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Supply Squeeze

Africa Seeks Local Fix as War Worsens Food Crisis

  • Indigenous crops like fonio could replace costly wheat imports
  • Food stress and hunger spreads across continent as prices soar
Vendors sell fresh food produce in the Adjame market in the Plateau district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Vendors sell fresh food produce in the Adjame market in the Plateau district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Bloomberg
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Africa is looking to indigenous crops to tackle a worsening food crisis after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine boosted the price of imported wheat.

Alternatives such as cassava, fonio and teff could help plug the gap, alongside increasing output of hardier strains of wheat. But the transition will require more funding for research and marketing, plus the rollout of crops better suited to the continent, said Makhtar Diop, managing director of the International Finance Corp.