Keeping World Food Security on the Agenda: Implications for the United Nations and the CGIAR

Issues in Agriculture no. 11 from the series "Issues in Agriculture" published by the CGIAR Secretariat

Unravelling inclusive business models for achieving food and nutrition security in BOP markets

There is a growing consensus that one of the key priorities to address food and nutrition security is to aim at the transformation of agriculture and food systems. The private sector can fulfil an important role in this. It is often argued that the success at low income markets (denoted here as Bottom of the Pyramid - BOP) requires innovative and inclusive business models. However, research findings on this have been quite descriptive and generic. The literature on private sector engagement and food and nutrition security has a strong focus on the participation of businesses in the value chain and the food system, but does generally not unravel the specific characteristics of the inclusive business model itself. This article aims to contribute to an improved understanding with regard to inclusive business model characteristics of private sector interventions aiming at food and nutrition security improvements, by scrutinizing 16 cases from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The study focuses on the internal fitness of the strategic business model by analysing the foundation level components of the inclusive business model. Important findings are the relevance of quality of product or service besides its affordability, marketing and distribution strategies to link the different actors in the value chain, and training as well as coalition building to overcome institutional and cultural gaps and increase the success of the inclusive business model for improved nutrition and food security. An important conclusion is that the business model and business ecosystem of BOP markets is crucial. Also, the findings indicate a need for intermediaries to overcome cultural and institutional gaps in implementing inclusive business models.</p

Feeding the World in a Changing Climate: An Adaptation Roadmap for Agriculture

The impacts of a warming world are affecting food production in every corner of the globe. From shifting rainfall patterns and growing seasons, to more frequent and extreme droughts and floods, to increasingly severe pest and disease outbreaks among crops and livestock, farming as we know it is under attack. Globally, agricultural production has fallen by 1-5 percent each decade for the past 30 years, with tropical regions the hardest hit. In 2017, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), droughts, floods and delayed growing seasons helped trigger food crises in Central America, East and West Africa, and parts of Asia. Yet far worse outcomes are likely ahead for vulnerable food consumers and producers as these climate change impacts intensify and the world’s population climbs—if we persist with a business as usual approach. The implication is clear. The agricultural development community must urgently come together around a comprehensive and accelerated adaptation roadmap for food production acknowledging that major transitions across the agriculture sector will be needed. This report seeks to lay the groundwork for a way forward. It brings together academic research, examples of proven adaptive technologies and practices, and lessons learned from practitioners including government, farming communities and the private sector. It then provides recommendations for the development of new technologies and practices and on how to scale what’s already working to drive global climate-resilient transitions. The report focuses on agriculture, primarily in the developing world, recognizing that this is only a part of a larger and more complex set of issues related to food systems and their transformation for sustainability. The report identifies a range of adaptive farming technologies and practices that are proven to work and suitable for scaling. These include stress tolerant crops and livestock breeds, sustainable forms of farming intensification, and better risk management through innovations like climate information systems and index-linked insurance. As policy makers, farmers, scientists, civil society organizations and others trial these and other adaptation practices around the world, important lessons for success are emerging that should inform future efforts

The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India’s rainfed drylands

India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglected in mainstream agricultural and rural development policy. As a result, significant social-ecological challenges overlap in these landscapes: endemic poverty, malnutrition and land degradation. Sustainable intensification of dryland agriculture is essential for helping to address these challenges, particularly in the context of accelerating climate change. In this paper, we present 100 questions that point to the most important knowledge gaps and research priorities. If addressed, these would facilitate and inform sustainable intensification in Indian rainfed drylands, leading to improved agricultural production and enhanced ecosystem services. The horizon scanning method used to produce these questions brought together experts and practitioners involved in a broad range of disciplines and sectors. This exercise resulted in a consolidated set of questions covering the agricultural drylands, organized into 13 themes. Together, these represent a collective programme for new cross- and multi-disciplinary research on sustainable intensification in the Indian rainfed drylands

Report of the Science Council Chair to the CGIAR Annual General Meeting 2008

Report to the CGIAR Annual General Meeting 2008 by Rudy Rabbinge, Science Council Chair, December 2008, Maputo, Mozambique