UNU-MERIT, 25 March 2015 Sean Woolfrey, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), sw@ecdpm.org

1. Food insecurity and how to
address it
UNU-MERIT, 25 March 2015
Sean Woolfrey, European Centre for Development Policy
Management (ECDPM)
sw@ecdpm.org

2. • Established in 1986 as an independent foundation to improve
European cooperation with the group of African, Caribbean and
Pacific countries (ACP)
• Our main goal today is to broker effective partnerships between
the European Union and the developing world, especially Africa
across a broad range of issue areas: peace and security, trade
and economic transformation, food security, etc.
• Our work involves: dialogue and facilitation; evidence-based
policy research, knowledge management and networking;
capacity development through strategic partnerships; long-term
engagement with transformative policy processes
Introduction: ECDPM

3. • ECDPM, with the financial backing of the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs launched, in October 2011, the Regional
Integration and Agricultural Markets for Food Security in Africa
Programme (Food Security Programme)
• Specific objectives:
 to foster the implementation of the regional dimensions of the CAADP
 to contribute to more effective regional integration, combining broad regional
policy frameworks and business-driven initiatives
 to bridge trade and agricultural policies and programmes at the regional level
and to create synergies for food security
 to improve public-private cooperation for trade and agricultural development
ECDPM and food security

4. • Food security a concern throughout human history
• But 2007-2008 crisis an important moment in policy
thinking about food security (raised visibility)
• In 2008, real international food commodity prices
reached levels not seen for 30+ years
• Price boom was also accompanied by much higher
price volatility than in the past (which complicates
responses)
• Brought an end to the ‘cheap food’ era
2007-2008 Food Price Crisis

5. • Triggered by complex set of long-term affecting demand and
short term factors affecting supply
• Demand side factors
 Rising energy prices and subsidised biofuel production
 Income growth, population growth and urbanisation
 Globalisation
• Supply side factors
 Declining agricultural productivity growth due to underinvestment in rural
infrastructure and agricultural innovation
 Record oil prices
 production shortfalls due to bad weather (droughts / climate change)
• Exacerbated by malfunctioning markets, speculation and
national policy responses (export restrictions, etc.)
2007-2008 Food Price Crisis: Causes

6. • The substantial rise in the cost of food, especially staple foods
such as rice, wheat and maize had a devastating effect on poor
households, especially in the developing world
• High product prices did not prove to be an opportunity for
farmers in developing countries
• According to the FAO, an additional 115 million people were
pushed into chronic hunger
• Impacts felt globally, but Africa perhaps hardest hit (‘food riots’
in at least 14 African countries)
• Served as a wake-up call to the global community on the
inadequacies of existing global food system
• Was the crisis a catalyst for change though?
2007-2008 Food Price Crisis: Impact

7. • A flexible concept as reflected in the many attempts at definition
in research and policy usage
• Chronic versus acute (famine, food crises)
• World Food Summit, 1996:
Food security is achieved “when all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an
active and healthy life”
 Included ‘social’ access in State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001
• The WFS also established four dimensions of food security:
availability, access, stability and utilisation
What is food security?

8. • Is there sufficient production to feed the global
population adequately? Is distribution the problem?
• Can future nutritional needs be met by current levels
of production?
• What are the benefits of ‘large’ vs ‘small’ agriculture?
• Should countries target self-sufficiency? Or is this no
longer necessary due to international trade?
• What is the impact of globalisation on the persistence
of food insecurity and poverty in rural communities?
Significant debate on the topic…

9. • Results from a a complex interplay of factors which are often
context specific
• Common risk factors include:
 Drought and other extreme weather events (climate change)
 Wars and conflict
 Population growth and poverty
 Water scarcity
 Economic crises
 Poorly designed public policy (and lack of social safety nets)
 Corruption and political instability
 Inefficient or unsustainable farming practices (reliance on single crops)
 Pests, livestock diseases and other agricultural problems
 Human health factors (e.g. HIV/AIDS)
What causes food insecurity?

