Global Food for Thought

Increasing Partnerships and Investments in Agricultural Development

Next Generation Delegation 2014 Commentary Series

By Sharlene Yang, MPA in International Policy and Management at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and 2014 Next Generation Delegate

At The Chicago Council's Global Food Security Symposium 2014, held on May 22, 2014 in Washington, DC, Ambassador Susan E. Rice declared: “Investing in agriculture is one of the surest ways to reduce poverty.” Although the impact of climate change is felt globally, about a third of the world’s population relies on rain-fed subsistence agriculture – earning under USD1.25 a day - and are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and weather volatility. Furthermore, the FAO estimates that agricultural production must increase to 70% to meet the food and nutritional security demands of a rising world population. This year’s symposium topic emphasized the need to develop climate-smart solutions for advancing global food security and highlighted recommendations from The Chicago Council’s report, Advancing Global Food Security in the Face of a Changing Climate.

Cross-sector and public-private partnerships, through market-based approaches to agricultural development, can be an effective avenue for meeting these global food security and agricultural development challenges. In the panel discussion on the Climate-Food Nexus and What It Means for Conflict, Economic Growth, and Sustainability, Obinna Ufudo, CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, remarked that “we must stop treating agriculture as a development project but as a business” and especially to “engage the private sector in a more sustainable manner to change food systems [because] the private sector can make a huge difference by investing sustainably.”

To be sure, the private sector is becoming increasingly invested in agricultural development, which presents many possibilities along the agricultural value chain, particularly to further inclusive business approaches since agriculture is predominantly an economic and livelihood source for the estimated 2.5 billion people living in extreme poverty. Private sector involvement, along with increasing the number of cross-sector and public-private partnerships, has the potential to sustain operations long-term and strengthen economic development in developing nations. Yet this is estimated to require a 50% increase in annual investment. With the proper investment, training and support, smallholder producers can effectively increase their yields to potentially lift 400 million people out of poverty, thus improving livelihoods, food and nutritional security.

Among the Council report's recommendations for advancing climate change adaptation and mitigation were partnership opportunities such as information sharing, insurance or risk sharing and infrastructure. Knowledge transfer among developing countries is another promising development for increasing effective cooperation in addressing these global challenges. For example, some of the partnerships include Brazil’s Agropensa System; Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security Research Program; Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network; and the Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance. Similarly,the Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Program, a collaborative partnership between DuPont, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, and USAID to provide quality seed inputs, build agricultural production capacity, and grow a strong network of farmer cooperatives and dealers, is another excellent example of how fostering partnerships can bring about desired results.

Despite the global challenges in the coming decades in the face of climate change and concerns of limited natural resources for the next generation, opportunities to meet these challenges present themselves through increased cooperation and collaborative partnerships, technical capacity transfers, networking and knowledge sharing, and increased investments by public and private sectors in agriculture.  

As Bill Gates has noted, “If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture. Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. The international agriculture community needs to be more innovative, coordinated, and focused to help poor farmers grow more. If we can do that, we can dramatically reduce suffering and build self-sufficiency.” By working together, we can make a substantial impact by learning and implementing various approaches for climate change mitigation and adaptation, ensuring food and nutritional security, improving economic and social livelihoods, and furthering positive economic development while managing our natural resources sustainably. 

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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(Pictured above: A resident of West Point neighbourhood, which has been quarantined following an outbreak of Ebola, carries a sack of food rations from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Monrovia August 28, 2014. REUTERS/2Tango)

Guest Commentary - Tackling Global Issues with Global Responses

By Cydney Gumann, Knowledge Management Specialist, Feed the Future Knowledge-Driven Agricultural Development (KDAD) Project

This post originally appeared on Agrilinks.



Climate change has the ability to impact every facet of human life. But arguably, one of the most severely affected sectors will be agriculture. In some parts of the world, the ramifications of a changing climate can already be seen in decreases to crop productivity and water availability and in increases to food prices. Without the knowledge and tools to mitigate and adapt to climate change, farmers in both developed and developing countries could face unprecedented losses, with far-reaching consequences. This is a global challenge and one that requires a global response. 

On May 22, 2014, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs brought together during its annual symposium experts from academia, the public and private sectors, and numerous nongovernmental and international organizations to discuss these challenges, along with potential opportunities to help strengthen the global food supply chain. The theme of this year’s event was “Advancing Global Food Security in the Face of Weather Volatility and Climate Change.” The symposium kicked off with a presentation on a new report, released by The Chicago Council, which highlights the impact that climate change will have on food production in the coming decades and calls on the U.S. Government to take action.

