Better lives through livestock
Transforming food agriculture to feed the people
and save the planet
Jimmy Smith
Director General
International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya
Tropentag 2021
Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future
Keynote presentation | 15 September 2021

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Food agriculture in developing countries must:
• Increase to meet rising demands
• Nourish as well as feed people, and
• Be produced, sold and consumed sustainably as
well as profitably, equitably and safely
The context

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• Rising populations, urbanization and incomes are
driving demand for food
• African populations will grow quickest, before world
population stabilizes around 2100
• Majority of food is produced by rural farmers and
herders most at risk of poverty, hunger and
undernourishment
Food supply

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• As incomes grow, demand grows for high-value foods,
especially meat, milk, eggs and vegetables
• To be productive and healthy, all people need
adequate amounts of foods of good quality
• Nutritious diets are made of foods that are diverse,
readily available, affordable and safe
Nourishing food

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• The more food needed to feed and nourish the world’s
growing population must be produced more sustainably
• Sustainable methods must also be socially and
economically inclusive
• The trade-offs in sustainable food agriculture differ vastly
by region, system and circumstance
Sustainable food

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1. Incentivize agricultural growth with equity
2. Focus on small-to-medium-scale farmers and entrepreneurs
3. Strengthen local and regional agricultural supply chains
Three paradigm shifts are needed to ensure
that food is nourishing, sustainably produced
and can meet global demand:

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Paradigm shift 1:
Incentivize agricultural
growth with equity

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Food agriculture must become a ‘growth pole’ generating
equitable and broad benefits, for women (who make up nearly
half of all farmers) and for youth (who make up 60% and 38% of
the populations in Africa and Asia) as well as for men and adults.
Growth with equity

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Current investments in developing-
world agriculture are very, very
low—making up just 4% of all official
development assistance (ODA)
funds in 2017
Low investments

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These low investments are inconsistent with :
• The major roles agriculture play across
all low-to-middle-income countries
• The vast numbers of people depending on
agriculture for their livelihoods (typically
>20%, often >60% of populations)
• The high contributions of agriculture to GDP
(>25%)
High impacts

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The rising demand for food is consistent with:
• Big opportunities for smallholder food
producers, processors, traders
• More food from smallholders (more than 50%
of food is produced on farms less than 20 ha)
• Multi-solving solutions benefiting multiple
sectors—health, nutrition, education,
environment…
Big opportunities

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Paradigm shift 2:
Focus on small-to-medium-scale
farmers and entrepreneurs

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Research and innovation
Research and innovation must respond to
today’s vast agricultural populations,
which comprise mostly small-to-medium-
scale farmers, herders and entrepreneurs

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More and more sustainable, food
will be produced only with more
public-sector investments in
more publicly available knowledge,
technologies and information
Public-sector investments

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Greater private-sector investments
are needed—but these need to be
complemented by publicly funded
innovations to ensure production of a
stream of publicly available goods
Private-sector investments

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Investments must be smartly
targeted to ensure that endowments
match capabilities: there is no ‘One-
Size-Fits-All’ solution.
Targeted investments

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Investments in agricultural research and
innovation for smallholders are 4 times
more effective than other types of poverty
reduction work.
Agriculture is a unique development
instrument—one with many dimensions and
benefiting many sectors.
Smallholder investments

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The $60 billion total investment in CGIAR
agricultural research has generated
technical and institutional innovations,
providing 10-fold benefits, including:
• More abundant and cheaper foods
• Reduced hunger and poverty
• Smaller environmental footprints
CGIAR investments

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Paradigm shift 3:
Strengthen
local and regional
agricultural
supply chains

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Supply chains
Agricultural supply chains must be
professionalized, shortened and
reflect a focus on local and regional
markets rather than export markets

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Local chains
Local food production and consumption
dominate the agricultural sector of lower
income countries, where more than 70% of
food is produced, processed and sold by
local small-to-medium-sized operations

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Strengthening local food supply chains
improves local livelihoods and gender
equity, and encourages efficient food
production with lower environmental
footprints
Local benefits

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Focusing on export markets
fails to benefit most smallholders
due to the stringent requirements
of exports in terms of product
quality, standardization and safety
Export costs

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Major opportunities exist to make foods
sold in local informal markets safe for
both food sellers and consumers by
providing enabling regulatory
environments, food safety training,
simple technologies, and incentives for
adopting basic food safety practices
Local markets

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Key recommendations
1. Incentivize agricultural growth
with equity
2. Focus on small-to-medium-scale
farmers and entrepreneurs
3. Strengthen local and regional
agricultural supply chains

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With thanks to the following organizations and
photographers for use of their pictures:
Jean Bizimana
CGIAR
CIAT
CIFOR
East African Dairy Development
ICRISAT
IITA
ILRI
Stevie Mann
John Pavelka
Rod Waddington
UN Women
USAID
World Bank

THANK YOU