Information is Power, Technology is Apropos and Food Security is a Must in Africa in the Post COVID-19 African States
Samuel Chukwudi Agunyai 
, Lere Amusan & Kedibone Phago
Issue: Vol.5 No.9 Special Issue Article 5 pp.59-72
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024595 | Published online 29th August, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This paper examines the impact of new media information technology on food security. It specifically determines the extent to which new media technologies such as Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and many more, are agents of development and underdevelopment in food security in Africa. Drawing on systematic qualitative method, thus study assesses how new media technologies have posed positive and negative threats to food security in Africa. The findings showed that while new media technologies have aided food productivity, availability, and accessibility, the same cannot be said about food quality and utilization. The findings indicated that technology has enabled farmers to detect, adapt, and navigate dangerous climate change. However, it showed that the same new media technologies, through advertisement have been used to make huge profits at the expense of the good health of consumers, who are deceptively forced to consume unhealthy food produced through the means of Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs). The paper recommends more organic food production through the use of new media technologies with more humane initiatives in Africa. It also recommends that food standardization and regulation agencies in African countries should create nationwide awareness, through new media technologies against the consumption of GMO foods that could impair their general well-being. This paper contributes and deepens knowledge on how farmers can detect and adapt to climate change for food security, using digitalized new media technologies in Africa.
Keywords: Food security, Africa, New media, CSR, Agenda setting, Agroecology
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Agunyai Samuel Chukwudi is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Political Studies and International Relations, North West University, Mafikeng, South Africa. He teaches political science at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His primary areas of research interests include African politics and government, food security, human security, political theory, migration studies, and governance in comparative sub-Saharan African contexts. Specifically, he specializes in African governance and development as well as leadership questions in sub-Saharan Africa.
Lere Amusan is an extraordinary professor at the Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (AGOPA), a research entity at the North-West University, South Africa. He teaches international relations at Bowen University, Nigeria. His primary areas of research interest include food politics and policies. He also has an interest in political economy and foreign policy analysis. He has published widely and attended conferences on five continents. Lere is currently the provost of the College of Management and Social Sciences. He is serving on several committees at the university.
Kedibone Phago is a professor and director of the School of Government Studies at North West University, South Africa. He teaches public administration and governance at North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. His research interests include economic growth, political science, public housing, developing countries, public policy, and developed countries.
Agunyai,Samuel Chukwudi, Lere Amusan & Kedibone Phago. “Information is Power, Technology is Apropos and Food Security is a Must in Africa in the Post COVID-19 African States,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.9 Special Issue (2024): 59-72. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024595
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