Discussions held throughout the day focused on topics such as climate-smart food security, risk management, and coping strategies related to water stress. While many of these discussions highlighted the dire consequences of climate change on global food security, presenters offered some ways to move forward by emphasizing new and existing technologies and approaches that can help improve agricultural practices and make farmers more resilient.

Several of the speakers from the symposium shared their thoughts with Agrilinks about the topics covered throughout the event. Highlights from these interviews are available in the video above.

To learn more about this event, see videos of the presentations, and read the report, visit The Chicago Council on Global Affairs website.

Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations

REUTERS/China Daily

Seeing Purpose and Profit in Algae
Although algae grow prodigiously and contain potentially useful molecules, extracting those molecules has proved complicated and expensive. But a US company has a pilot plant that can turn a profit making diesel fuel from algae by making clean water from municipal sewage, using the carbon-heavy residue as fertilizer, and generating valuable credits for advanced biofuels, all simultaneously.

New Technology Helps Farmers Conserve Fertilizer and Protect their Crops
Nitrogen is applied by farmers to agriculture fields all over the world, and much of it is lost to the atmosphere and waterways. Researchers hope they’ve created the beginnings of a solution: a new software program helps farmers save money and mitigate environmental impact by giving them the information needed to determine how and when to apply nitrogen fertilizer.

Mobile Payments: How Digital Finance is Transforming Agriculture
In East Africa, where urban centers have become saturated with mobile money, mobile payments to farmers can be economically viable for value chains. The alignment between mobile money providers, large agriculture buyers, and farmers presents a win-win scenario for everybody.

Gateway Bug: How Crickets Could Hook America on Eating Insects
Crickets, which are sustainable and nutritious, have emerged in the past year as something of a food fad; ironically, farming these insects is quite costly, ranging from $20 to $40 per pound. But if the cost of farming drops, crickets appear likely to become a regular part of American diets given their merits, including high protein content and low carbon footprint.

Fighting for Food Security

Next Generation Delegation 2014 Commentary Series

By Deepak Premkumar, PhD Student in Development Economics at UC-Berkeley and a 2014 Next Generation Delegate

I grew up in two very different worlds: a small Iowa college town and the India of my family’s heritage. Whenever we visited India, my father made a great effort to teach me about Indian culture. As a child, I would sit on the roof of my grandfather’s house with my father, feeding monkeys and listening to his stories of how much the country had changed since his own childhood. One day, we spotted three passing schoolboys who had hoisted each other up and over our fence and climbed one of our trees to snatch a few mangoes. My father caught the boys, who were ten-years-old—the same age as me at the time—and when he demanded to know why they stole the fruit, the boys confessed that they had not eaten all day.

Then, he did something I did not expect: my father gave them the mangoes. Knowing he would not have tolerated me stealing anything, I asked why he let the boys take the fruit after catching them in the act. In reply, he told me about the tremendous suffering in much of India; while many people lack basic necessities, others are very fortunate and so, in my father’s opinion, must help those with less. His words and compassion revealed two other worlds to me, beyond those of Iowa and India that I already knew: one world of privilege and another world of tremendous need. This moment sparked my interest in public service.

Since then, I have sought out ways to use the opportunities I’ve been given to help others and reduce inequality. In 2011, I worked with Empower Tanzania, Inc (ETI). At the time, three of their development projects were languishing, and ETI suspected that it was due to a lack of information on the villages’ resource constraints. Accordingly, I set out to gather this necessary but previously uncollected data. A fellow student and I created a research instrument that combined quantitative household surveys and Geographic Information Systems mapping. The results highlighted interesting discrepancies in the development paradigm, the most prevalent of which was the missing linkages between health and education due to “either-or” solutions, instead of integrated approaches.

I aspire to be a development economist, focusing on the intersection of health and development. I intend to use rigorous quantitative analysis in conjunction with interdisciplinary tools to study the implications of health on food security. While working with the communities in Tanzania that rely on subsistence agriculture, for example, I noticed the deleterious effects that health burdens such as malaria and diarrheal diseases have on food security in the region. When malaria is reported as a consistent problem for 95 percent of households and diarrheal disease is reported at 41 percent, it becomes unimaginable how people could obtain adequate food or steady income while ill, especially when their nearest clinic is over 6 kilometers away.

My experience in the developing world taught me a lesson that extends beyond my research: we are not that different from one another. In both India and Tanzania, I saw the same resourcefulness that comes from successive generations inhabiting the land. I have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of Maasai warriors and Punjabi famers, who demonstrate a kind of generosity I have witnessed only in the developing world: taking according to their needs, but giving beyond their means. In that spirit, I am committed to improving people’s lives through my research endeavors, echoing the childhood lessons of compassion and wisdom that my father instilled in me. 

