend on transport corridors through neighbouring countries to connect with international and regional markets. The research specifically links this geographic constraint to higher transportation and trade costs and, ultimately, higher prevalence of undernourishment.
The finding adds an infrastructure dimension to the debate over the AfCFTA. Removing tariffs and other barriers may deepen regional trade, but the benefits depend partly on whether food and other goods can physically move across borders at competitive cost.
The study therefore calls for integration policies to be complemented by investment in regional transport and storage infrastructure, alongside harmonised standards and early-warning mechanisms.
Regional disparities
The research also finds substantial differences in food-security outcomes across Africa’s regions. North Africa, used as the reference region in the study’s regional analysis, has historically recorded lower levels of undernourishment. Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Africa all show significantly higher levels in the study’s estimates.
The paper attributes these differences to geographic and structural factors and notes North Africa’s relatively higher agricultural productivity, greater food-import capacity and stronger social-protection systems.
The findings underscore that the effect of regional integration is not uniform across the continent. The magnitude of its impact on food security varies according to country characteristics, infrastructure, institutions and the depth of integration.
A wider trade challenge
Africa’s regional trade integration has improved over the period examined by the study, but remains uneven.
The share of African exports going to other African countries rose from 10.9% in 2001-2003 to 17.6% in 2016-2018 before declining to 15.7% in 2022-2024, with the study pointing to external shocks including the Covid-19 pandemic as part of the explanation. Eastern Africa recorded the highest intra-African export share, at close to 18%, while Central Africa remained the weakest performer.
For landlocked economies, the findings suggest that deeper regional integration could be particularly important because regional markets can provide alternatives to longer and more expensive trade routes to global markets. But the study does not conclude that integration alone will eliminate the disadvantage.
Instead, it argues that the gains from regional integration depend on complementary infrastructure and national and regional policies.
The study’s broader conclusion is that Africa’s food-security strategy cannot rely on trade liberalisation alone. For landlocked economies in particular, making regional trade cheaper and more reliable requires investment in the infrastructure that connects producers and consumers to markets.
