How can local food production bolster food security in developing countries?
We are producing enough food to nourish the world’s population, however, it is possible that soon we will be facing the worst humanitarian crisis since 1945. Today we will discuss how a smart system can be part of the solution for this crisis.
East Africa is currently on the brink of famine. Following two years of drought, harvests are failing and food producers are unable to keep livestock alive, putting 6 million at risk of famine.
East Africa is not alone in the struggle of hunger. According to José Graziano da Silva, Director General at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 13 countries currently face phases III, IV and V of Food Insecurity, presumably the worst situation since World War II.
However, according to World Food Program (WFP), it is not food shortage that is the problem, but food distribution. Even though the world produces enough food to nourish the world’s population, one-third of this food isn’t getting to the final consumer. So, where are we getting it wrong?
I. Defining Food Insecurity, Hunger, and Famine
In 2006, the USDA introduced new labels to define food insecurity and security in the United States, as a result of reviews and recommendations made by the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT).
Food insecurity by the old labels would be differentiated as ‘food insecurity without hunger’, and ‘food insecurity with hunger’; now they call it low food security, and very low food security.
Low food security: reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.
Very low food security: Reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.
The concept of food security has evolved globally throughout the years. In 1974, at the first World Food Summit, convened by the FAO in Rome, food security was defined as “availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices”.
By the mid-1990’s, concern with food security grew from the individual level to the global scale. The concept now included access to food, the differences between transitory and chronic food insecurity, the concept of safety and nutritional balances, and the consideration of social and cultural differences. Therefore, the 1996 World Food Summit, brought a more elaborate concept of food security:
“Food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels [is achieved] when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.
Food insecurity, on the other hand, happens when one of the conditions mentioned above — access, nutrition or utilization — is not met.
Food insecurity is not the same as hunger or famine, however, both concepts are rooted in food insecurity.
Famine is considered the disaster of food insecurity, and is explained as an absolute lack of food affecting a large part of the population.
In addition to that, famine isn’t something that happens suddenly. You have different signs to identify the path to famine and prevent it from happening.
During an event organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on 5 June 2017, José Graziano discussed how in the Four Famines of South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia, famine can be aggravated by the lack of governance, corruption and natural disasters.
Hunger is different, it is more similar to undernourishment and usually happens in areas under poverty.
The FAO describes hunger as the “result of food intake that is continuously insufficient to meet dietary energy requirements”.
Food insecurity can also be transitory and chronic:
- Chronic food insecurity is usually related to poverty and low income, and has a higher chance of turning into hunger or famine. As a consequence, under conditions of chronic food insecurity, there is always an imminent chance of famine.
- Transitory food insecurity, is more related to natural disasters, and can be characterized as a shortage of food caused by an unexpected event, like drought or flood. In case this shortage of food becomes more frequent, there is an increase in chance of famine.
II. Hunger and Famine on the Global Scale
According to a recent article from World Vision, the developing world accounts for ~791 million, or 98%, of chronically undernourished people.
Recently, the Disasters Emergency Committee has started a crisis appeal for East Africa — South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia — a region that alone has around “16 million people on the brink of starvation and in urgent need of food, water and medical treatment.”
The Integrated Phase Classification Version 2.0 (IPC 2.0) uses a standard phase-scale to describe the levels of food insecurity, helping governments and other humanitarian actors to better understand the crisis, and to act. This description is widely accepted by the international community, and was devised through a partnership between governmental and non-governmental agencies. Famine is considered level 5 in this scale and would be described as:
“Even with any humanitarian assistance at least one in five households in the area have an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, death, and destitution are evident. Evidence for all three criteria (food consumption, acute malnutrition, and mortality) is required to classify Famine.”
Sadly, famine has already been declared in some parts of South Sudan, and is most likely to be declared in North-East Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen by the end of this year. These are just few examples, but hunger and malnutrition is affecting different regions all across the globe.
Latin America and the Caribbean, made a commitment in 2005 to eradicate hunger by 2025. The region has already removed 30 million people from hunger in recent decades, however even though Latin America represents 16% of the world’s food and agriculture exports — food loss and waste throughout the food chain still remains a problem.
According to the FAO, recovering food loss could help feed 64% of the people living under hunger in the region.
As per the first article, we could understand that food waste plays a large role in food insecurity, but what are the other causes and how frequent are they in the developing world?
III. Roots of Food Insecurity in the Developing World
It would be difficult to try to define all the causes of food insecurity in a short article, however I will try to summarize all the similar causes found for food insecurity in the developing world.
- According to the World Bank Group, “ongoing conflicts and civil insecurity are further intensifying the food insecurity of millions of people across the region, and there is already widespread displacement and other cross-border spillovers.” As a consequence, the number of refugees fleeing from food insecurity escalate as hunger and famine becomes imminent.
