The micronutrient paradigmA qualitative shift in agricultural development

Updated version (10/12/2015)

The phenomenon of hunger has always been prevalent during history, at least when mankind has reached a critical development stage after the Neolithic agricultural revolution and the rise of the city-states in the Levant. It most striking expression consists in the recurring famines that have not only weakened, but also wiped out entire civilizations (the Mayas and, according to some specialists, the Roman Empire).

The International Institutions have set up different policies to address the issue, in conformity with the principles of the UN Charter: creation of the FAO (1945), the 1974 Conference and the creation of the International Emergency Food Reserve, the Peking Declaration (1987), the Cyprus Initiative (1988).

Creation of the FAO in Quebec, 1946

More recently, the Millenium Development goals set up the elimination of hunger as the first objective: To

Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger. It consists in :

1A Halving the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.25 suffer from hunger.

1B Achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.1C Halving, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

An indirect strategy has been adopted in 2006; ie “to operationalize the Monterrey Consensus, countries need to maximize domestic resource mobilization for the Millennium Development Goals before official development assistance should be called on to fund public investments.”(Millenium Project, 2006, p.245)

The close association between economic development and the reduction of hunger stems from Amartya Sen’s research on the causes of famines. For him, famines are not so much caused by a decline in food availability than by a decline in entitlements rights - ensuring a sound economical system and enough revenues for everybody. The solution is then political and, from the viewpoint of the UN, consists in further state-building in the underdeveloped countries, in the spirit of Roosevelt’s Freedom from want approach...

"Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat. While the latter can be a cause of the former, it is but one of many possible causes. Whether and how starvation relates to food supply is a matter for factual investigation.."(Amartya Sen, Poverty and Famines, Oxford, 2001, p.1)

The end of starvation reflects a shift in the entitlement system, both in the form of social security and - more importantly - through systems of guaranteed employment at wages that provide exchange entitlement adequate to avoid starvation." Amartya Sen, op.cit., p.7.

The results have been considered as satisfying. As for 1A: the proportion has fallen from 50% in 1990 to 14% in 2015. As for 1B: the global employment-to-population ratio – the proportion of the working-age population that is employed – has fallen from 62 per cent in 1991 to 60 per cent in 2015. As for 1C: the proportion of undernourished people in the developing regions has fallen by almost half since 1990.

After the disasters of Ethiopia and other countries, the end of the XIXth century have seen the end of mass famines. The fulfillement of the MDGs is hinting at the progressive end of undernutrition. However, another problem arises: the problem of undernutrition, understood qualitatively as the lack of key nutrients in food and not quantitatively as the lack of a given amount of food or calories.

"Micronutrient malnutrition has many adverse effects on human health, not all of which are clinically evident. Even moderate levels of deficiency (which can be detected by biochemical or clinical measurements) can have serious detrimental effects on human function. Thus, in addition to the obvious and direct health effects, the existence of MNM has profound implications for economic development and productivity, particularly in terms of the potentially huge public health costs and the loss of human capital formation."(WHO, Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients, 2006)

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guide_food_fortification_micronutrients.pdf

Micronutrients

(follows)

“Globally, there are nearly two billion people who suffer deficiencies of micronutrients such as iron, iodine, zinc and vitamin A”

“It is estimated that a third of the world’s population does not meet its physical and intellectual potential because of micronutrient deficiencies.”

P.Shetty, “Adressing Micronutrient Malnutrition”, in Combating Micronutrient Deficiencies: food-based approaches, FAO & Cabi, 2011, pp.29 and 30

A fourfold programme must be set up in order to ensure the passage from the quantitative paradigm to the quantitative paradigm:

I - Raising awareness on the health and financial costs of malnutrition and inform the general public on the conditions of a healthy nutrition.

II. Raising taxes on products poor on micronutrients.

III. Encouraging the development of small, self-sufficient agricultural units federated by various legal, institutional and concrete modes of associations in order to ensure economies of scale.

IV. Developing knowledge databases to diffuse the information about the micronutrients, their presence in food and in the soils, as well as the methods to foster their presence.

and offering incentives for the products rich on micronutrients .

The FAO has of course recognized the growing need of taking micronutrients into account in the overall picture of world nutrition. However, this approach did not fit very well in the usual strategies.

The privileged approach is the food-based approach: instead of supplementing food with various dietary supplements or fortifying food items in the daily diet, devising new strategies to incorporate the indispensable nutrients within the agriculture prodution itself.

To take an economic simile: instead of adressing economic issues by bailing immediate help, improve the underlying economic infrastructure.

Food based approaches

- Dietary diversification and modification strategies: home and homestead gardening, federation of small units of production exchanging tools and know-how, and using the same commercialization structures for their surpluses.

- Enriching major staple food crops with micronutrients through plant-breeding strategies and biotechnology.

- Enriching the soils as they are major sources of micronutrients.

- Enabling children to gain sufficient access to micronutrients during the critical developmental stages of their childhood.

Promoting indigenous food systemsThe former propositions can also be effectively implemented in areas with low densities of population. It suits well the scarcely populated areas of the developing countries. Traditional knowledge must be assessed and valorized.

It has been shown that the traditional food systems of the indigenous peoples are well-balanced and provide sufficient micronutrients.“Indigenous Peoples’ food systems contain treasures of knowledge from long-evolved cultures and patterns of living in local ecosystems. The dimensions of nature and culture that define a food system of an indigeneous culture contribute to the whole health picture of the individual and the community - not only physical health but also the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of health.”(Kuhnlein, Erasmus & Spigelski, Indigenous People food systems, FAO 2009).

First example: the Awajun of PeruTo protect, revivify and develop the traditional knowledge of the indigenous people’s food systems.

“From the 223 foods listed, 34 were selected as potentially micronutrient-rich foods.”(...) “Potential nutrient-rich foods have emerged that can be used for intervention to increase both production and consumption (...) the research gruop designed interventions to enhance the health, nutrition and well-being of the participating communities through the promotion of key aspects of the traditional food system and culture.” (Op.cit., pp.68, 81)

Second example: the Igbos of NigeriaConversely, some traditional food systems are by themselves insufficient but can become so by further investigating the local flora and fauna and by making people conscious about the nutrient issue.

“Although traditional foods/diets made substantial contributions to nutrient intakes of the Igbo culture area, they did not adequately meet the needs for energy, calcium, riboflavin and niavin.”(p.279) “Food security can be improved by empowerment of the local community members to take best advantage of what they have in their local environment.”(p.281)

Financing the micronutrition paradigm

The financing of micronutrition is slightly problematic:

- The usual modes of financing (rural finance, agricultural investment, subsidies and remittances) are needed (equipment & purchases of land, cashflow management, mitigation of risk) but they are not so efficient as they are purely quantitative.

- This is especially the case for indigenous practices and scattered populations.

Financing the micronutrition paradigm (cont’d)

The approach must be manifold:

- Investment in education to raise general awareness on those matters.

- Special attention has to be given to research and formation, usually delivered by the international institutions and the state educational systems.

- Investment from private actors such as universities (departments and societies of agronomy) could prove effective.

- The ultimate goal must be to ensure a growing autonomy to the agricultural units of production, especially in the context of indigenous people and traditions.