Political Solutions
Reduce Corruption in Government
Other solutions involve new laws and regulations to help reform government policies administering the nation’s agriculture. This is a huge issue, however, with many political dangers and unintended consequences. There are even some African governments contributing to food production and reducing imports by decreasing corruption (Boserup 395). The elimination of corrupt officials ends the destructive relationship between corruption and entrepreneurial restrictions. Utilizing the tools of public choice theory, transferring power from institutions under the control of corrupt government to the general population will not only develop democratic functions of free market economics but also increase productivity and GDP (Mbaku). Until Sub Saharan Africans receive the necessary institutional arrangements that adequately constrain state corruption and enhance individual initiative then any change or solution to increasing productivity will experience difficulty (Mbaku).
What becomes clear is the degree to which the government will not have the capability to feed the people of its region until many political problems responsible for unproductivity and inefficiency ends. What is more important is for women to receive the greatest share of help because, “women are the main food producers in most of Africa, government support to agriculture should include measures to improve women's access to credit, training, extension services, more advanced technologies, and land. Studies of the best means to promote women's food production should be given high priority” (Boserup 395). This is a very important factor too since women are the main food producers; therefore, they receive access to more education, better job help, and become more prominent figures in their communities.
"If the people in Sub-Saharan Africa receive help from outside organizations and with it increase their production of grains, like cereal, for world trade and cash crops, the region might prevent domination by other global first world countries only interested in exploiting limited but valuable resources available in Sub-Sahara."
The government can help women through “Government interventions that have tended to create new spaces for maneuver and debate, rather than exerting a decisive influence on patterns of production or access to resources” (Berry 201). Having government interventions opens discussion and encourages debate. All of these improvements will promise more reliable resources and higher production and not allow those having the only decision-making capacity to continue to ruin the region. Also, it is important to note that in Sub-Saharan Africa “the role of government and donor agencies has been intrusive rather than hegemonic, often adding to the instability of farmers’ circumstances rather than transforming farming practices per se” (Berry 201). The contribution governments need to make are not those that leads to arguments and disagreements, but instead policies of greater food production.
International negotiations for items to export to other countries are poorly negotiated. One example of this is national food organizations in the USA and EU, which compete with prices that African producer, cannot compete; therefore, as an African producer growing and selling food is difficult. This results in the world market being set against Africa where their imports and exports are expensive (Graaf). The issue of both organizations dumping their surpluses is that the African producers cannot keep up, so they cannot sell their items. This situation results in America and Europe hurting the economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxation
A last study helps understand the way Sub-Saharan Africa policy affects taxation. Although the outside world controls the regions price and commodities, the tendency of higher taxation is to reduce the amount of food produced. Rapid increases in the cost of food demands scarce governmental resources to combat the dramatically rising prices (Wodon and Zaman). Therefore, reducing taxes and protecting the region from outside control of food will result in lower prices it not an increase in supply. Reduced taxation will have the second advantage of increasing incomes with which more food can be bought. To set such policy, the government needs to be in control of regional food supplies and regulate foreign intervention. There also needs to be greater investigation into the ways in which Sub-Saharan Africa can be helped by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (Riddell). In other words, Africa needs more assistance with food and transportation, so the World Bank and I.M.F. need to contribute to helping Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth. The region needs to be treated carefully because, if not, then the outside help will negatively affect the structure and geographical condition of the region (Riddell).
What is known is that population will steadily increase over the next few decades, in which case malnourishment and starvation will become a greater threat. If women had fewer children and access to family planning, then women could make a greater contribution to ending the cycle of hunger, overpopulation. Also, if there were free access to birth control then, “Funding for health, education and family planned parenthood programs will be safer if they are pursued for their own sakes rather than because they might lead women to reduce their fertility; otherwise, they might be cut back when they allow people to have more surviving children instead of encouraging them to have few” (Williams 6).
"The issue of overpopulation and the effect on the food supply can immediately be addressed by giving access to women for health care and free birth control."
If the agricultural methods do not help and the overpopulation can be contained by birth control then it makes good sense to give women what they for family planning. This is shown in a study that states, “Insuring women's health by implementing family planning and maternal child health services will not only bring down fertility rates, it will also mean that women will have more time for other activities including growing food and tending the land” (Sadik).
Besides, rapid population growth, many social problems will continue to plague the region. An economy in decline, reducing the scope of secondary education for most children, limiting opportunities for proper medical attention, making it increasingly hard for undernourished children to develop into productive adults. Unchecked population growth also guarantees little or no infrastructure improvements, as long as the rise in population does not create a corresponding increase of the size and prosperity of the economy. In short, a quality of life in decline, promises to decay further. Unfortunately, every factor points to future catastrophic deterioration.