Food Security in Asia USAID Leadership workshop Washington, D.C. January 09, 2012

1. Supporting agricultural development in Asia through Feed the Future: Stocktaking studies and Strengthening in-Country Capacity Paul DoroshInternational Food Policy Research Institute Food Security in Asia USAID Leadership workshop Washington, D.C. January 09, 2012

2. Plan of Presentation • Overview of IFPRI support to Feed The Future in Asia • Country Activities • Cambodia • Nepal • Tajikistan • Bangladesh • Capacity Strengthening: IFPRI’s approach

3. Cambodia: Jointly conducted stocktaking activity with Cambodian Development Research Institute (CDRI) Jointly organized Roundtable with Council of Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) and CDRI (2010) Published proceedings of the stocktaking studies in English and Khmer (2011)

4. Cambodia Findings • Increase Cambodia's competiveness in the international rice market by understanding and exploring new and niche markets • Pay more attention to the experiences and lessons of other Southeast Asian countries in assessing options for diversification in food production and consumption • Devote particular attention to people’s food consumption patterns, food use and utilization customs to better understand the causes of food insecurity and nutritional deficiencies; • more research required for understanding the relationship between production diversification, consumption diversification, and nutrition improvement

5. Paddy Rice Yields (level and growth) Source: FAOSTAT (2011)

6. Cambodia Findings (2) • An urgent need to establish a data and information collection platform for evaluating social protection programs, supported by practical tools suitable for monitoring and evaluating • Emphasize the synergies and trade-offs between long-term climate change risks and current challenges of natural resources management and governance • an integrated approach focused on risks and opportunities for local-level livelihood resilience and food security is appropriate

7. Nepal: Jointly conducted stocktaking activity with Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) Co-organized two workshops with IIDS in 2010 Published stocktaking report 2010 Launched a new four-year project funded by USAID-Nepal to support policy analysis and policy capacity in FTF process Starting baseline situation assessment Developing local capacity for M&E that meets FTF requirements

8. Nepal Findings Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia and its per capita GDP is only slightly higher than a half that of Bangladesh, the second poorest country in the region. While Nepal is one of the most agrarian economies in the world, food security constantly challenges the country at both national and household levels. Agricultural productivity is constrained by low level of irrigation, poor infrastructural condition, and the deficiencies in improved seeds and fertilizer that are mainly imported. While Nepal’s liberal trade regime encourages private traders’ development, various duties imposed by the local government on trade further increase the input prices that are already very high due to high transportation cost.

9. Percent change in poverty headcount ratios (at national poverty line) and GDP per capita (constant 2000 US) Source: Figure 1.6 in Nepal Stocktaking Study. Data from various nations sources

10. Nepal Findings (2) • The limited public sector’s capacity in seed development and the active cross border input imports from India by many small private traders should be taken into consideration in designing seed policy reform. • E.g. one policy option is to encourage private seed companies from India and other neighboring countries to market and distribute their seed varieties in Nepal. • With an open border with India, both input and output prices in Nepal, and hence agricultural profitability, are frequently affected by India’s policy and policy changes. • Thus, it is unrealistic to consider a strong institutional setting for Nepal to intervene either input or output price. This factor has to be take into consideration in designing Nepal’s food security strategy and policy.

11. Tajikistan: • Conducted field trip to Khatlon province to learn about USAID projects supporting farmers, women savings groups, etc • Held a stocktaking exercise in collaboration with Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) of the Tajikistan Academy of Agricultural Sciences • Organized a workshop with IAE October 14, 2011 • Attendees included government officials, development partners and local researchers • The workshop and its main findings broadcasted by Tajikistan national TV; Delivered stocktaking report to USAID in Dec. 2011 • IFPRI team visited the country in April 2011 • Met with USAID Tajikistan mission, government officials, development partners, and local researchers

