In our RIO+20 Call-to-action, CGIAR asked for “a clear commitment to sustainable agricultural systems that prioritizes food and nutrition security in order to lessen the need for emergency responses, thus reducing the human toll of disasters and freeing funds, normally dedicated to disaster relief, to be used for preventive research”.
Longer term development versus immediate disaster response, the direct impact of agricultural research on food security, and its cost… All issues close to our heart, and to the hearts of five colleagues who shared their views: Robert Zeigler (Director General, International Rice Research Institute – IRRI), Shenggen Fan (Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute – IFPRI), William Dar (Director General, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics – ICRISAT), Howarth Bouis (Director, HarvestPlus) and Jonathan Wadsworth (Executive Secretary of the CGIAR Fund Council and Head of the Fund Office).
When people hear the term ‘food insecurity’, they often relate it merely to a ‘lack of food’, but that is incorrect, isn’t it?
Shenggen Fan: There is indeed a lot more to food and nutrition security than food production. To be food and nutrition secure, people must have continuous access to safe, sufficient, nutritious, and sustainably grown food.
Howarth Bouis: Good nutrition is essential for people to lead healthy, productive lives. The focus can no longer be on calories alone. Vitamin and minerals are often missing from the diets of the poor, what we refer to as hidden hunger. One way to improve public health is by breeding staple food crops that can provide these essential nutrients, a process called biofortification.
So, a solution to ‘food insecurity’ is not just ‘increasing the food production’…
Robert Zeigler: Take the example of rice, the staple food for more than half of the world’s population – including more than half a billion of the world’s poorest in Asia. These people often eat rice and little else. While rice is an excellent food, it does not have all the vitamins and minerals a person needs – so many of these people don‘t get enough essential nutrients like iron, zinc, and vitamin A.
A diverse and nutritious diet is the best option, sadly however, this is often too expensive or simply unavailable. To help address the challenge, IRRI is developing rice that contains higher levels of important nutrients to ensure people get enough for growth, survival, and better health.
Howarth Bouis: When we talk of staple crops, a similar example is the orange sweet potato that provides more vitamin A. Many farmers in Africa are familiar with sweet potato, so they’re willing to grow these new orange varieties and feed them to their families—we’ve seen vitamin A intakes as much as double among children and women as a result.
Vitamin A is especially important for young children and they love the sweet taste of the orange sweet potato. We’re putting ‘access to better nutrition’ straight into the hands of farmers.
Shenggen Fan: Food and nutrition security is only achieved when four conditions are met: One: enough food is available where it is needed. Two: when the food is accessible and affordable. Three, it is utilized properly by those who consume it, and lastly, all of these conditions are stable over time.
So there are also socio-economic aspects to ‘food security’
Robert Zeigler: Sure, when rice prices tripled in 2008, more than 100 million people were pushed into poverty. Increasing the supply of rice and removing barriers to global trade to meet growing demands and keep rice affordable is essential to elevating people out of poverty.
Much of IRRI’s research seeks to increase rice production, but another aspect of our work will map – in real time – global rice production. Knowing what global rice production is at any time will help remove uncertainty in the global rice market and improve transparency in trade – ensuring more stable rice prices and reducing volatility and fear in the export and import of rice.
Shenggen Fan: Food ‘accessibility’ and ‘affordability’ are important here: People should either be able to produce their own food or have sufficient income to purchase food from the markets. Therefore, employment and income generation—either through agriculture or non-agriculture—is crucial. Social protection systems must be in place to protect the poorest, particularly women and children.
In addition, people must be healthy so they can utilize the food they consume more efficiently and convert it into the energy and nutrients the human body needs. Finally, stability ensures that people have long-term, undisrupted access to food.
Can we break the recurring cycle of food insecurity, famine and the need for food relief operations?
Robert Zeigler: In the 1950s, famine was considered Asia’s inevitable future with increasing population and low capability for increased food production. The formation of IRRI in 1960 came about in response to this need. Within ten years of IRRI forming the Green Revolution hit Asia delivering massive increases in rice production – underpinned by IRRI-bred high-yielding modern rice varieties.
Since then an ongoing supply of better rice varieties and better management techniques have flowed from IRRI, which have helped double average global rice yields. A recent study showed that IRRI’s rice breeding work pumps US$1.46 billion per year into the economies of just 3 countries in Southeast Asia – more than IRRI’s entire budget over fifty years. So yes, the cycle can be broken!
