Download Background - World Bank

Agriculture and
Rural Development:
Hunger and
Malnutrition
Kevin Cleaver
World Bank Seminar Series
18 January 2006
The World Bank
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
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
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
The
Agriculture
and Food
Supply
Dimension
continued
 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
Controversy  Food Aid
 Pro: if food availability is insufficient (e.g.
and alternate
humanitarian emergencies), donors should send food
views
 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 undernutrition 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
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 undernourished
 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
Controversy  Government’s intervention in agricultural
and alternate
markets
views
 Pro: Governments are the main instruments of
continued
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.
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
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 coordination and efficiency
World Bank’s  Funding for agriculture and rural development
 US$ 2.1 billion lending to agriculture in FY 05
response
 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