Agriculture and Rural Development: Hunger and Malnutrition

1. Agriculture and Rural Development: Hunger and Malnutrition Kevin Cleaver World Bank Seminar Series 18 January 2006

2. Background • 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition • MDG 1: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Two types of malnutrition • Under-nutrition due to a lack of food quantity or quality • Overweight and obesity

3. Scale of malnutrition • Under-nutrition • About 20% of the total population in developing countries are under-nourished • 60% of the under-nourished are in Asia – 28% are in Africa • Very modest decrease in under-nutrition over the last decade, globally • 1/3 of all children < 5 years old in developing countries are stunted due to under-nutrition • Main cause of child mortality is under-nutrition • Overweight and obesity • About 115 million people in developing countries suffer from obesity-related problems • Growing obesity trends in medium income countries • Obesity is a risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancer etc. • Economic impact • Ex. China: Non-communicable diseases related to obesity cost 2% of GDP per year

4. The Agriculture and Food Supply Dimension • Individual person level: Food availability depends on • Household income • For farmers: Farm food supply • hunting - grazing - gathering • Intra-household distribution of food • Consumption choices • Household level: Food availability depends on • Total household income and food prices (for food purchases) • Farm production for consumption • Consumption choices • National level: Food availability depends on • National income or GDP (for imports of food purchased on the world market) • National food production • Food stocks and food aid • Regional and global food availability

5. The Agriculture and Food Supply Dimensioncontinued • Many controllable factors influence the above • Developing country government’s agriculture and trade policies • Industrial countries’ agriculture and trade policies (trade protection and subsidies) • Developing country government’s investment in agriculture and rural infrastructure • International agricultural research and technology • Agricultural and nutrition education • Donors’ agricultural assistance and food aid • Uncontrollable factors • Weather conditions • International food prices fluctuations • International transport costs and competitive practices • Consumption tastes

6. Controversy and alternate views • Food Aid • Pro: if food availability is insufficient (e.g. humanitarian emergencies),donors should send food • Con: Food aid is a disincentive to invest in agriculture and reduces farmer’s income in the recipient country • School Food Programs • Con: earlier intervention from pregnancy to the 1st two years of life is more effective in dealing with under-nutrition in children. School feeding is too late. • Pro: easiest and fastest way to get food to children • Agricultural biotechnology - GMOs • Pro: (1) food & nutritional benefits, (2) increased production, (3) reduced post-harvest losses • Con: (1)environmental risks and expensive, (2) innovation has most benefited large farmers • Lack of capacity to regulate in many developing countries

7. Controversy and alternate views continued • Trade reform • All agree on the need for industrial countries to remove agricultural trade protection and agricultural subsidies • Issue: should developing countries also reduce agricultural trade protection and agricultural subsidies? • Pro: this would reduce food prices to consumers and stimulate agricultural trade between developing countries • Con: this would invite dumping of agricultural products by industrial countries • Land tenure • Issue:land quality and size are typically highly unequal in distribution. Are re-distribution programs the answer? • One view: re-distribution of land from market-based to radical approaches will help poor farmers. Otherwise marginal farmers will stay marginal, poor and under-nourished • Another view: Government’s land distribution programs are usually political and don’t succeed. Best is to invest directly in small farmers or to encourage rural employment

8. Controversy and alternate views continued • Government’s intervention in agricultural markets • Pro: Governments are the main instruments of change in conservative societies. Government’s investments in agricultural research, extension, education, credit and infrastructure are vital for development in rural areas – leading to income growth and nutrition improvement. • Con: Governments botch it. Leave it to the market.

9. Key actions • Domestic policies and investment • Economic growth must be pro-poor • Need for a multi-sector approach to improved food security and need to mainstream food security • Increase public funding to agriculture & rural sectors • Removing barriers to agricultural trade • Low income countries represent only 0.5% of global trade • Reduce access restrictions by industrialized countries • Improve regional cooperation & integration • Strengthening agricultural & nutritional research • Need to focus more on the conditions of poor farmers • Recommendation of 2% of agricultural GDP to double research funding

10. Key actions, continued • The international community • Human right to adequate food & nutrition • Legally binding conventions & declarations • Declaration of Human Rights (1948) • Conventions of the Rights of the Child (1990) • World Declaration on Nutrition (1992) • Rome Declaration on World Food Security (1996) • Concrete targets: UN Millennium Summit (2000) • MDG 1: reduce by 50% the prevalence of underweight among children < 5 y (1990-2015) • Financial commitment: Monterrey (2002) • Increase development aid from 0.2 to 0.7% of GNP • Increase donor coordinationand efficiency

11. World Bank’s response • Funding for agriculture and rural development • US$ 2.1 billion lending to agriculture in FY 05 • US$ 8.7 billion to all rural development activities in FY05 • “Reaching the Rural Poor” rural development strategy • Alignment with World Bank’s poverty reduction focus • Economic growth in rural areas as the main objective • Appropriate macro-economic & agricultural - rural policies at country level • Ex: removal of trade barriers, phasing out of subsidies • Improved agricultural productivity and growth • Agriculture as the main source of rural economic growth • Increased non-farm economic growth • Essential element for achieving increased rural incomes and food access at household level • Gender considerations • More sustainable management of natural resources