William Dar: In those exceptional cases where aid is still needed in food security crisis, seed aid could be used to catalyze local high value certified seed business for, for example, drought-stricken poor communities so that incomes are generated and that the community becomes more resilient. We implemented a possible model in Malawi: ICRISAT and partners trained farmers to produce improved groundnut seeds that were bought back to create a revolving fund.
Where possible, seed aid should also involve the community’s retailers using a voucher system, where farmers are given vouchers to exchange for seeds, fertilizers and other inputs at their local shop. If humanitarian operations use more market-based approaches such as voucher systems, it would facilitate the transition to long-term economic recovery.
Shenggen Fan: Indeed, ‘temporarily curing’ humanitarian crises is much more expensive than preventing disasters and building resilience in vulnerable populations. Investments in disaster risk reduction have higher returns than either relief operations or the provision of humanitarian assistance after a disaster—the rates of return vary from 20 to 50 percent. Expanding social safety nets; mainstreaming these efforts into relief, recovery, and development policies; and accurate prediction and monitoring of disasters is crucial.
However, there is a price tag to providing longer-term food security
Shenggen Fan: Many interventions that promote food security have benefits that far outweigh the costs. For example, the Copenhagen Consensus 2012 Rankings indicate that fighting malnutrition among preschoolers would cost $3 billion per year, and each dollar would generate more than $30 of benefits, while increasing agricultural output and enhancing yield.
Robert Zeigler: In an estimate developed by the Global Rice Science Partnership – the CGIAR Research Program for Rice – investing just US$20 in rice research can lift one person out of poverty. Very few other development investments have similar efficacy in poverty eradication.
As rice research increases the productivity of rice farms, rice farmers earn more, improve their food security, and have better access to health care and education. They can then invest in more sustainable agriculture with a reduced environmental footprint and further increase their rice productivity – entering a virtuous circle that in each turn takes them a step further from poverty.
William Dar: Even in times of crisis, we can invest in a longer term future, rather than just ‘curing’ a present problem. In Zimbabwe ICRISAT and partners assessed seed aid programs over the last two cropping seasons. Inputs such as seeds were given to about 300,000 vulnerable households. They were not directly given the seeds but instead received vouchers worth US$70 redeemable at rural retail shops. The idea behind this was to reactivate the local retail network in a country affected by high inflation, rapid impoverishment and high dependency on humanitarian aid for many years.
The assessment showed that retailers earned an average of US$800 commission through this seed program and 60% of retailers saw a growth in their business as they reinvested in new stocks.
In this context, the impact of agricultural research goes beyond the single target of ‘food-security’…
Robert Zeigler: The 25-year forecast budget for the Global Rice Science Partnership – the CGIAR Research Program for Rice – is roughly US$3 billion. By 2035, this investment is predicted to lift 150 million people out of poverty and a further 62 million undernourished people would get enough to eat. Moreover, the equivalent of about 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions would be averted.
Rice is not just integral to food security in Asia it is aligned with political security. Ensuring a reliable and affordable supply of rice in the region will help ensure political stability.
Jonathan Wadsworth: Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people – those who live on less than $1 a day – depend almost completely on agriculture for food and income. When smallholder farmers have access to new agricultural technologies and crop varieties, their families eat better, earn more money, are healthier and more productive, and are better able to send their children to school — breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger that traps one generation to the next.
With high rates of return of about 40% — higher than any other development investment — agricultural research is an extremely cost-effective way to cut poverty and hunger. Rates of return on CGIAR’s investment in crop improvement research in Asia and in the Middle East and North Africa are even higher — more than 100%. Crop improvement research has also prevented millions more hectares of land from being brought under cultivation, saving primary forests and fragile environments.
However, research requires funding stability that stretches well beyond political budget cycles. CGIAR established a multi-donor trust fund to provide reliable and predictable multi-year funding that enables research planning over the long term, resource allocation based on agreed priorities, and the timely disbursement of funds. To receive funding, CGIAR Research Programs must set out their expected achievements and provide verifiable targets against which progress can be measured and monitored. By linking funding to results, the CGIAR Fund gives donors better value for money and ensures that research translates into tangible benefits for the poor.
Read more about CGIAR’s participation at RIO+20
With thanks to Gwendolyn Stansbury, Sophie Clayton, Michele Pietrowski, Yassir Islam and Rex Navarro.
Picture courtesy Peter Casier