Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods, and Jobs

Recommendations
for Decision-Makers

• Make poverty reduction a higher priority both as an end in itself and in the pursuit of shifting broader global and national priorities, such as climate change adaptation and mitigation. Poverty is one of the leading causes of poor diets and food insecurity.
• As part of efforts to reduce rural poverty, tap into rising food demand from the rapid demographic shift towards urban centers. Opportunities include raising farm incomes, improving opportunities for high-value enterprises needed for viable small-scale farms, and creating new business and job opportunities in extended supply chains, with the support of added investment into infrastructure such as electricity, transport, and storage.
• Partner with the private sector to stimulate jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities, and investments, especially in rural areas. Economic growth is a critical engine of continuing change in food systems in low- and middle-income countries, potentially driving down poverty.
• Invest in capacity building and infrastructure in evolving technologies and institutional innovations as a tool for poverty alleviation. For example, digital agriculture tools, powered by AI and remote sensing, can deliver critical market, weather, and financial information directly to farmers, improving decision-making and stabilizing incomes, when supported by policies that ensure equitable participation in the digital transition.
• Ensure regulatory frameworks that govern seed systems promote rather than hinder the increased availability of high-quality, disease-free, and affordable seeds and animals to smallholders, and engage rural communities in breeding programs to increase access to these resources and to stimulate jobs and enterprise, especially in remote rural populations.

What Food Systems Science Tells Us

Tackling poverty in low- and middle-income countries requires a combined effort that focuses on economic inclusion, promoting fairness, and protecting the environment. Agriculture and food systems are essential to this mission, as they support the livelihoods of millions of people across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.

Well-designed policies, strategic action, and targeted investments are crucial to increasing productivity and resilience and strengthening market systems. By empowering smallholder producers, these efforts boost food security, create jobs, reduce inequality, and promote long-term economic growth. Science plays a key role by helping decision-makers design policies that balance needs and consider both benefits and trade-offs across complex cross-sectoral agendas.

Sustainably improving agricultural productivity is the most effective way to reduce poverty and inequality while increasing incomes in low-income countries. For example, developing and promoting crop varieties, livestock breeds and fish species that are climate-resilient and locally adapted can create a buffer for farmers. For the millions of small producers who often depend on rainfall for irrigation and lack access to finance to invest in new technologies or infrastructure, these innovations can be game changers.

Science tells us that it is not enough for breeders to develop new climate-resilient options for farmers. They also need to consider local social, market, environmental, and regulatory factors to increase adoption by smallholders.

Inclusive and demand-led breeding programs can help address barriers to adoption while promoting gender equity, youth, and social inclusion. For instance, CGIAR’s Seeds for Needs program involves more than 50,000 farmers in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Farmers test, rank, and select crop varieties that best meet their needs and provide this critical feedback back to breeders. Considerations go beyond just yield, including traits valued by different stakeholders in a community, such as taste, market demand, and suitability for traditional recipes or processing qualities.

Regulations around seed production systems must empower farmers, not constrain them. Certified seeds (seeds with official documentation) from formal systems may be high-performing seeds but are often too expensive or hard to access for many farmers, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Informal seed systems, which many farmers rely on, should be supported through collaboration and regulatory changes. Governments have a strong role to play in developing policies that support innovation, protect local biodiversity, and empower farming communities. One example is enhancing the capacity of governments to enable the production of seed adapted to climate change, for instance, by taking a pragmatic approach to seed system regulation (Figure 22) and fostering collective bargaining through associations and cooperatives, such as the community livestock breeding programs.

Safety nets serve as targeted poverty reduction programs for many vulnerable populations like landless and low-income urban populations. They are also a way to reduce risks for farmers transitioning to new crops, livestock, or agricultural practices. Such changes can affect yields and market returns, making them difficult decisions for smallholder farmers, so it is not something done lightly. Examples include public procurement schemes, index-linked or picture-based crop insurance, and accessible microfinance packages.

At the production level, innovations can drive the growth of local agribusinesses, creating opportunities for women and young people. For instance, local seed businesses provide farmers with high-quality seeds and improved crop varieties, making these more accessible while offering new income streams. Examples include initiatives supporting rooted potato cuttings (Figure 23) in India and Kenya. Governments can play a key role by funding startup costs and offering business skills training and, more generally, by providing essential public goods such as good quality infrastructure, education, and health.

