The Unfinished Agenda: Perspectives on Overcoming Hunger, Poverty and Environmental ...

311 Pages·2001·3.61 MB·English

The Unfinished Agenda
PAGE ii BLANK
The Unfinished Agenda
Perspectives on Overcoming Hunger,
Poverty, and Environmental Degradation
Edited by Per Pinstrup-Andersen
and Rajul Pandya-Lorch
International Food Policy Research Institute
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2001 International Food Policy Research Institute
All rights reserved. Sections of this book may be reproduced without the express
permission of, but with acknowledgment to, the International Food Policy
Research Institute.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
International Food Policy Research Institute
2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-1002, USA
Telephone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
www.ifpri.org
CCoonntteennttss
Introduction ix
Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Part 1 The Unfinished Agenda and Prospects for
the Future
Chapter 1 Famine and Poverty in the 21st Century 3
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Chapter 2 Global Food Security: A Review of the Challenges 7
Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Rajul Pandya-Lorch, and Mark W. Rosegrant
Part 2 Nutrition and Health: The Ultimate Goals
Chapter 3 Overcoming Child Malnutrition in Developing Countries:
Past Achievements and Future Choices 21
Lisa C. Smith and Lawrence Haddad
Chapter 4 Health and Nutrition: Emerging and Reemerging Issues in
Developing Countries 27
Rafael Flores
Chapter 5 Fighting Hidden Hunger 31
Reported by Heidi Fritschel
Chapter 6 AIDS Mushrooms into a Development Crisis 37
Reported by Sara E. Wilson
Chapter 7 HIV/AIDS: A Critical Health and Development Issue 43
Tony Barnett and Gabriel Rugalema
Chapter 8 Obesity: An Emerging Health and Nutrition Issue in
Developing Countries 49
Reynaldo Martorell
Part 3 Demographic Issues: Population Growth and
Urbanization
Chapter 9 The Population Boom: What Do the Numbers Mean? 57
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Chapter 10 Population Growth and Policy Options in the Developing
World 61
John Bongaarts and Judith Bruce
Chapter 11 Achieving Urban Food and Nutrition Security in the
Developing World 67
James L. Garrett
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 12 Urbanization and Agriculture to the Year 2020 73
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Part 4 Diet Trends: Increasing Demand for
Livestock and Fish
Chapter 13 Are We Ready for a Meat Revolution? 81
Reported by Heidi Fritschel and Uday Mohan
Chapter 14 Livestock to 2020: The Next Food Revolution 89
Christopher Delgado, Mark Rosegrant, Henning Steinfeld, Simeon
Ehui, and Claude Courbois
Chapter 15 Overfished Oceans, Booming Fisheries: What Does This Mean
for World Food Security? 95
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Part 5 Food Production and the Environment
Chapter 16 The Earth’s Environmental Woes: Is Agriculture Part of the
Problem or Part of the Solution? 103
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Chapter 17 Agricultural Growth is the Key to Poverty Alleviation in Low-
Income Developing Countries 109
Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Chapter 18 Reducing Poverty and Protecting the Environment: The
Overlooked Potential of Less-Favored Lands 115
John Pender, Peter B. R. Hazell, and James L. Garrett
Chapter 19 The Potential of Agroecology to Combat Hunger in the
Developing World 123
Miguel A. Altieri, Peter Rosset, and Lori Ann Thrupp
Chapter 20 Sustainable Farming: A Political Geography 129
Robert L. Paarlberg
Chapter 21 Land Degradation in the Developing World: Issues and Policy
Options for 2020 133
Sara J. Scherr and Satya Yadav
Chapter 22 The Role of Agriculture in Saving the Rain Forest 139
Stephen Vosti
Chapter 23 Dealing with Water Scarcity in the 21st Century 145
Mark W. Rosegrant
Chapter 24 Global Warming Changes the Forecast for Agriculture 151
Reported by Sara E. Wilson
CONTENTS vii
Part 6 The Hot Spots: Sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia
Chapter 25 Nutrient Depletion in the Agricultural Soils of Africa 159
Julio Henao and Carlos Baanante
Chapter 26 Applying Science to Sub-Saharan Africa’s Food Needs 165
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Chapter 27 Pushing Back Poverty in India 171
Reported by Heidi Fritschel and Uday Mohan
Chapter 28 Is Agriculture Raiding South Asia’s Water Supplies? Water
Scarcity and Water Reform in South Asia 177
Reported by Ellen Wilson
Chapter 29 Transforming the Rural Asian Economy: The Unfinished
Revolution 183
Mark W. Rosegrant and Peter B. R. Hazell
Part 7 Microcredit for the Rural Poor
Chapter 30 Rural Financial Services for Poverty Alleviation: The Role of
Public Policy 191
Manfred Zeller and Manohar Sharma
Chapter 31 Microfinance: Reaching Poor Rural Women 197
Manohar Sharma
Part 8 Gender and Education Issues: Women and
Food Security
Chapter 32 Generating Food Security in the Year 2020: Women as
Producers, Gatekeepers, and Shock Absorbers 205
Lynn R. Brown, Hilary Feldstein, Lawrence Haddad, Christine Peña,
and Agnes Quisumbing
Chapter 33 Urban Women: Balancing Work and Childcare 211
Patrice L. Engle
Chapter 34 The Fruits of Girls’ Education 215
Reported by Heidi Fritschel and Uday Mohan
Part 9 What Will Globalization Bring?
Chapter 35 Globalization, Trade Reform, and the Developing
Countries 225
Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and Sherman Robinson
Chapter 36 Globalization and Nutrition 233
Julie Babinard and Per Pinstrup-Andersen
viii CONTENTS
Part 10 Biotechnology and Information Technology:
How Can the Poor Benefit?
Chapter 37 Biotechnology for Developing-Country Agriculture: Problems
and Opportunities 239
Gabrielle J. Persley and John J. Doyle
Chapter 38 Developing Appropriate Biotechnology Policies for
Developing-Country Agriculture 245
Per Pinstrup-Andersen
Chapter 39 Governing the GM Crop Revolution: Policy Choices for
Developing Countries 251
Robert L. Paarlberg
Chapter 40 Bridging the Digital Divide 257
Reported by Uday Mohan
Part 11 Conclusion
Chapter 41 Putting the Knowledge to Work for the Poor: Required Policy
Action 269
Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Sources 277
Contributors 283
Index 287
Introduction
Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Rajul Pandya-Lorch
The International Food Policy Research Institute has always held fast to the goal
of generating policy information that will enable the world to feed its people
sustainably, but in the early 1990s a world free of hunger and poverty looked
a long way off. At that time we found that global poverty and food insecurity had
fallen from their levels 20 years earlier but remained severe and persistent problems.
Moreover, we were troubled to see considerable disagreement on the magnitude and
nature of the world’s food, agricultural, and environmental problems and no long-
term vision or consensus about the steps required to feed the world, alleviate poverty,
and protect the natural resource base. So in 1993, in collaboration with partners
around the world, we launched an initiative called A 2020 Vision for Food,
Agriculture, and the Environment, to develop a shared vision and consensus, to gen-
erate information, and to encourage debate and action on these topics. The 2020
Vision initiative undertakes these activities in pursuit of the ultimate goal of achiev-
ing a world where every person has access to sufficient food to sustain a healthy and
productive life; where malnutrition is absent; and where food originates from effi-
cient, effective, and low-cost food systems that are compatible with sustainable use
of natural resources.
Today we find that some parts of the world have made great strides toward a
situation of sustainable food security, others are inching toward it, and still others
are moving away. This book brings together briefs and articles generated by the 2020
Vision initiative that remain highly relevant to the ongoing dialog and debate and,
given the nature of the topics addressed, are likely to remain so for some time to
come.
The initiative’s policy briefs present state-of-the-art information on key topics
related to food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable resource management.
Written by leading experts at IFPRI and around the world, these briefs draw upon
a solid body of research. The initiative also publishes a periodic newsletter, 2020
News & Views; each issue carries a lead article on an emerging or “hot” topic relat-
ed to sustainable food security and based on interviews with policymakers, policy
analysts, and experts. But these briefs and newsletters tend to have a short “shelf”
life. Libraries usually do not catalog them, and they can easily get lost in the piles
of papers on most people’s desks. We have compiled them in a book as a way of mak-
ing them readily available for use in policy debates and actions.
x INTRODUCTION
Together these pieces offer a fairly comprehensive picture of the policy issues
the world must address if it is to overcome poverty, hunger, and environmental
degradation. Achieving a world of sustainable food security involves policy actions
in many related areas. Thus, readers will find in these pages discussions of nutrition
and health problems, demographic changes, natural resources, microcredit, gender
issues, globalization, and new technologies. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are
the sites of the world’s most severe food security problems, and this book presents
recent knowledge on these two specific regions.
The concluding chapter attempts to identify the most important policy actions
required to achieve the 2020 Vision, based primarily on the knowledge presented
in the rest of the book. At the international level, policies and institutions that guide
globalization and technological progress to benefit the poor and malnourished will
be of critical importance. At the national and community levels, policy action must
be tailored to the particular circumstances and the intended beneficiaries should be
empowered to participate in policy design and implementation. Policies to strengthen
the human resource through education, primary health care, and better nutrition
should be given high priority, along with policies and institutions to facilitate access
by low-income people to productive resources, fair and well-functioning markets,
and appropriate knowledge and technology. Good governance and an appropriate
macroeconomic framework are also crucial.
Most of the briefs and articles included in this book have been left in their orig-
inal form. Where deemed useful, the empirical evidence has been updated. Some
of the people interviewed have moved on to other positions or occupations.
However, all interviewees are identified by the position held at the time of the inter-
views. The rare instances when briefs were cut back or combined are noted in the
source listing at the end of the book.
We wish to thank the contributors whose work has been included in this vol-
ume. We would also like to thank Heidi Fritschel for her editorial assistance.