The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released the 2019 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR). The report asserts that 2018 was an unpredictable and dismal year of food and nutrition, due to events and trends impacting global political stability and international development.
Increasing trends in global undernourishment, for the third time in a row, have been coupled with the growth in the impact of conflict and climate change in the obstructed progress towards the SDGs. High levels of poverty and dependence on rainfed agriculture lead to increased vulnerability of rural residents in across Africa and countries like India, to adverse climate change impacts.
Escalation of conflict and insecurity were the main drivers of food insecurity for 74 million people in 18 countries in 2017 (primarily in Africa and the Middle East). Other examples include the collapse of the Venezuelan economy and civil war in Sudan that resulted in acute shortages in food supplies and increased vulnerabilities to malnutrition-related health impacts and mortality.
The issues of food and nutrition security remained at the periphery across high-level meetings like the World Economic Forum and the UN General Assembly. However, the international development community has rallied support for Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) of the SDGs.
The shift in political attention, away from rural areas has contributed to the persistence of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, due to limited rural opportunities, poor access to basic services and worsening environmental degradation. Yet, there exists a glimmer of optimism, as new technologies and economic opportunities expand the body of knowledge and evidence to reduce poverty and malnutrition.
For the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, a fundamental transformation of the global food and agricultural system and the rural regions is imperative. Rural revitalization is the linchpin of this transformation. This entails stimulation of economic growth in rural areas by addressing the persistent crises in those regions and tackling the emergent challenges that are hampering the achievement of the SDGs.
This implies the implementation of policies and investments in rural areas to enable the creation of employment opportunities in the agriculture and non-farm sections. This must be supported with improved provision of basic services (infrastructure, water, education etc.) Incentives must be provided to restore and improve rural ecosystems and environments as well.
According to the report, women will play a central role in enabling rural change. In order to ensure that the rural institutions and governance are supporting real and sustainable improvements in the lives of rural people, it is essential that access to resources, skills and political voice becomes more equitable. The European experience with rural revitalization programs can guide and inform similar efforts across developing countries.
In 2019, the nutrition scenario will not be any simpler, as global economic growth is projected to slow down over the next two years. This economic slowdown will be accompanied by a tightening of monetary policies and risks in global trade flows. Rise in borrowing rates might dampen investments in poor countries. Setbacks or negligible growth in per capita GDP has been projected for the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and large parts of Africa. All these are likely to contribute to uncertainty in livelihoods and food security, for both, producers and consumers.
Any stagnation in the improvement of the nutritional status of women and children will irreversibly impact future generations. The expected growth in the demand for dairy, sugar and vegetable oils reflects a rising demand for processed foods. The growth in global sugar production reached record levels in 2017-18, thereby contributing to the rising rates of obesity, driven by rising incomes and increased intake of high-calorie, low-nutrient “convenience foods.”
These negative trends are bound to impact the already-neglected rural areas the most. Slowdowns in national economic growth entails negative impacts of employment levels and absorption of growing populations into the rural labour supply. Yet, strong political will and public/private investment is crucial for reversing the trends and addressing the roadblocks encountered in 2018, to gather the momentum required to achieve Goal 2 and eliminate hunger and malnutrition globally.
Thus, the GFPR unequivocally posits that focusing on the needs of the rural regions provides one of the most practical ways of achieving the SDGs and addressing multiple persistent and growing challenges. Revitalization represents a systemic approach to address the issues of poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity through the recognition of intrinsic links amongst sectors comprising the global food system.
Rural revitalization also provides an opportunity to leverage some of the successes of 2018, vis-à-vis mild improvements in malnutrition trends and renewed commitment to curb hunger. This includes an upsurge in using entrepreneurship, new technologies, and public–private partnerships to solve development challenges. According to the report, “rural revitalization is timely, achievable, and, most important, critical to ending hunger and malnutrition in just over a decade.”
India Outbound
April 26, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/the-2019-global-food-policy-report/
No comments:
Post a Comment