Egypt and its Forgotten Farmers

In an excellent mini-documentary, PBS explores Egyp's agriculture sector and its impact of  the revolution. The film explores how disfranchised farmers had to migrate to the urban centers after export-oriented policies left little of their livelihoods after access to capital and water was redirected to the well-connected. Poor farmers, and urban consumers tired of increasing food prices, provided the fuel that toppled Mubarak.

Watch The Role of Rising Food Prices in Egypt's Revolution on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

In a short report, BBC gives us an update on how those poor farmers' have been doing since the revolution. Unfortunately, despite promises from the new government, little has changed.

UN Secretary General’s Zero Hunger Challenge:

100% access to adequate food all year round

Enabling all people to access the food they need at all times through nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems, marketing, decent and productive employment, a social protection floor, targeted safety nets and food assistance; boosting food supply from local producers;

through open, fair and well-functioning markets and trade policies at local, regional and international level, preventing excessive food price volatility.

Zero stunted children less than 2 years

Ensuring universal access to nutritious food in the 1000-day window of opportunity between the start of pregnancy and a child’s second birthday, supported by nutrition-sensitive health care, water, sanitation, education and specific nutrition interventions, coupled with initiatives that enable empowerment of women, as encouraged within the Movement for Scaling Up Nutrition.

All food systems are sustainable

Ensuring that all farmers, agribusinesses, cooperatives, governments, unions and civil society establish standards for sustainability; verifying their observance and being accountable for them; encouraging and rewarding universal adoption of sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture practices; pursuing cross-sectoral policy coherence (encompassing energy, land use, water and climate); implementing responsible governance of land, fisheries and forests.

100% increase in smallholder productivity and income

Reducing rural poverty and improving wellbeing through encouraging decent work, and increasing smallholders’ income; empowering women, small farmers, fishers, pastoralists, young people, farmer organizations, indigenous people and their communities; supporting agricultural

research and innovation; improving land tenure, access to assets and to natural resources, making sure that all investments in agriculture and value chains are responsible and accountable; developing multidimensional indicators for people’s resilience and wellbeing.

Zero loss or waste of food

Minimizing food losses during storage and transport, and waste of food by retailers and consumers; empowering consumer choice through appropriate labeling; commitments by producers, retailers and consumers within all nations; achieving progress through financial incentives, collective pledges, locally-relevant technologies and changed behavior.

Somalia and the Need for Agricultural Investments

The crisis continues to unravel in the Horn of Africa. A recent  NY Times piece, argues that 750,000 people could perish in the famine, and there seems to little resources, commitment, and coordination in the international community to prevent the crisis from reaching catastrophic proportions. In an excellent commentary from Project Syndicate, Sam Dryden, the Director of the Agricultural Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, argues that investments in small holders farmers can prevent future famines from happening again (the caveat being situations of extreme weather fluctuations and violence). 

Meanwhile, at an African Ministerial conference on climate-smart agriculture, in Johannesburg, Andrew Steer, World Bank's special envoy for climate change, articulated the importance of increasing investments in agricultural and food security research.  According to Mr. Steer, the WB is increasing its support for agriculture, from $4-billion invested in 2010 and previous years, to $6-billion earmarked for 2011, and plans to increase Ag investments to $8-billion in 2012.  See a clip of his speech below:

This comes at a time when the members of the G20 recently incorporated agricultural research as a center piece of their agenda to ensure global food security. The meeting took place in Montpellier, France from September 12 to 14. 

Three years have passed since the World Bank published its World Development Report on "Agriculture for Development." Now, funds are starting to trickle down to projects in the field. If there is anything positive from the horrendous tragedy unfolding in Somalia, it is the opportunity for governments and policy makers around the world to accelerate agricultural projects, and put on center stage the vital role of food security interventions in preventing future crisis. 

