Food Insecurity and Health Status in the CEMAC Sub-Region

Many developing countries today suffer from both food insecurity and poor health. Addressing food insecurity is crucial for promoting overall health and longevity. This study sought to examine the long-run effect of food insecurity on health status in the CEMAC sub-region by using data from FAO and the World Bank for the period 1990-2021. To achieve this aim, annual food insecurity indices were constructed by applying the Principal Components (PCA) technique. By employing the panel Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimators with life expectancy at birth as a proxy for health status, the study found that food insecurity contributes to poor health in the sub-region. A unit increase in the food insecurity index leads to a fall in life expectancy by 0.1 to 0.2 years. A bi-directional causality was found between food insecurity and life expectancy. On this basis, it is recommended that CEMAC countries adopt policies that address food insecurity, such as increasing the minimum wage, improving infrastructure, combatting climate change, and improving access to healthcare.