International food and nutritional security

Responding to climate and economic challenges

University of Sydney, 17 March, 2014

Udaya Sekhar Nagothu

Professor and Director (International Projects) The Norwegian Institute for Agriculture and

Environment Norway

Food insecurity and human history • Early humans -hunters and

gatherers/migration in search of food

• Lydians (in Asia Minor) 3000 years ago suffered from food scarcity for 18 years (Herodotus).

• Irish famine, Bengal famine (1943) Famines in the Horn of Africa

• “Food delestage” in Congo • Food riots in 2008 worldwide • Millions of households are food

insecure worldwide

Food insecurity- global dimensions Almost 870 million people were undernourished in 2010/2012. Of these 304 million people live in south Asia and 234 million in Sub-Saharan Africa- (FAO, 2012). Up to 2 billion people globally lack food security intermittently due to poverty. Lack of access and capacity to buy food /nutritious food is a very serious problem for some regions. Poverty –entitlements-livelihoods -food insecurity link well established

Food insecurity – global dimensions

• Up to 2 billion people suffer from “hidden hunger” (micronutrient deficiencies, in particular Vit A, iron, and iodine (WHO, 2002).

• • In south Asia-the major

challenges are food availability and malnourishment at the household level (FAO, 2011).

• In Sub-Saharan Africa- both

under/and malnourishment are the main challenges (UNDP, 2010).

Food insecurity- global dimensions There are more people that are overweight (around 1.4 billion) than undernourished.

Obesity is a bigger health crisis globally and the leading cause of disabilities (GBD 2010)

Population expected to increase to 9.1 billion by 2050 (FAO, 2009) and thus more demand for food To feed the larger, urbanized population, experts estimate that food production must be doubled Others advocate measures to increase food access and nutrition

Food Security discourse

• Food security as a concept emerged in the mid-1970s • Initial focus was on food production and supply - mid 70s to 80s • Neglected sufficiency at household level, nutrition, environmental

sustainability. • FS is about entitlements and distribution (Amartya Sen 1980). • The World Food Summit in 1996 defined FS as:

– Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2006)

• This definition later included dimensions of availability, access, utilization and stability (FAO, 2006)

• More recent emphasis on the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty movement (De Shutter, 2010 and Holt Giménez, 2013)

Major challenges/constraints to FS • Climate change and

variability • Economic factors - Poverty and income inequality - Rapid urbanization - Shift in consumption patterns -- Food trade and tariffs • Agricultural stagnation • Population growth • Lack of entitlements and

insecure livelihoods (Pinstrup-Andersen and Watson (2011)

Climate scenarios (2050) in South Asia • Shift in the temperature and monsoon patterns/ uncertainty in

predictions • Physics of monsoons cannot analyze when and where the monsoon

shifts will occur • Areas recieving more rainfall will be more wet/and dry areas will be

even more drier • Main challenge for food production Post disaster recovery Vulnerablitiy of small scale farmers/ - Impacts on food and nutrtitional security

Responding to climate change

• Physical structure (dykes) • Low cost water conservation

(e.g. farm ponds, new irrigation systems)

• Climate smart farming systems (eg., SRI and AWD in rice, crop rotation)

• New crop varieties (drought and saline tolerant)

• Integrated pest management • Agro-ecological/organic farming

systems. • Crop diversity and nutrition • Reduce post harvest losses • Mainstreaming gender in food

security and adaptation • Policy and institutional measures

Some key drivers - Food production • Vietnam and Myanmar -Economic /land reforms -Doi moi/economic policy (1986) -the land law of 1988 -the new Land Law of 2003 -the Farmland Law, 2012 in Myanmar (Nielson,2003; (Giesecke et al. 2013). • China and India -Science and technology (Green revolution ) -New crop varieties -Irrigation infrastructure -Agricultural extension -Mechanization -Increasing income levels/ income gaps/ entitlements (Zhou 2013; Pritchard et. al 2013)

Key drivers - food access and nutrition • Brazil -Good goverance - Political will -Zero Hunger/or Fome Zero -Cash transfers/Bolsa Familia - Tripartite councils to govern food security -Legal frameworks - National Food and Nutrition

Security Law, 2006 - Capacity building and

technology interventions

Conclusions- food and nutrition security • Shift focus from the productionist

approach to sustainable food systems/ improve food access.

• Food and nutrition sector - key focus for both public and private funds investment.

• Climate smart agriculture to help mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts

• Resilient food systems that are integrated, diverse and efficient

• Reduce food waste in all stages of production and consumption

• Mainstreaming gender, nutrition security and health

Policy implications • Policy frameworks need

a systemic approach • Participation from

multiple sectors and stakeholders.

• Policy frameworks - to support convergence of food production livelihoods, nutrition, and health

• Policies to support local production/markets

• Public awareness about food and nutrition