Excellent Special Report on Feeding the World

 A must read from The Economist: The 9 billion-people question

There are plenty of reasons to worry about food: uncertain politics, volatile prices, hunger amid plenty. Yet when all is said and done, the world is at the start of a new agricultural revolution that could, for the first time ever, feed all mankind adequately. The genomes of most major crops have been sequenced and the benefits of that are starting to appear. Countries from Brazil to Vietnam have shown that, given the right technology, sensible policies and a bit of luck, they can transform themselves from basket cases to bread baskets. That, surely, is cause for optimism.

Also, do you know what this is? I tried it at Guatemala's City Central Market but I can't remember its name:

McGovern Remarks on Food Security

Below are some powerful remarks from Congressman Jim McGovern (a key player in the establishment USDA Food for Education program) who talk the floor to talk about the importance of mataining our commitments to international food security and agricultural development. Also, check out the recent NYTimes editorial on the food crisis, making a similar argument for investments in international ag.

M. Speaker.  At the end of January, the United Nations reported that the cost of basic food commodities – basic grains, vegetable oils, sugar – were at their highest levels since the UN created this index in 1990.

Two weeks ago, World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced that the Bank’s Food Price Index shows food prices are now 29% higher than they were a year ago.

Zoellick warned the G-20 to “put food first” when they next meet.   The World Bank estimates that these recent food price spikes have pushed about 44 million people into extreme poverty.  That’s under a dollar and twenty-five cents a day.

This is a global security crisis.

The lack of food security contributes to political instability – food was a primary reason people first took to the streets in Tunisia.  Food and poverty were right at the top of the list in the squares of Egypt, right next to the call for political freedom.

In 2007 to 2008, the last global food crisis, there were major food riots in nearly 40 countries.

In May 2008, my fellow Co-Chair of the House Hunger Caucus Congresswoman Emerson and I were briefed by the GAO about the lack of coordination and continuity in U.S. food and development programs.  We started calling for a comprehensive approach to address global hunger and food insecurity.

Under the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and USAID Administrator Raj Shah, the U.S. government responded to that call – and over a two-year period of time initiated a comprehensive, government-wide approach to reduce global hunger and increase nutrition and food security.  Not because it feels good.  Not even because it’s the right and moral thing to do.  But because it’s in our national security and economic interests to make countries food secure, more productive, healthier and more stable.

This strategy is known as the Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative.   It includes our bilateral programs and efforts with other governments and multilateral institutions.  To be successful, everyone has to pitch in.

Feed the Future is the signature program of the U.S. strategy.  It works with small farmers and governments to increase agricultural production and strengthen local and regional markets in order to reduce hunger and grow economies.

Other key elements include the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program that brings kids to school and keeps them there by making sure they get at least one nutritious meal each day at school.  This program has proven to be especially effective at convincing families to send their daughters to school.

And finally, there is our Food for Peace Program, which provides food to millions of women, children and men caught in life-threatening situations brought on by natural disasters, war and internal conflict.  This program provides U.S.-grown commodities and locally purchased foods that literally keep people trying to survive the world’s most dangerous situations alive.

M. Speaker, I have never heard anyone say that they would like to see more hunger in the world – that they would like to see children too weak from hunger to be able to learn, or young girls forced to work long hours because they are no longer being fed at school.

But that’s what the budget cuts that passed the House one week ago would do.  The House cut $800 million out of the food aid budget and over 40 percent from Development Assistance, which is where Feed the Future is funded.

If these short-sighted and callous cuts are allowed to stand, we would literally be taking the food out of the mouths of over 2 million children.  We would be depriving over 18 million people the food that keeps them alive – in Haiti, Darfur, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Kenya and elsewhere.

We would be turning our backs on countries where we made commitments to help boost the production of their own small farmers so that they could finally free themselves of having to depend on U.S. and international food aid to feed their own people.

Enough, M. Speaker!  Enough!  This isn’t a question of charity.  It’s an issue of national security – of what happens when desperate people can’t find or afford food, and the anger that comes from people who see no future for their children except poverty and death.

