Higher education institutions and food system transformation: the agricultural education paradox in Sub-Saharan Africa

The food system in Sub-Saharan Africa still faces challenges in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2, or Zero Hunger. This challenges the role of knowledge institutions in promoting food system transformation. This research examines the relationship between higher education and the reduction of hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. Using the food system and sustainability transitions perspective, the study looks at higher education institutions as food system actors and parts of agricultural innovation systems. It also asks whether higher education directly reduces hunger or if the link is due to structural differences. The research uses a balanced panel dataset from 60 countries, covering 2000 to 2023. Results from two-way fixed effects show that the negative link between higher education enrollment and undernourishment disappears after controlling for country-specific factors. In both models, the intensity of agricultural graduates is positively correlated with undernourishment, suggesting an “agricultural education paradox.” Here, knowledge generation fails to improve the food system. Unlike agricultural education, general higher education has no statistically significant effect on undernourishment within countries and instead depends on other conditions. This research contributes to the literature on food system transformation. It shows that Higher Education Institutions can drive transformation, but only within functional economic and institutional systems.