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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(Pictured above: A buoy meant for boaters rests on the dry bed of Lake Mendocino, a key Mendocino County reservoir, in Ukiah, California, earlier this year. REUTERS/Noah Berger)

Commentary - Returning to Brazil

By Brent Heard, BS candidate in Economics and Environmental Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences

This post originally appeared on Sense & Sustainability.

While most of the discussion about Brazil lately has been soccer-focused, eyes have also been turning toward their anti-deforestation policies. Brazil has long been the poster child for environmental damage and poor land management. The Amazon rainforest has been reduced in size by nearly 20% in the last 40 years, often due to cattle grazing, logging, and similar activities. However, as a result of innovative land-use policies, Brazil has managed to decrease deforestation by 70% in 8 years, from a ten-year average of 19,500 km/year in 2005 to 5,800 km/year in 2013. This reduction corresponds to 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere, greatly enhancing efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation.

The incentives for deforestation have always been high for Brazil. The beef industry traditionally played a substantial role in Brazilian agriculture, demanding land for pasture. Additionally, as was noted in a paper published by Tropical Conservation Science, Brazil has been facing high international demand, and correspondingly high export prices, for soybeans, which has provided a substantial incentive for clearing rainforests to raise soy.

Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations

(Shamba Shape Up)

Agricultural Reality Stars
When researchers discover more sustainable ways to farm across the globe, sharing this information is not always easy. Organizations are taking a new approach with non-traditional media: information and agricultural innovations are reaching the world’s most remote farming communities through means such as popular reality shows, song lyrics, and comic books.

Genetically Modified Flies ‘Could Save Crops’
A type of genetically engineered fly which eventually kills itself could be an effective method of pest control, according to new research. If released into the wild, they could prevent damage to crops in a way that is cheap, and environmentally friendly; but others oppose the technology and say releasing genetically modified flies into the wild could have unintended consequences.

Fertile Opportunity Awaits For Food Waste Processors
Up to a third of the available food supply goes to waste. We definitely should be working to reduce this waste, but what about the organic scraps or produce that legitimately should be disposed of that are currently emitting methane in landfills? There’s a greentech movement afoot to use that material both as the feedstock for renewable energy and for soil nutrients.

Getting to the Root of Malnutrition

Next Generation Delegation 2014 Commentary Series

By Kusum Hachhethu, MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and 2014 Next Generation Delegate

As a Next Generation Delegate, I was thrilled to see that one of the major themes of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Global Food Security Symposium 2014 in Washington DC was the importance of integrated programs to address the interrelated challenges of climate change, food insecurity, and malnutrition. In my own research, particularly through my experience with the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition in Nepal, I have seen firsthand the need for these integrated programs in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.

Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) remains a significant public health problem in Nepal. In 2011, the prevalence of SAM in Nepal’s Terai region, known as the nation’s breadbasket, was 3.2 percent, notably higher than the national average of 2.6 percent. It is also ironic that Terai, which produces the majority of the nation’s food, has the same prevalence of SAM – or higher prevalence – as other, more food-insecure regions.

I recently traveled to Bardiya, a high-burden district in this Terai region, to shed light on this complex phenomenon. While Bardiya is crippled with the usual peak of food insecurity between growing seasons, their food security is comparatively better than high-burden districts in the mountain and hill regions, according to The Nepal Food Security Monitoring System (NEKSAP) phase classifications. That said, however, hygiene and sanitation practices are extremely poor in Bardiya, leading to rampant diarrheal diseases that hinder children’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Furthermore, a malnourished child with a weakened immune system is also more prone to diseases.

Another key issue related to malnutrition that I observed in the Bardiya district is the effects of labor migration into neighboring India, which is prevalent in the region. As men migrate to pursue labor opportunities, women are left to care for their children on their own, in addition to performing the majority of the household tasks. As a result, it is important to consider the vexing childrearing challenges for the region’s mothers, as the unintended consequence of labor migration, in order to better understand child malnutrition.

Through my research, I’ve concluded that sanitation and childrearing constraints due to labor migration trends are two important factors that, in devastating combination with food insecurity, lead to and exacerbate child malnutrition in Bardiya. These key contributing factors to child malnutrition must be systematically addressed in comprehensive and integrated manner in order to find a sustainable solution.

As highlighted at the Symposium, stakeholders are becoming increasingly focused on integrated programming, which I feel is the future of the international development field. In the face of a changing climate, we need a diversity of experts working together across sectors to the resolve complex and pervasive problems related to malnutrition, food security, and agriculture.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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Image: REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon