Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons
Abstract
The concept of “baby steps” is well-known among psychologists and
movie buffs alike. In the classic movie “What About Bob,” Dr. Leo Marvin
(played by Richard Dreyfuss) gives to Bob (Bill Murray), a highly dependent
and worried individual, a copy of his book Baby Steps. Dr. Marvin explains, “It
means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. One day at a time, one tiny
step at a time—doable, accomplishable goals.” For many, the concept of “baby
steps,” methodically working on simple, constrained pieces of a problem, is a
useful approach in solving complex and difficult problems. Unfortunately, accomplishing
large goals through small increments can take a considerable
amount of time and coordination. And, in the case of solving world hunger, time
is up. Prior attempts to address the issue of hunger have been based on baby
steps, and now we must abandon such incremental approaches and focus on
large-scale changes. Otherwise, the world will soon see a food crisis like never
before. The first part of the paper asserts that increased access to financing is
needed for smallholder farmers to help boost farm productivity and reduce food
scarcity. The second part, describes a new protocol to an existing convention,
the Cape Town Convention (defined below), that some argue will benefit agriculture
financing. The paper concludes by considering the actual impact the new
protocol would have on small farmers’ ability to reduce food and asserts that
while the protocol might end up being a successful one, it is still just a baby step
toward the stated goal of eliminating world hunger