I ask President Obama to stand up for his programs and fight for them.

I ask the White House to hold a Summit on hunger, nutrition and food security – both here in the U.S. and globally.

I ask the media to wake up and grasp the consequences of these short-sighted cuts.

I call upon my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to fund these programs so that they can be successful.  It really is a matter of life and death.

US Goverment Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative

We keep seeing more signs that the Obama administration is prioritizing their food secutity strategy, making sure it incorporates the views of a diversed group of stakeholders. This strong, well-funded global food security strategy seems to be the bargaining chip Obama will bring to the table at UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in early December, given that a comprehensive climate bill is not likely to pass (maybe a water-down version).  Below some info and good resources from USAID's FBCI on the global hunger and food security strategy:

More than one billion people — one sixth of the world's population — suffer from chronic hunger. Without enough food, adults struggle to work and children struggle to learn. Global food supplies must increase by an estimated 50 percent to meet expected demand in the next 20 years. Advancing sustainable agricultural-led growth increases the availability of food, keeps food affordable, and raises the incomes of the poor.

The U.S. is committed to working as part of a collaborative global effort centered around country-led processes to improve food security. We are working with stakeholders to advance action that addresses the needs of small scale farmers and agri-businesses, and harnesses the power of women to drive economic growth. We will increase our investment in agriculture development while maintaining our support for humanitarian food assistance.

Principles for Advancing Global Food Security
1.       Comprehensively address the underlying causes of hunger and under-nutrition
2.       Invest in country-led plans
3.       Strengthen strategic coordination
4.       Leverage the benefits of multilateral institutions
5.       Make sustained and accountable commitments

Key Documents and Websites:

• State Department Global Hunger and Food Security Website
• USAID Fact Sheet on Food Security
• U.S. Government Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative Consultation Document  - Input requested!

From the NGO Community:

•  Roadmap to End Global Hunger
  
•  Food Security and Agriculture Working Group Response to the Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative Consultation Document by InterAction
  

Debating the Rising Food Prices

The Economist has started a pretty interesting debate on the Global Food Crisis. Using a traditional format with a virtual DEBATE HALL, the magazine is offering opening, rebuttal and closing arguments on opposing views in the debate. The debate also invites readers to contribute with comments and vote for the most convincing argument.

The preposition: "There is an upside for humanity in the rise of food prices"

Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow at the Wolfensohn Center for Development, supports the proposition

Dr. Joachim von Braun, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute opposes the preposition

Check it out so you can read their excellent arguments pro and con. Also, participate, the comment section is equally rich.

On the news

• Good Article from USAToday about funding for International Ag research: Money for Crop Research Just a Drop in the Bucket
• From Since Daily: Traditional Forms Of Agriculture: Unexpected Degree Of Diversity, Time-honored Principles
• From IPS another perspective on the Doha debate: TRADE: New World Order in Doha’s Wake
• from IFPRI some good articles on AIDS: Strengthening Families Affected by HIV/AIDS and the Food Crisis
• Good list of book reviews by the New Agriculturist
• And from Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, an oped from Forbes:
  

  'The absurd goal of "food sovereignty" has made a comeback in a number of countries both poor and rich and is being used as an argument to resist and cancel the liberalization of agricultural markets. This position--most clearly exemplified by France--is ironic because agricultural protectionism, not freer markets, is what has aggravated the problem"...
  

Doha-ha

Hola Gente,
We have already seen the signs of protectionism around the world as the preferred response to the food crisis. Yet, these signs have been coming from governments responding to their concerned constituencies that see their daily life threatened and demand immediate actions.

