Abimbola Akosile
18 November 2009
analysis
Lagos — The United Nations hosted a World Food Summit between November 16 and 18 in Rome, Italy, with the fact that more than one billion people are hungry echoing in the minds of concerned participants. Nigeria is not left out of the struggle. Abimbola Akosile examines a scenario that portends doom unless quick remedial actions are taken by all
Summit of Concern
At the three-day United Nations summit on world food security in Rome, Italy, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon revealed some hard truths.
He warned that in one day alone, more than 17,000 children will die of hunger - one every five seconds, 6 million a year - even as the planet has more than enough food for all.
Speaking to the assembled leaders at the Rome summit opening, he said, "Today, more than one billion people are hungry", calling for immediate action on long-term remedies, a day after he himself fasted for 24 hours in solidarity with all those billion. "It was not easy. But, for too many people, it is a daily reality."
The leaders unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date.
They agreed to work to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture, promote new investment, and proactively face the challenges of climate change to food security.
Ban laid out a full, comprehensive spectrum of measures to combat a scourge gravely exacerbated by climate change and population growth that will see two billion more mouths to feed in 2050 - 9.1 billion in all - with an overall need to grow 70 per cent more food.
The steps range from immediate needs such as food aid, safety nets and social protection to the longer-term goals achieved through increased investments in agricultural development, including provision of seeds, water supplies and land to ensure higher productivity, better market access, and fairer trade, above all for smallholder farmers, especially women.
"These smallholder farmers are the heart and soul of food security and poverty reduction," the UN Scribe declared. "We must resist protectionism and end subsidies that distort markets. This, ladies and gentlemen, lies at the core of food security. Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves."
He warned of a chain reaction over the past year that threatens the very foundations of life for millions of people, with rising energy prices driving up food costs and eating away the savings that would otherwise be spent on health care or education.
According to a UN statement, it is not enough just to deal with the crisis when it arrives, even though the world responded with the greatest-ever food aid, pledging funding and improved policies at various summits, and even worse potential damage was averted.
"Because the underlying problems persist, we will continue to experience such crises, again and again, unless we act," Mr. Ban said. "The food crisis of today is a wake-up call for tomorrow."
"They must produce results - real results for people in real need, results for the one billion people who are hungry today, real results so millions more will not have to suffer when the next shock hits. The world is impatient for us to make a difference. I, too, am impatient. And I am committed", he added.
Food Day Notes
At the recent World Food Day marked globally on October 29, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, declared that food and nutritional security are the foundations of a decent life, a sound education for children and, indeed, the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals.
Speaking at a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) ceremony in the Economic and Social Chamber of United Nations Head-quarters in New York to mark the World Food Day 2009, Ban said throughout the developing world, food prices remain stubbornly high and volatile.
"Over the past two years, volatile food prices, the economic crisis, climate change and conflict have led to a dramatic and unacceptable rise in the number of people who cannot rely on getting the food they need to live, work and thrive. For the first time in history, more than 1 billion people are hungry" he said.
The UN scribe called on those gathered at the forum to respond to the needs of the hungry, first by ensuring adequate political and financial support for emergency food assistance.
The theme for this year's World Food Day and for the FAO's 'TeleFood' campaign, is 'Achieving food security in times of crisis'.
According to Ban, "It (theme) emphasises that we need even greater efforts on behalf of those worst affected by poverty and hunger. We need also to support the committed women and men who often risk their lives to deliver help to the most vulnerable".
He also called for mandatory investment in food production and distribution.
He said the challenges of food security demand multilateral commitment, creativity and leadership.
"At this time of crisis, I encourage all nations to pursue coordinated and comprehensive strategies for agricultural development and effective social protection. Vulnerable people - women and children in particular - must get the food they need for nutritional security and well-being", Ban admonished.
African Investment Demand
A Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) discussion paper has stated that net investments of $83 billion a year must be made in agriculture in developing countries, especially Africa, if there is to be enough food to feed 9.1 billion people in 2050.
According to the paper prepared for the High Level Experts' Forum on 'How to Feed the World in 2050', agricultural investment thus needs to increase by about 50 per cent.
