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Without pretending to a systematic comparison, this study examines the risks involved in the management of food in several African countries. The articles expose the gap between the initial intentions of food policies, their implementation and local situations. They stress the weakening of the State, the growing strength of trading networks and individual citizen initiatives, which constitute the most of the relations between the actors of the food system, while indicating the plurality of their perceptions, usages and normative frameworks. Such are the stages of a reflection which examines the relationships between theoretical frameworks, deve