12. Tajikistan Findings (3): affect of recent global crises • National extreme (food) poverty rate increased, and increased more significantly in the poor regions: southern and mountain regions • Income of most households fell due to reduced remittances from abroad and job loss both in Tajikistan and foreign countries • Households had to reduce staple food consumption and health expenditures when their income fell; and such consumption effect is more significant for less educated and female headed households

13. Labor remittances in Tajikistan, 2002-09 Source: Figure 4 in Stocktaking Study, data from World Bank

14. Tajikistan Policy Implications • Removing existing institutional and policy constraints will improve agricultural productivity and domestic food availability in Tajikistan • With its limited arable land base and poor connection to major international markets, Tajikistan may benefit from establishing strategic food (grain) reserves • Other policy directions may include development of nonfarm rural sector, efficient value chains, road network, and regional cooperation • Stocktaking revealed that analytical and applied research capacity in Tajikistan is very limited and the need for capacity building is immediate Future Activities • A concept note for future research and capacity building activities submitted to USAID Tajikistan to support FTF: • Food security policy research • Agricultural strategy support and policy research • Capacity building in policy analysis and monitoring and evaluation (M&E)

15. Bangladesh: • Supported the government to organize the “Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum 2010” • Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended • Four ministers or former ministers chaired the technical sessions • Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID, gave an address • Bangladeshi and IFPRI researchers presented studies on the six thematic issues And after the conference… USAID funding was secured for a four-year Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program

16. Bangladesh Findings • Invest in agriculture for productivity growth and adaptation to climate change should focus on: • Integrated water resource management, through a River Basin Development Approach • An enhanced technology generation and dissemination system • Soil health maintenance with consideration of climate change adaptation • Provision of agricultural financial services • Modernization of agricultural education system • Prioritize high-impact interventions targeted at the window of opportunity of pre-pregnancy and the first two years of life to address maternal and child undernutrition

17. Bangladesh Findings (2) • Agricultural marketing and price stabilization should focus on: • Further reducing market cost to expand food grain markets • Establishing a better integrated system to exploit unrealized potential in high-value products • Facilitating an enabling environment conducive to private trade in both domestic market and international trade • Strengthen governance for food security and agricultural development • Address gender issues in food and agriculture

18. ACHIEVING THE FEED THE FUTURE GOALS IN BANGLADESH: WHAT ROLE FOR POLICY RESEARCH?Akhter AhmedInternational Food Policy Research InstituteBangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Programfor Food Security and Agricultural Development

19. Policy Research for Achieving FTF Goals • The Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP) aims to generate evidence-based policy options for improving food security and developing the agricultural sector in Bangladesh • PRSSP will facilitate the policymaking process, stimulate policy dialogue, and communicate evidence-based research findings to relevant GOB Ministries and other stakeholders • Expected outcomes: • enhanced efficiency of food production and marketing • accelerated income growth of the poor • improved nutrition for vulnerable groups

20. How to Increase Contributions to FTF? • Policy advisory services will help identify emerging problems and offer possible solutions quickly and efficiently • Collaborative research with national institutions will provide quantitative and conceptual raw materials for the advice and simultaneously build national food policy analysis capacity for the future • Targeted information dissemination activities will help create political consensus for policy reform, thereby strengthening the research – policy linkages

21. Creating a Baseline for FTF Indicators • IFPRI has designed and implemented the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) to provide necessary data for many of the studies to be carried out under the PRSSP • BIHS will also serve as the baseline for a set 15 FTF indicators provided to IFPRI by USAID • The BIHS sampling has been designed to be statistically representative at the following levels: • nationally representative of rural Bangladesh • representative of rural areas of each of the 7 administrative divisions  of the country • representative of the FTF zone

22. Capacity Building Involves a Variety of Approaches Data on training participants through the Ethiopia Strategy Support Program, 2009-2010.

23. Capacity Strengthening Requires Institutional Support GIS Training 2009 CGE Paper Authors EEA Conference 2010  CGE Course Ceremony 2009 Training activities of the Ethiopia Strategy Support Program, 2009-2010.