A step towards food security: The effect of carbon emission and the moderating influence of human capital. Evidence from Anglophone countries

This study evaluated the influence of carbon emission, population growth, economic growth and human capital on food security (FOS) among five selected African nations (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania) by analyzing panel data from 1990 to 2021. Moreover, the study evaluated the moderation effect of human capital on the connection between carbon emission and food security. The study's initial findings confirm that the countries selected were interdependent, and the models' parameters were stationary and co-integrated. The empirical analysis from the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) indicated that (1) carbon emission and population growth have an inverse connection with FOS. (2) In contrast, the results revealed that human capital and economic growth improve FOS. (3) The study outcome proved that human capital moderates the interplay between carbon emission and food security. This result means that the association between carbon emission and food security can be enhanced through the iterative role of human capital. (4) The causality analysis revealed a unidirectional connection between economic growth, population growth, human capital and food security. (5) A bidirectional causality exists between carbon emission and food security. The current analysis enriches literature studies on FOS and environment nexus by providing new insight from the five selected African countries. The study proposes an investment into human capital by African countries because it can complement and solidify the interaction between carbon emissions and food security.