Required investments include crops and livestock production as well as downstream support services such as cold chains, storage facilities, market facilities and first-stage processing.
The projected investment needs to 2050 include some $20 billion going to crops production and $13 billion going to livestock production, the paper said. Mechanisation would account for the single biggest investment area followed by expansion and improvement of irrigation.
A further $50 billion would be needed for downstream services to help achieve a global 70 per cent expansion in agricultural production by 2050, according to the FAO paper.
Most of this investment, in both primary agriculture and downstream services, will come from private investors, including farmers purchasing implements and machinery and businesses investing in processing facilities.
In addition, public funds will also be needed to achieve a better functioning of the agricultural system and food security, the paper said.
Priority areas for such public investments include: agricultural research and development; large-scale infrastructure such as roads, ports and power, and agricultural institutions and extension services; and education, particularly of women, sanitation, clean water supply and healthcare.
Of the projected new net investments in agriculture, as much as $29 billion would need to be spent in the two countries with the largest populations - India and China.
As far as regions are concerned, sub-Saharan Africa would need about $11 billion invested, Latin America and the Caribbean $20 billion, the Near East and North Africa $10 billion, South Asia $20 billion and East Asia $24 billion.
Foreign direct investment in agriculture in developing countries could make a significant contribution to bridging the investment gap, the paper said.
But political and economic concerns have been raised about so-called 'land grab' investments in poor, food-insecure countries. Such deals, the paper noted, should be designed in such a way as to maximise benefits to host populations, effectively increasing their food security and reducing poverty.
Food and Nutrition Security
A statement prepared by the Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Joachim von Braun, for the World Summit on Food Security, highlighted some urgent steps that need to be taken to ensure global food and nutrition security.
The world is facing protracted and especially difficult food and economic crises, and climate change will increasingly provide serious challenges. Hunger is on the rise and the lives and health of millions of people are being compromised.
Braun said, "Now more than ever, a global response to the problems facing poor people is needed. This includes new institutional arrangements. Focusing on narrow issues will not be sufficient."
He said a truly comprehensive approach for supporting the poor in managing growing food-security risks must include agricultural productivity enhancement, strengthening market and trade opportunities, insurance opportunities, and social-protection opportunities.
To him, food security risk prevention will not be achieved without accelerated innovation, and therefore at a global level the investments in agricultural research, especially in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), have to increase.
The expert said the investments must be complemented by four priorities that need to be addressed now in the context of a comprehensive approach.
These include: investing in nutrition; improving market access; reducing food price volatility; and adapting to climate change.
Declaring that developing countries will be hit hardest by climate change and will face bigger declines in crop yields and production than industrialised countries, Braun said small-scale farmers will suffer the most.
"Investment in agriculture is accelerating, and it is important that forums such as the World Summit on Food Security help to assure that these investments are done well and contribute to substantially reducing hunger" he added.
Time for Action
According to the FAO, poor countries need the development, economic and policy tools required to boost their agricultural production and productivity.
Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome hunger and poverty and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth, reports say.
The gravity of the current food crisis is the result of 20 years of under-investment in agriculture and neglect of the sector. Directly or indirectly, agriculture provides the livelihood for 70 per cent of the world's poor.
The Federal government has tried to check rising food prices and ensure food supply, as a fallout of the global food crisis. In 2008, Government reportedly spent around N80 billion to import 500,000 metric tones of rice into the country, with an additional N950 billion to boost food production through the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
However, these moves are yet to ameliorate the increasingly desperate situation. As a mainly food-importing country, Nigeria has found it hard to cope with the rising costs of food products, especially staples like rice.
Various agricultural products and basic food items, even those produced locally like palm oil, pepper, tomatoes, onions, are getting out of reach of the average consumer, having bowed to market forces and increased production costs.
The end is not in sight yet, and Nigeria will do well to take a cue from the Rome summit and the numerous prescriptions offered by concerned experts in an ailing world.
This country, with its population of close of 150 million citizens, half of whom live below the poverty line, cannot afford to let things remain the way they are.
Urgent measures are needed, to be applied by patriotic officials in the corridors of power. Until the average man or woman can boast of at least one or two good meals in a day, the country cannot afford to rest on it oars. The hungry are watching.
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