By Alison Walkley
27 June 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated late last week that one-sixth of the world’s population is undernourished, with over 1 million more people going hungry each day. FAO is pointing to the world economic crisis as the prime cause behind the phenomenon.
At a press conference on 19 June 2009, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, said, “A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty. The silent hunger crisis…poses a serious risk for world peace and security. We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world and to take the necessary actions.”
Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, said at the press conference, “Many of the world’s poor and hungry are smallholder farmers in developing countries. Yet they have the potential not only to meet their own needs, but to boost food security and catalyze broader economic growth. To unleash this potential and reduce the number of hungry people in the world, governments, supported by the international community, need to protect core investments in agriculture so that smallholder farmers have access not only to seeds and fertilizers, but to tailored technologies, infrastructure, rural finance, and markets.”
Nwanze continued, “For most developing countries there is little doubt that investing in smallholder agriculture is the most sustainable safety net, particularly during a time of global economic crisis.”
It is the responsibility of the developed nations to aid the least developed countries (LDCs) in their development, especially in the areas of agricultural production and productivity, Diouf said. “Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome poverty and hunger and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth.”
Unfortunately, even the most developed nations are struggling, making it less likely for the LDCs to receive the financial aid they desperately need.
David Dawe, Senior Economist of the Agriculture and Development Economics Division of FAO, told MediaGlobal, “It is certainly true that the developed countries have urgent financial needs during the crisis. As a result, the [International Monetary Fund] forecast that foreign aid to the poorest 78 countries would decline about 25 percent in 2009. However, it should be noted that the lower projected level in 2009 (and it is only a projection) would still be higher than aid in 2007. In other words, the decline in 2009 was projected from a very high level in 2008 as there was an increase in multilateral aid in 2008 to help countries cope with the food and fuel crisis.”
Dawe recommended help in the form of “repatriating migrant workers from developing countries or imposing stricter immigration rules and quotas” where financial aid is impossible. “Such policies would help migrants to continue sending money to their families back home. Avoiding higher tariffs on developing country exports will also help improve employment prospects in low-income countries,” he explained.
An emphasis on South-South cooperation in this crisis could also provide help, Dawe acknowledged, “because many countries in the South are not in recession, i.e. their economies are still growing (albeit more slowly than before). In contrast, the economies of most developed countries have contracted sharply.”
The geography of those living in chronic hunger translates into 642 million people in Asia and the Pacific; 265 million in Sub-Saharan Africa; 53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean; 42 million in the Near East and North Africa; and 15 million total in developed countries.