Now, the hope that a global platform, such as Doha, would counterweight all these nonsense policies has been scattered precisely under the argument of protectionism. The irony is that the countries that have precisely benefited the most from trade (China and India) were the ones that staunchly opposed any concession that would exposed their consumers to new exports.These actions left developed countries with little incentives to reform their own protectionist agricultural agendas.
Left my Cristal ball at home to predict what's next....See bellow a compilation of articles in the subject;
The Economist: The Doha round...and round...and round

IPS: BRAZIL: Doha Failure a ‘Triumph of Protectionism’, Say Trade Sources

Center for Global Development: Doha Collapse No Surprise But Extremely Unfortunate -- Especially for Developing Countries AND Food Security Fears Undermine Doha Trade Talk

World Bank- IFC blog: The collapse of Doha

Lessons from the food crisis: patchwork will not mend our vulnerable system

From the South Centre Bulletin, It concludes that:

• sustainable agriculture for domestic food security, meeting the needs of local markets and supporting local farmers must be prioritised
• the limits of the industry-led agri-food market must be recognised and more than short-term buffers for the poor must be put in place
• seed aid and provision of fertiliser is rightly being advocated as an immediate answer to the current food crisis but in the medium-long term it is not a solution for seed security and may create more problems than it solves, such as distorting farmers local seed systems

News and Links

• International food aid locally purchased in the new Farm Bill. Pros and cons
• Mozambique, an example of how food aid should be done
  
• In Lesotho, a landlock country with very low food production, the food crisis is making things even worse
• From IFPRI Helping Women Respond to the Global Food Crisis and Physical and Virtual Global Food Reserves to Protect the Poor and Prevent Market Failure
• An unpopular French president criticizes a much needed yet unpopular reform of the EU's farm sector
  

the wrong response to the food crisis

Also, here is an paper from professor Sumit Roy Visiting Senior Research Fellow Jadavpur University on the food crisis a what countries are and should be doing.
On the same subject here is another interesting perspective of the food crisis published by Oxfam "The Time is Now: how world leaders should respond to the food price crisis"

Best,

La Situación Alimentaria Mundial

Hispanoparlantes,
IFPRI acaba de publicar recientemente la versión en español de su excelente reporte sobre la crisis alimentaria:

Informe sobre politica alimentaria 18
La Situación Alimentaria Mundial
Nuevos factores y acciones necesarias
Joachim von Braun
Diciembre 2007

Una columna para ignorar

Otra columna del El Tiempo por Jorge Restrepo que utiliza la crisis alimentaría para criticar el libre mercado sin darse cuenta que fue la falta de libre mercado la que llevo en gran parte a esta crisis.
Comentario en respuesta al articulo: No se cual con que argumento el Dr. Restrepo defiende su tesis de que “mercantilismo perdió su guerra contra la acción estatal sobre todo en asistencia y regulación”. Si algo podemos concluir de la crisis de los precios de la comida es que es, precisamente, la regulación excesiva del gobierno lo que ha causado en gran parte esta crisis catastrófica. Pueda que resulte más rentable sembrar maíz para producir energía en vez de comida. Pero esto se da gracias a las regulaciones masivas en forma de subsidios que el gobierno de USA esta dando a sus productores para que produzcan más. Sin estas, el maíz para etanol, simplemente, no seria rentable. Fuera de eso, la regulación gubernamental a través de tributos a exportaciones no ha hecho mas que agravar el problema, al disminuir la cantidad de comida disponible globalmente y generar desincentivos de producción. El aprendizaje de esta crisis ha de ser que la sobre-regulación gubernamental del sector agrícola en países desarrollados y en vía de desarrollo nos aleja cada día mas del precio real de la comida, haciendo el sector menos eficiente e incapaz de seguir alimentado a un mundo que cada día quiere comer mejor.