Along the supply chain, innovations that deliver better transport and storage for fresh produce, as well as value-added products like Vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato puree that have extended shelf lives can improve nutrition, health, and food security. These advancements help reduce waste and food loss and enable farmers to sell their products when prices are more favorable. The increasing populations of urban consumers who are typically cash-rich but time-poor tend to buy more perishable products including animal, fish, and horticultural produce as well as semi-prepared and processed foods. To support the growing distance between producers and consumers, strategic investments in infrastructure such as wholesale food markets are essential. Strengthening what is sometimes referred to as the ‘hidden middle’ of value chains expands opportunities for small and medium enterprises and plays a crucial role in sustaining small-scale farms in rural areas. Africa and Asia are predicted to see 90% of global urban population growth by 2050. Studies show that in sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture production and yields are correlated with proximity to urban markets when measured by travel time and cost.

Public-private partnerships are crucial for driving economic growth, creating jobs, and fostering innovation, including in research and development. For example, mobile money services like M-Pesa have improved financial inclusion for millions in rural areas. Phones also connect farmers to market information and advisory services, especially when supported by government investments in digital infrastructure.

In Brazil, Fome Zero, an incentive and investment program is leveraging its agricultural sector to reduce poverty and eradicate hunger, with cooperatives and private companies playing a critical role in rural areas. The Collaborative Breeding of Five Tropically Adapted Potato Varieties (TAP5) program also showcases how public and private collaboration can lead to practical solutions that benefit farmers.

However, expanding opportunities in agricultural systems does not automatically reduce poverty. Recognizing this is vital for agricultural research and food system development, yet it often receives little attention. Economic growth must be inclusive, and sustainable while ensuring decent work for all. CGIAR is currently working with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to highlight this issue, identify research gaps, and promote policies that support fair and decent work in food systems.

Looking Ahead

Global priorities are increasingly shifting toward addressing environmental challenges, often overshadowing efforts to reduce poverty. Added to these pressures are geopolitical instability, conflicts, and natural disasters, which are increasing the number of forcibly displaced people. These include refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people such as those who have lost their homes due to conflict or disaster. Their number is estimated to exceed 110 million as of May 2023. These issues dominate public and government attention because of their severe risks to humanity, prompting nations to sideline efforts on long-term poverty alleviation as they respond to short-term crises.

Although efforts to reduce poverty and increase food and nutrition security have made headway, progress is often slow leading to decision-maker frustration and fatigue. Furthermore, connected challenges such as climate change, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing conflicts threaten to erode or even reverse these gains. In sub-Saharan Africa, economic growth remains too low to meaningfully reduce poverty, with projections that average income growth per capita will only reach 1.2% over 2023-2024 (World Bank, 2023). Furthermore, nearly 455 million people in conflict-prone countries live in poverty (UNDP, 2024). These realities underline the continuing urgent need to prioritize poverty alleviation in national and global strategies.

Climate change impacts poverty, while poverty limits people’s ability to adapt to its effects. Agricultural research and investment should prioritize crops, livestock, and aquatic species that meet the needs of the most food-insecure populations, including developing climate-resilient varieties of root, tuber, and banana crops that also improve diet quality and nutrition through higher and more stable incomes. Foods from water, which include diverse animals, plants, and microorganisms, all of which are important for consumption, also hold the potential to play important roles in terms of food and livelihood security at times of shortages.

New technologies have great potential to reduce poverty, particularly in food systems. Digital tools such as those powered by AI and remote sensing can provide farmers with critical market, weather, and financial information, helping them make better decisions and stabilize incomes. However, infrastructure gaps, along with limited digital skills, risk excluding vulnerable populations, especially in rural areas. Governments must invest in digital infrastructure and the related institutional environments to improve access to these tools and provide training in their use while maintaining traditional support services to ensure no one is left behind.

The growth in urban markets presents an opportunity to create employment opportunities across food systems and help sustain small-scale rural farms when supported by investments in infrastructure and innovations that better connect producers with more distant consumers. It is also creating a shift in consumer demand towards high-value, perishable, and processed food products, which can provide opportunities for entrepreneurship and jobs along the food chain.

To create food systems that work for the poorest, policies must prioritize stable and fair market prices, supported by social safety nets. These measures can reduce the costs of sustainable production, lower market risks, and provide farmers with more predictable incomes. These measures can offset the costs of integrating environmental and social externalities into production systems, reduce market volatility, and enhance predictability for farmers. Governments must also support risk management mechanisms to protect against climate-related and market shocks.

Finally, addressing gender inequality and youth inclusion is crucial to reducing poverty. Women are disproportionately affected by poverty and food insecurity, yet they play a critical role in food systems. Targeted measures, such as improving access to land, credit, and information for women and children, can substantially enhance productivity and income stability for rural households.

One of the main barriers is the gap in communication between the scientist and the private sector, including the farmer who is supposed to be the key beneficiary of the materials and innovations the scientists are coming up with.”