Exploring the Contributions of Human Capital Development to Food Security in African Countries: The Mediating Influence of Technology Adoption

Achieving food security constitutes one of the utmost pressing developmental challenges in Africa, where millions continue to face hunger, malnutrition, and unstable food supplies despite the continent's vast agricultural potential. The synergy between human development and technology adoption can significantly enhance agrarian output, improve food distribution systems, and build resilience against climate shocks. This study examines the impact of human capital development and technology adoption on food security in African countries. The study utilises data from the ND-GAINS Index and the WDI for 43 developing African economies, encompassing 44 annual observations and spanning the period from 2012 to 2023. The Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and the Panel Quantile Regression (PQR)approaches were adopted for analysing the data. The study findings showed that human capital development has a negative and significant effect on food security. Also, the adoption of technology has a negative and significant impact on food security. Moreover, the interactive effect of human capital development and technology adoption is statistically significant and negative in relation to food security. Accordingly, the study recommends that governments in African countries should improve investment in education and skills acquisition to support the implementation of new technology in agricultural productivity. Additionally, African governments should provide farmers with credit facilities and enhance the level of infrastructure, such as internal roads, to help local farmers increase their earnings from agricultural sales.