Brookings on Global Food Crisis

Good series of articles, with research and commentary from the Brookings Institution on the Global Food Crisis

FAO Gets it

I've been arguing for the last couple weeks about the importance of paying attention the benefits the so-called "food crisis" could bring to those whose livelihood depend on agriculture. After many failed strategies to improve the lives of those in rural areas, high food prices may turn out to be the right incentive to make farmers more prosperous. Yet, local goverments and institutions, the donor community and research stations must play an essential role in ensuring that such opportunities are materialized. In the words of FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf “To ensure that small farmers and rural households benefit from higher food prices, we need to create a favourable policy environment that relaxes the constraints facing the private sector, farmers and traders,”. Diouf: world must seize chance to boost agriculture

Now, keep in mind that this is not an option for the bast majority of the poor living under very vulnerable circumstances, specially in West Africa and South Asia. They tend to be net food consumers, so price increases affect directly their spending habits, resulting in less quantity and less quality of food. This is more prominent in urban and periurban areas where food prices are more connected to the international market. For such populations, the UN guidelines are a good starting point on how to deal with the crisis.

Expensive fufu and other things

The food crisis has served as catalyst for social and economic discontent that predated the exponential increase in food crises. This is not to say that food has become extremely expensive and most of the poor are spending almost all of their income to feed themselves, creating a situation that in a global perspective is unprecedented. Yet, the countries that are been hit the hardest are those with very disfuntional goverments, that have neglected their people at the cost of maintaining an small, corrupt constituency pleased.
What better example than Somalia: As we speak, thousands are rioting the street of Mogadishu over the food prices, and other things that may get buried behind the headlines. This is important because there are many out there that believe everything was peace and love and then the prices hit. But Somalia is just one of many countries where the "perfect storm" is threating social stability: According to The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) if this situation is not checked insecurity is bound to escalate and like the recent riots in Egypt, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti. FYI Senegal denies there are hungry people in the country and has even blame FAO for the contributing to the crisis.

Los Precios de la Comida; desafíos y oportunidades para Latinoamérica

Hola hispanoparlantes,

Una gran sorpresa me lleve el día de ayer al visitar El Tiempo (principal periódico Colombiano) y encontrar que su editorial del domingo estaba dedicado a la crisis de la comida, y no al las ultimas revelaciones del escándalo de la parapolitica. Me ha llamado mucho la atención como, hasta cierto punto, Latino América ha estado ausente en el cubrimiento mediático que se le ha dado a las alzas de los precios de la comida. Espero que la columna del tiempo fomente un debate fundamental que se debe dar en nuestro países acerca de cómo afrontar la crisis y como aprovecharla.

¿Pero porque la ausencia de Latinoamérica en esta importante discusión? Basta con revisar los principales titulares de las grandes cadenas informáticas mundiales para darse cuenta que su enfoque regional gira en torno a la mayoría de países africanos y algunos en Asia. Es mas, al visitar la pagina de uno de los principales financiadores de proyectos de desarrollo en Latino America, el BID, uno no encuentra referencia alguna a esta crisis. No se puede decir lo mismo del Banco Mundial, o los bancos regionales de Asia y Africa, estos han llevado a cabo iniciativas importantes para enfrentar el problema.

La respuesta a la ausencia de Latinoamérica en esta discusión se remonta a décadas atrás. Básicamente, en Latino America la agricultura desde hace ya mucho tiempo dejo de tomar un papel relevante. Recordemos que en los 60’s y 70’s el modelo de desarrollo era la industrialización, en gran mediada a costa de tributos absurdos al sector agrícola (esto tiene acento Argentino). La agricultura se veía como una actividad tradicional de retaguardia, algo que había que dejar para poder “prosperar”. Nuestros gobernantes administraron de las ciudades a las ciudades, teniendo en cuenta las poblaciones rurales en aquellos periodos cuando estas pasaban a llamarse electorado.

También, al ser Latinoamérica uno de los epicentros de la revolución verde, se pensó que el problema de la comida dejo de existir. Obviamente, nuestros países no tienen los índices que se ven en algunos países Africanos. Pero si hacemos el mismo análisis a nivel regional, nos daremos cuenta que hay partes de nuestro continente que presentan índices aun peores que aquellos de Africa. Estas regiones tienden a vivir en zonas marginales, donde el abandono y abuso estatal ha sido el común denominador por décadas de condiciones supremamente precarias.

