Food
Security & Better Quality of Life
By Dr Arvind
Kumar
In
its recently released first Africa Human Development Report, the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) has stressed food security as a means to a better quality of
life for all. The argument is straightforward: Most people in Africa depend on
agriculture, and better nutrition is good for human development. More food
production means more food and income in people's pockets, which has spin-offs
which are beneficial for health and education. The report is not another
exhortation to farmers to grow more food. According to Pedro Conceicao, chief
economist with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, exclusively looking at
linkages between small-scale farmers and agriculture or gender empowerment and
agriculture were "piecemeal approaches" and not helpful. "We
have to move beyond silver bullet obsessions [such as agricultural subsidies]
or attention-grabbing headlines." He reasoned that high economic growth
rates in Africa had not necessarily resulted in a reduction in poverty and food
insecurity - which points to accessibility to food and purchasing power as key
factors.
The
report emphasizes ‘empowerment’ and participation as important levers for
change. It argues that countries need to implement a more strategic vision of
food security. The report further calls for new approaches covering multiple
sectors - from rural infrastructure to health services, to new forms of social
protection and empowering local communities. It calls for action in four
critical areas: increasing agricultural production; more effective nutrition; building
resilience; and empowerment and social justice. However, the report has almost
completely sidestepped controversial issues like genetically modified seeds,
the role of agribusiness in land-grabbing, control of seeds, pushing pesticides
and herbicides.
#UNDP #Seeds #Agribusiness #Pestisides #Herbicides #Empowerment #Poverty #Africa
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