10. • Horn of Africa
 High vulnerability persisting in arid and semi-arid lands
 2000 FAO Study estimated that 70 million people in the Horn of Africa (45
percent of the total population) live in a state of chronic food insecurity
 Region has also been prone to frequent famines over past 40 years
 Causal factors include droughts (and other extreme weather events),
environmental degradation, poverty, conflict, terrorism, political violence,
population growth, land fragmentation, epidemic outbreaks, internal migration
and displacement and stagnating agricultural development
 2011 crisis (triggered by three years of significantly below average rainfall, but
exacerbated by security issues and a lack of domestic institutions to mitigate
effects - areas worst affected were those already suffering from decades of
entrenched poverty
Examples of food insecurity in Africa

11. • FAO’s State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) 2014:
 About 805 million people are estimated to be chronically undernourished in
2012–14 (down more than 100 million over the last decade, and 209 million
lower than in 1990–92)
 Vast majority of undernourished (791 million) are in developing countries
 Overall, developing countries are making significant progress in improving
food security and nutrition, but this progress has been uneven across regions
 The two subregions that have made the least headway are sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) and Southern Asia, with almost all indicators still pointing to low levels of
food security in these regions
 SSA has highest prevalence of undernourishment, with only modest progress
in recent years. Around one in four people in the region is undernourished
The state of food insecurity in the world today

12. • UN recognized the right to food in the Declaration of Human
Rights in 1948
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(1966) specifically recognises right to be free from hunger
• MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
 Target 1c: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
• Likely ‘strong’ SDG on food security and sustainable agriculture
• Work of the Rome-based UN agencies (FAO, WFP, IFAD) and
the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)
 Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition
 Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems
• But criticism of some governance institutions (e.g. WTO, G20)
Addressing food security at the global level…

13. • CAADP – Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development
Programme
 Framework for stimulating and guiding national, regional and continental
initiatives on enhanced agricultural productivity and food security
 Aims to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture
 Centred around development of national and regional plans (‘Compacts’) and
investment programmes
 NB features: African ‘ownership’; plans for mutual accountability and M&E;
sets specific targets; linkages to other sectors (trade, infrastructure, etc.); ODA
predictability; and regular donor coordination
• Other regional initiatives
 IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) and
IDDRSI Regional Platform – aim to operationalise the drought resilience
agenda in the region’s arid and semi-arid lands
…at the regional level….

14. • Rwanda
• First country to sign its CAADP Compact (2007)
• Built on Rwanda’s various development plans - Vision 2020, Economic
Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS I), Strategic Plan for the
Transformation of Agriculture (PSTA II), etc.
• CAADP I years (2003-2013) have seen significant poverty reduction in Rwanda,
much of this attributed to developments in agriculture
• Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability and National Nutrition Survey
of 2012 revealed households falling below the minimum food requirement fell
from 35% to 21%
• Government and donor support for the CAADP-aligned PSTA II has translated
into increased investment in the agricultural sector and increases in productivity
and production (Rwanda has exceeded Maputo targets)
• Some criticisms (needs of rural farmers/smallholders, sale of land to MNCs)
… and at the national level

15. • Food insecurity is a complex problem that cannot be solved by
a single stakeholder or sector
 Need for multi-stakeholder engagement and action
• Many political economy issues involved in addressing food
security
 Interests of stakeholders are not always aligned
• Addressing food insecurity requires:
 Placing food security and nutrition at the top of the political agenda
 Creating an enabling environment for improving food security and nutrition
 Institutional reform/development
 An integrated approach
 Greater focus on nutrition
Key messages

16. • 2007-08 Food Price Crisis – http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0854e/i0854e00.htm
• Introduction to food security - http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/al936e/al936e00.pdf
• State of Food Insecurity in the World –
http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/2014/en/
• Food security in the Sustainable Development Goals –
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=9502&menu=
1565&nr=1
• http://www.siani.se/sites/clients.codepositive.com/files/document/sdg_brief.pdf
• Global Strategic Framework For Food Security & Nutrition –
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/cfs/Docs1314/GSF/GSF_Version_3_EN.pd
f
• CAADP – http://www.caadp.net/
• Regional approaches to food security in Africa –
http://ecdpm.org/publications/regional-approaches-food-security-africa/
• GREAT Insights (Food and nutrition security special edition) –
http://ecdpm.org/great-insights/food-nutrition-security-inclusive-partnerships/
Useful resources / further reading…

17. Thank you