Millions fed: Proven successes in agricultural development

Learning from successes in agricultural development is now more urgent than ever. Progress in feeding the world’s billions has slowed, while the challenge of meeting future food needs remains enormous and is subject to new uncertainties in the global food and agricultural systems. In the late 1950s around a billion people were estimated to go hungry every day. Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and ordinary people initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. Great strides were also made in improving the quality of food and the ability of vulnerable people to access food needed for survival. All these efforts have done more than just feed millions. They have also demonstrated that agriculture can be a key driver of growth and development for many of the world’s poorest countries.Developing countries, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Hunger, malnutrition, Agricultural research, Agricultural technology, food security, Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Agricultural policies, Science and technology,

Highlights from millions fed: Proven successes in agricultural development

Learning from successes in agricultural development is now more urgent than ever. Progress in feeding the world’s billions has slowed, while the challenge of meeting future food needs remains enormous and is subject to new uncertainties in the global food and agricultural systems. In the late 1950s around a billion people were estimated to go hungry every day. Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and ordinary people initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. Great strides were also made in improving the quality of food and the ability of vulnerable people to access food needed for survival. All these efforts have done more than just feed millions. They have also demonstrated that agriculture can be a key driver of growth and development for many of the world’s poorest countries.Developing countries, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Hunger, malnutrition, Agricultural research, Agricultural technology, food security, Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Agricultural policies, Science and technology,

Income sources of malnourished people in rural areas: Microlevel information and policy implications

"This research is stimulated by the preliminary insight that rural households, even if they are poor and/or located in so-called subsistence-oriented regions, are dependent on a variety of farm, nonfarm, and nonagricultural income sources. The scale and nature of these income sources and their relationship to the major economic sectors (agriculture, rural manufacturing, and services), through backward and forward linkages, need to be better understood for priority setting in development policy. The objectives of this study are threefold: 1) to identify employment and income sources of rural households of different socioeconomic characteristics in regions and countries at different stages of agricultural transformation and development; 2) to trace income and employment strategies (as revealed by these) of rural households, and, thus, to broaden the information base for policy priorities for integration of the poor into a sustainable growth and development process. 3) to look into distributions below and above the poverty line in order to identify relevant differences in demographic, income, and employment characteristics of poor and nonpoor rural households and, thereby, assess the scope for "targeting" income sources of the poor as a poverty alleviation strategy. Poverty is essentially, but not always, a matter of low incomes, where the cost of acquiring a certain commodity bundle determines the income- or expenditure-based poverty line. An income-based indicator is an indirect means of measuring poverty. In this study, poverty is measured directly through consumption, given certain commodity characteristics and behaviors, rather than in directly through incomes. A central and fundamental characteristic of absolute poverty is insufficient food consumption for an active and healthy life. The poverty line (cutoff point) is defined here by calorie consumption being 80 percent of the recommended consumption for an active and healthy life." from authors' abstractRural poor Developing countries., Income Developing countries., Rural poor Developing countries Nutrition., Malnutrition Developing countries.,

Six billion and counting

In 1999 global population surpassed 6 billion people, and this number rises by about 70-80 million people each year. "Six Billion and Counting" examines the consequences of continuing population growth for the world's resource systems and for national and global food security. Leisinger, Schmitt, and Pandya-Lorch offer here a sober analysis of a complex and alarming situation. They assess the progress the world has made in controlling population growth and point to the areas where future difficulties will lie. They describe the effects of rapid population growth on social and economic conditions and on natural resources, and they consider what population growth will mean for the food security of poor people and poor countries. In addition, the authors make clear how the roles of women and children in traditional societies affect birth rates. "Six Billion and Counting" shows that neither the population pessimists, who predict a catastrophic exhaustion of natural resources, nor the population optimists, who foresee technological solutions for all of the problems raised by population growth, offer the most useful approach to this problem. Instead, Leisinger and his coauthors argue that new technologies mitigating the harmful effects of rapid population growth can give the world valuable time to take the complex and multifaceted steps needed to reduce population growth rates to sustainable levels.Population forecasting. ,Population Economic aspects. ,Food security. ,Population Environmental aspects ,Technological innovations. ,Population policy. ,

Trends in the AMS Education Symposium and Highlights from 2012

The Department of Meteorology (now Atmospheric Sciences) at the University of Utah faced reductions in state funding in 2008 that reduced support for nontenured instructors at the same time that the faculty were becoming increasingly successful obtaining federally supported research grants. A faculty retreat and subsequent discussions led to substantive curriculum changes to modernize the curriculum, enhance course offerings for undergraduate and graduate students, and improve the overall efficiency of the academic program. Maintaining discipline standards and existing teaching loads were important constraints on these changes. Key features of the curriculum revisions for undergraduate majors included eliminating a very rigid course progression; shifting the emphasis from required courses to elective courses; offering many courses only every other year; and relying on half-semester short courses to survey subject areas rather than focusing in depth on fewer ones. The curriculum changes were evaluated through surveys and individual and focus group discussions of students and faculty. While the feedback suggests that the changes overall were beneficial, the transitional period during which the changes were implemented was difficult for faculty and students alike. Faculty members have opportunities now to adjust courses based on their experiences gained teaching these courses in their new format. The feedback from students and faculty suggests that building improved relationships and interactions among co-enrolled undergraduate and graduate students is the greatest need in order to improve the classroom learning environment

The world food situation

This report comes out of ongoing IFPRI research and activities conducted as part of the 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment initiative, which aims to generate information to eradicate hunger, prevent poverty, and protect the environment.

