The study explores the link between WTO's trade liberalization policy on agriculture and food security in West Africa. Specifically, it investigates whether the policy undermines food security in the subregion by examining its impacts on food importation and food dumping. The study relied mainly on documentary evidence. Data were scooped from documents and annual publications of the WTO, UNCTAD, FAO, ECOWAS, and World Bank. Data were analysed using content analysis, rooted on logical deductions. The results of data analysis show that the increased dependency on international trade (as being championed by the WTO) by many countries in West Africa has a number of direct and indirect implications on the realization of food security in the subregion. Importation not only exposes producers and consumers to increased vulnerability both to worsening terms of trade and to fluctuations in commodity prices, but also exposes the domestic foodproducing industries to danger of extinction through steep competition. The study also found that relying on international trade for food supply encourages dumping of the excess products on developing countries at relatively cheaper prices. This harms domestic production and reduces the income of domestic farmers and other investors in the food production chain.
The incidence of violent conflict and insecurity in Africa is evident and apparent. Armed conflicts have become a regular realism in Africa for so long and the continent is predominantly conflict-prone and has also accommodated more than one-third of international armed conflicts in the last few years. The resurgence of conflict in Africa after the Cold War is mostly worrisome and disturbing. Despite these challenges and threats posed by conflict in the region, there is little or no common approach in terms of proper policy formulation or implementation for appropriate prevention and management of these conflicts that occurs in the continent. Therefore, the trust of this study seeks to study these touching issues to offer a conceivable and enduring resolution to the issues. The research was carried out using secondary sources of data and was analyzed qualitatively. The causes of conflict and insecurity were revealed. The paper also observed that the prospect of achieving Agenda 2063 of the African Union profoundly depends on proper institutions for conflict prevention, management, and resolution in the continent. Hence, the paper recommends among others, that efforts must be intensified to harmonize the African strategy on good governance agenda, as APSA and AGA are similar in their visions and objectives. Whereas AGA places emphasis on comprehensive demands of good governance, APSA on the other hand emphasizes the importance of the instruments for proper conflict management, resolution, and by extension on peace-building in the region. Hence, there is a need for both to work together, as this will not only promote the desirable peace, security, and development in the continent of Africa but, will also guarantee a lead way for the Attainment of Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
This contribution interrogates contemporary globalization, the social sciences and the challenge of scholarship in the emerging world regions. It identifies contemporary globalization as a synonym for the third wave of globalization, commencing post World War II, with a large American globalism measure. It is accepted in the paper that “any discipline or branch of science that deals with human behaviour in its social and cultural aspects” is classifiable as a social science. In this work, a reference to social science scholarship is specifically to Africa, Asia, Latin American, and the Middle Eastern nations in the emerging world regions. The paper's thesis is on the global need for new interdependencies and sensitivities in social science scholarship under contemporary globalization.
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