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“Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change

“Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change”. GECAFS Gainesville Meeting, 10-11 January 2005 Graham Farmer FAO Regional Emergency Coordinator for Southern Africa FAO RIACSO, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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“Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change

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  1. “Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change” GECAFS Gainesville Meeting, 10-11 January 2005 Graham Farmer FAO Regional Emergency Coordinator for Southern Africa FAO RIACSO, Johannesburg, South Africa

  2. Start with some conceptual framing

  3. Academic - Operational • An academic approach favours the strength of the individual • An operational response needs institutional buy-in, likely catalyzed through the individuals • GECAFS has to bring academic and operational together if it is to achieve its goal of making a difference

  4. Components of a Food System • Availability • Access • Utilisation • Does a fourth element of ‘stability’ broaden the definition of ‘food system’ to dynamic ‘food security’?

  5. Early Warning - Response • We often have the technology to provide an early warning • As a generality, response to an early warning needs: • Confidence in the early warning • Expedience: political and financial, national and international • Cost-effectiveness, may seem least important, given the lack of investment in mitigation and development

  6. Scale – Geographic and Temporal • Temporal – need to match, or better, the resolution of the temporal GECAFS impact to the time-step of the livelihood / food systems • Spatial – how to bring together the spatial output scales of, for example, GEC models with higher resolution food systems detail • Resolving these issues would strengthen the operational appeal arising from the intellectual outputs

  7. Development-Emergency Contiguum • Standard continuum approach in the past, where stress is seen as a, relatively minor, perturbation on overall development BUT • Now a change to contemporaneous paradigm, especially in southern Africa, with a still acknowledged need for a longer-term, ‘development’ framework

  8. Drawing insights from Southern Africa, underlying issues • Chronic emergency eroding the gains of development activities (ref: HDI etc.) • Poverty • HIV/AIDS • Process of land reform in Zimbabwe • Governance and policy issues in Zimbabwe • Climatic extremes – drought and some floods

  9. What is FAO in Southern Africa doing within the Development-Emergency Contiguum? • Regional Coordination and multi-national approaches such as on Transboundary Animal Diseases • National programmes aimed at: • Preservation of livelihoods, a broad-based approach • Stabilisation of production, technical specificities • Improving food security (national and household) • Coordination, monitoring and evaluation • Reducing the need for external food aid • Targeting specific vulnerabilities (HIV/AIDS factor)

  10. Returning to the subject

  11. “Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change” In its broadest sense, policy is a framework within which to operate. A food security policy would / should be initiated because food security is seen as a valid & noble goal.

  12. Issue One • Understand the current food systems, which links in to the first objective of the GECAFS DSS workshop; “ascertain the nature of environmental and socioeconomic information needed to support improved policy formulation for food security, and especially that needed by technical advisors to policymakers (key end-users of GECAFS research)”

  13. Issue Two • Intersect the GECAFS knowledge-base with the content, spatial and temporal scales of current food systems, looking for operational angle(s) that will create institutional buy-in. There is an issue here with the dominance of reactive, short-term response vision, so the creation of linkages to key supporters is essential.

  14. Issue Three • Determine, with the operational institutions, the utility of GECAFS analysis in determining differing levels of mitigation, early warning and response, which could then be used in cost-benefit examples to indicate the utility of the proposed work.

  15. So, and in conclusion, as food security is seen as a good thing, what are the “Policy-related information needs for decision makers dealing with food security in the context of environmental change”? • Information on current food systems. (Gainesville Obj. 1) • Likelihoods and realistic scales of stated GEC impacts. • Potential intervention or mitigation strategies. • The cost of doing nothing, perhaps as a component of a, needed, cost-benefit analysis. (Gainesville Obj. 2) • Directions and interpretations for development of operational action plans, showing GEC as a component of FS policies. (Gainesville Obj. 3)

  16. Thank You

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