Nos tomo muchos años para darnos cuenta que el sector agrícola provee los cimientos esenciales para una economía fuerte y sobre todo para las reducciones en los niveles de pobreza. Pero hoy en día, el sector agrícola, con excepción de algunos países como Brasil y Chile, aun sigue en un estado de negligencia estatal deplorante, sobre todo en un momento de la historia en el que este mismo tiene la capacidad de proveer los recursos tan necesitados para desarrollar las zonas rurales, donde tiene a concentrarse más la pobreza.

¿Entonces que debe hacer latino América frente esta crisis?

En primer lugar debemos reconoce y atender aquellas poblaciones mas vulnerables. No podemos caer en la trampa de políticas de corto plazo, netamente asistencialitas puesto que sabemos que estas perpetúan el problema. Lo que se debe hacer es crear los incentivos adecuados para que poco a poco estas poblaciones tengan la capacidad de salir del círculo vicioso de la pobreza. Esto se hace invirtiendo en infraestructura, mejorando y fomentado técnicas agrícolas, conectado estas poblaciones con mercados dispuestos a pagar por sus productos, asegurado el cubrimiento estatal de servicios básicos de salud, educación, y seguridad etc. Es decir, se necesita una política comprensiva que conecte el campo con el resto del país y el mundo, haciéndolo mas prospero.

También, los países latinoamericanos deben aprovechar la gran demanda mundial que ha venido surgiendo en torno a los granos básicos. Nuestro continente cuenta con millones de hectáreas que pueden ser cultivadas y otra gran cantidad donde la producción pude ser intensificada. Eso si, asegurándose que el impacto ambiental sea minúsculo y que exista una protección social a la mano de obra rural.

En todos estos puntos, nuestros gobiernos han de jugar un papel central. Pero para llegar a este nivel, tenemos que reconocer la relevancia de la agricultura, invertir en esta, y cosechar los frutos. Espero que los altos precios de la comida generen los incentivos adecuados para algo que debió comenzar décadas atrás.

Multilateral Banks and the Food Crisis

Hi There,
A friend of mine just point out to me how the blog was missing out some of the efforts put together by the World Bank to address the current food crisis. Besides publishing their World Development Report with the topic of agriculture, the World Bank has been instrumental in brining agriculture back to the donors and governments discussion table. The timing, as you all know, couldn't be better: The increases in food prices present an enormous challenge for countries in Africa Sub-Saharan and South Asia to finally address the decades of negligent policies towards the rural sector. In the urban centers, where the price increases are more prevalent, governments have the challenge to ensure that the very needy are meeting their calorie requirement.

But this crisis is also an unprecedented opportunitiy for other regions of the world with potential to intensify and/or expand their agricultural capacity. These countries can reap huge benefits from the price increases, a win win scenario as world prices will decreased and thousands of jobs will be created. That said, multilateral banks must persuade governments not to put in place policies that generate disincentives that could avert such benefits: limit on export, price ceilings, and taxation are just some examples of policies making matters worse. Also to take into consideration is the potential negative environmental and social impact such expansion could have.

In sum, the World Bank must play a central in addressing the challenges of those countries in Africa and Asia and enabling other countries to capture the potential benefits this crisis will bring. These can only be archived by providing incentives for agricultural investment, persuading governments to follow policies that will benefit the world as a whole, and ensuring that the basic needs of those must vulnerable are met.
Check out this interview to Senior Economist at World Bank’s Agriculture Unit Robert Townsend. Also, don't forget to visit the special website WB put together about World Food Prices

More on Food Prices: article from Financial Times

Food crisis is a chance to reform global agriculture. Financial Times Matin Wolf

Of the two crises disturbing the world economy – financial disarray and soaring food prices – the latter is the more disturbing. In many developing countries, the poorest quartile of consumers spends close to three-quarters of its income on food. Inevitably, high prices threaten unrest at best and mass starvation at worst.

keep reading article HERE