World food prospects

This report discusses six issues that could influence the world food situation in the twenty-first century: the relationship between policy related variables and the nutritional status of children, the relationship between current market trends for wheat, maize and rice and their potential impact on producer income, food production, and food stocks; the role of developing countries in the next round of World Trade Organization negotiations; and three topics related to increasing productivity on small-scale farms: the potential of agroecological approaches, the role of biotechnology, and the relevance of new information technology and precision farming.

Bref aperçu de Millions Fed: Succès Prouvés dans le Développement Agricole

Le monde doit accélérer ses progrès dans la réduction de la pauvreté et de la faim. Aujourd’hui, une personne sur six à travers le monde ne mange pas à sa faim et souffre de malnutrition – une proportion tragiquement élevée – et beaucoup d’autres n’ont pas les moyens de manger de manière équilibrée. Malgré les progrès réalisés, de nouveaux défis s’annoncent : la population mondiale devrait atteindre 9 millions de personnes en 2050, le changement climatique fait naître de nouveaux risques pour les agriculteurs, la dégradation de l’environnement contribue à l’érosion des sols et à la raréfaction de l’eau et nous sommes toujours confrontés aux problèmes qui ont provoqué la volatilité dévastatrice des prix alimentaires en 2008. Il est également important de se rappeler que le monde a déjà remporté de grands succès dans le développement agricole qui ont permis de nourrir des milliards d’individus. Après tout, alors qu’un sinistre monde malthusien semblait inévitable, quelque 5 milliards de personnes ont aujourd’hui assez de nourriture pour être en bonne santé et mener une existence productive, et la proportion de la population souffrant de la faim diminue. L’expérience des réussites qui ont permis de réaliser ces progrès est porteuse de précieux enseignements sur la manière de se servir de l’agriculture pour lutter contre la faim et la malnutrition. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui pourtant, nous disposions de relativement peu d’éléments expliquant le pourquoi, le comment et le où de la réussite de ces interventions. Pour identifier et analyser les succès obtenus dans le développement agricole et en tirer des enseignements, la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates (FBMG) a fait appel à l’Institut international de recherche sur les politiques alimentaires (IFPRI – International Food Policy Research Institute) pour documenter ce qui marche dans le domaine de l’agriculture, c’est-à-dire les types de politiques, de programmes et d’investissements dans le développement agricole qui ont véritablement réduit la faim et la pauvreté. Ce projet fait suite à un autre projet récent intitulé Millions Saved: Exemples de réussites dans la santé mondiale, soutenu par la FBMG et mené par le Centre pour le développement mondial (Center for Global Development). Les études de cas décrivant ces réussites ont été choisies à travers un processus rigoureux comprenant un appel ouvert à sélection, un large examen de la littérature et la consultation d’experts. Plus de 250 études de cas candidates ont été passées au crible d’un ensemble exhaustif de critères incluant des aspects tels que l’échelle, l’impact et la soutenabilité. Un comité d’experts internationalement reconnus a fourni de précieux conseils et avis. Finalement, le projet a retenu 19 succès avérés. Ceux-ci recouvraient des interventions visant aussi bien à augmenter la productivité qu’à combattre les maladies et les organismes nuisibles, ou encore à préserver les ressources naturelles, accroître les opportunités commerciales, améliorer la nutrition humaine ou l’environnement politique. L’une des tendances communes à beaucoup de ces réussites est la conjugaison de la science, de la politique et du leadership. Tant que la faim et la malnutrition ne seront pas éradiquées, nul ne pourra crier victoire. Notre espoir est donc que notre effort attirera une plus grande attention sur des investissements solides dans le développement agricole, capables de combattre la faim et de favoriser l’extension et la réplication des succès.Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Developing countries, Agricultural policies, food security, Agricultural research, malnutrition, Hunger, Agricultural technology, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Science and technology,

Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: Seizing the Momentum

his book highlights the important links between agriculture and nutrition, both direct and indirect, both theoretical and practical. It explores these relationships through various frameworks, such as value chains, programmes and policies, as well as through diverse perspectives, such as gender. It assesses the impacts of various agricultural interventions and policies on nutrition and profiles the up-and-down journeys of countries such as Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, and Malawi in integrating nutrition into agricultural policies and programmes. It highlights successes such as biofortification, the integration of behaviour change communication and gender equality into existing agricultural interventions, and agriculture's role in improving household access to nutritious foods and diet diversity. It analyses challenges such as climate and environmental change, undernutrition, and obesity. And it ponders big questions, such as how to build capacity, engage with the private sector, participate in the big data revolution, and foster strong governance and leadership throughout agriculture and nutrition.illustrato

Food security and the role of agricultural research

Effective partnerships between developing-country research systems, international research institutions, and private and public sector research institutions in industrialized countries should be forged to bring biotechnology to bear on the agricultural problems of developing countries. Failure to expand agricultural research significantly in and for developing countries will make food security, poverty, and environmental goals elusive. Lack of foresight today will carry a very high cost for the future