Impact of sustainable agricultural innovations on food and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Food and nutrition insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa remain a critical challenge, worsened by climate variability, demographic pressures, and persistent rural poverty. Although sustainable agricultural innovations are increasingly promoted as pathways to strengthen food systems, adoption rates remain low and empirical evidence on their household-level impacts is dispersed. This study systematically reviews empirical evidence and applies a meta-analysis with meta-regression to quantify the effects of sustainable agricultural innovations on the four dimensions of food and nutrition security (FNS): availability, access, utilisation, and stability. Innovations are categorised as agroecological, technological, or organisational, and effect sizes are estimated while controlling for production orientation (crop, livestock, and mixed systems), livelihood strategies (subsistence, commercial, and mixed), and contextual moderators such as agroecological zone and methodological design. Meta-regression results show that technological innovations produce statistically significant improvements in food availability and access, whereas agroecological and organisational innovations exhibit strong context dependence and greater variability in outcomes. Income enhancement and poverty reduction emerge as key indirect pathways influencing FNS. These findings underscore the need for context-specific policy instruments that align innovation design with local ecological conditions, livelihood structures, and institutional environments. The study provides a robust quantitative evidence base to inform policy and research aimed at scaling sustainable innovations to build nutrition-responsive and resilient food systems in sub-Saharan Africa.