- Poor distribution and storage; broken food value-chains limiting the access to food. For example, even though rice has become one of Nigeria’s most consumed product, and a priority for the country, 60% of Nigeria’s consumed rice in urban areas, comes from importation, because as described by them “poor vertical integration in the domestic rice value chain”, causing quality, labeling and tasting issues. (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2017 Global Food Policy Report)
- Climate change — according to the WFP, climate change affects all dimensions (access, availability, utilization, and stability) of food security and nutrition through what they call extreme weather events, and long-term and gradual climate risks. (see below)
IV. The Role of Local Food Production
José Graziano da Silva, Director General at the FAO, mentioned that peace would be key for fighting hunger and famine, in regions like Africa and Middle East, for example. Furthermore, he stated that:
The solution for hunger isn’t about increasing production; it is about creating better conditions for local food production. Meaning better distribution and storage; and preserving the local livelihood and environment.
Climate change could also be addressed using local food production and boosting a more conscious and responsible way of using the natural resources available.
Small farmers are responsible for approximately 70% of the world’s food production. While most of their consumers and inputs comes from urban areas, many small farmers live in isolated rural areas.
Since the food value chain covers production through consumption, having a strong link between urban and rural areas is key for guaranteeing that local food production will get to our tables and that farmers will have at their disposal the inputs and the infrastructure necessary for their production.
Stimulating local food production is not an isolated concept, it is interlinked between governance, consumption, and infrastructure investment.
- Governance through policies that create connection between rural and urban areas, and do not see them as individual entities. Moreover, as mentioned by IFPRI in the 2017 Global Food Policy Report, the increase and change in food demand will require natural resources’ shared management with a proper use planning and regulations.
- Consumption changed as technology evolved, and urban population started to grow. Consumers usually buy fruits and vegetables from retail stores with zero contact with the farmer; moreover they tend to buy more processed food and prepared meals, claiming that the price of organic or farmers’ market is higher. However, that is where infrastructure investment and consumption can grow together.
- Infrastructure investment would not just benefit the rural farmers, it would make possible for farmers to sell a product higher in quality at a lower price. Investments in roads, adequate transportation, electricity, and storage facilities will not just foster rural economic growth and opportunities, nonetheless it will help farmers to better use natural resources, adequate their production to the climate and increase production, reducing the prices of healthier products; helping both people under poverty living in urban areas to have access to healthier options, and people under poverty in rural areas by increasing and diversifying production and income sources.
Fortunately, people are discussing how important it is to address local food production to solve hunger and famine; and once again, technology and smart solutions seem to be on the right track to address these issues.
V. Smart Solutions for Local Food Production
Smart solutions are systems that use available data to predict and analyze different problems, enabling a more informed, innovative and adaptive solution.
Below are some smart solutions for hunger and famine in developing countries. They are helping farmers to not only produce food, but to guarantee that we will have access to food that is higher in quality and in nutrients, at a reasonable price.
Small-scale farmers are more susceptible to infectious crop diseases, lack of access to traditional markets, and failing seeds.
- WeFarm — A social network to feed the world. WeFarm is a peer-to-peer service that enables “farmers to share information via SMS, without the internet and without having to leave their farm. Farmers can ask questions on farming and receive crowd-sourced answers from other farmers around the world in minutes.” Their vision is to make information access to everyone; they deem information can give the farmers voice, and the possibility to improve their livelihoods.
Climate change is already impacting negatively agricultural production, by affecting crop yields, and causing the decline in maize and wheat production, for example. Droughts and floods are happening more frequently, affecting more the developing countries, where the capacity to adapt is weaker.
- Climate-Smart — aims to build climate resilience by helping farmers in East and West Africa, Latin America, Southeast and South Asia stay abreast of information on weather to prepare their fields for planting, on the quality of their crops, and on sustainable irrigation techniques. They aim “to increase agricultural productivity, to support equitable increases in farm incomes, food security and development; adapting and building resilience of agricultural and food security systems to climate change at multiple levels; and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (including crops, livestock and fisheries).” Developed by CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, CCAFS
Believing in the power of creating economic independence through people, Chef Jose Andres created World Central Kitchen, an international organization committed to address hunger and poverty through smart solutions.
- World Central Kitchen — creates economic independence by using the “expertise of its Chef Network to empower people to be part of the solution, with a focus on health, education, and jobs.” They support health by guaranteeing sanitation and clean cook stoves using liquid petroleum and not charcoal; education through school kitchens, providing a source of income to the school and helping feeding programs; and jobs through culinary training enhancing earnings and quality of life, especially for the hospitality industry.
VI. Big Questions for Technologists and Consumers
What other ways can we use smart solutions and technology to alleviate poverty, hunger, and famine in developing areas of the world? How can we learn more about our own local food production to reduce waste and increase quality of food in our own areas? As a consumer, how do my food choices move the needle of the marketplace?
To start, check out your local farmers markets, keep an eye at your local grocery stores and ask questions. If you are in the D.C. area, check out DC Greens where I have recently become a volunteer. It is never late to understand that our food choices do matter.
