The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and the Faculty of Agriculture (University of Mauritius), are convening a National Agricultural Youth Policy Dialogue on the 12 April, 2013 at the University of Mauritius, Reduit. The objective of the dialogue is to deliberate on the issues of youth involvement in agricultural policy processesand especially those policies aimed at mainstreaming youth. A number of studies point to the fact that youth do not necessarily play a major role in the development of policies.
As a follow-up to this initiative, FANRPAN is now convening National Agricultural Youth Policy Dialogues in these 6 countries to share the findings of the case study for each country with National stakeholders. On 12th April 2013, the findings of Mauritius case study will be presented. The dialogue will culminate into a policy brief that the FANRPAN focal point will consolidate and communicate to the Minister of Agriculture, including other relevant departments and stakeholders. The dialogue is expected to bring together representatives of youth bodies, businesses, policy makers, and law makers alike from various industries. The discussions at the National Agricultural Youth Policy Dialogue will be tweeted live as from 09:00 (GMT+4) on 12 April 2013 with Hashtag: #YouthAgDialogueMu. Follow the dialogue and spread the news!
The world food crisis of 2007-2008 caused a substantial rise in the cost of food, especially staple foods such as rice, wheat, and corn. This rise in price had a devastating effect on hungry people in the developing world.
Between 2005 and 2011, world prices for rice, wheat, and maize rose 102 percent, 115 percent, and 204 percent, respectively, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). With price increases, people with less disposable income must spend a larger percentage of their earnings on essential staple grains, and less on other food and non-food items. This can have a significant impact on nutrition.
In seven Latin American countries, this increase in price led to an average 8 percent decrease in the amount of calories consumed. Before the crisis, 35 percent of households in Ecuador received an adequate amount of calories; afterwards, only 22 percent were receiving healthy levels of calories. In developing countries, if prices rise 50 percent across the board, and there is no rise in income, iron intake will decrease by 30 percent, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). In the Philippines, this 30 percent decrease in iron consumption would mean that only 5 percent of women have adequate levels of iron.
The high food prices have pushed 44 million people into severe poverty and hunger between June 2010 and February 2011 alone. According to a report by FAO, even brief periods of high food prices can have lasting effects on the food security of people living on less than US$2 per day. FAO also predicts that, due to a number of factors, including climate change, a growing demand for biofuels, and increased financialization of food and agricultural commodities, price volatility will continue into the future.
How can we use this experience to be prepared for food crises in the future? According to the U.S. Department of State (DoS), there are a number of lessons to be learned. On one hand, there were policies that made the crisis worse, while, on the other hand, there were policies that helped to combat the crisis:
Policies that Intensified the Problem:
1) Export restrictions: IFPRI concluded in its Reflections on the Global Food Crisis that about three-fourths of rice price increases occurred in 2008 due to export bans from major exporters. These restrictions caused panic buying in importer countries, which drove up prices and disrupted supply responses by local producers.
2) Panic buying, stock building and lack of transparency: Some nations purchased more basic grains than necessary, in an attempt to increase stocks and decrease prices. However, this resulted in large food losses and food waste.
Policies That Protected the Poor and Helped to End the Crisis:
1) Market-based responses coupled with targeted safety nets: According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), safety nets "support the purchasing power of the poor without distorting domestic incentives to produce more food, and without reducing the incomes of poor food sellers." This helps to alleviate the immediate impacts of high food prices without disrupting pricing for farmers.
2) Reducing import restrictions, releasing stocks, and reassuring the markets: Governments that decreased tariffs and taxes on imports decreased prices for staples in their own countries. Also, by publicizing stock information on food, countries were able to end price hikes.
3) Long-term attention to the agricultural sector: Countries that focus on investing in their agricultural sectors decrease their vulnerability during times of volatility and crisis. Investment strategies the DoS suggest include "[alleviating] transportation, distribution, and supply-chain bottlenecks, promoting sound market-based principles for agricultural sector development and regional trade, encouraging private investment, and undertaking appropriate public investments and use of new agricultural technologies."
4) Emergency donor assistance: As a short-term fix, the international community, including governments, NGOs, private sector organizations, and international partners, can provide aid assistance to those in emergency situations.
When food prices rise, the poor are the most vulnerable. Rising food prices can have significant impacts on the nutritional levels of people in developing countries. The responses to these crises are also important in shaping how the most vulnerable fare during these times of emergency.
Jameson Spivack is a research intern with the Nourishing the Planet project.
Call for Abstracts: ´Feeding 1 billion in Africa in a changing world´. Deadline: 14 May 2012.
The CTA/ FARA/IFS/ ANAFE/ RUFORUM consortium, in collaboration with AGRA and NPCA, is pleased to announce the launch of its 2012-2013 Africa-wide women and young professionals in science competitions. With a population of approximately 1.03 billion in 2011, and a growth rate of 24 million per annum, Africa’s population is expected to double by 2050. The continent needs to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner as well as find endogenous solutions to respond to the challenges. Africa’s investment in science and innovation remains low; and only one African university is listed among the top 500 in the world. Women are under-represented in all areas of policy, education and research and many of Africa’s youthful population; 70%aged 30 or younger, do not see a future in agriculture or science. The continent faces a knowledge and skills gap as ageing scientists and academicians retire.
The 2012-2013 Africa-wide competitions will evaluate, recognize and reward the contributions of women and young professionals who are involved in: (i) Pioneering and innovative research; (ii) Communicating their research results and technological developments; and (iii) Advocating for policy change as well as influencing policy processes through their research.They will also raise awareness of the need for valuing and sustaining the engagement of women and young professionals and facilitating their contribution to Africa’s socio-economic transformation.
Get the Women in Science competition announcement here:
By Matt McGrathScience reporter, BBC World Service
Farmers may think crops are healthy until harvest; the signs only show on roots
UN scientists are warning that a virus attacking the cassava plant is nearing an epidemic in parts of Africa.
Cassava is one of the world's most important crops providing up to a third of the calorie intake for many people.
The food and agriculture organisation of the UN says the situation is urgent and are calling for an increase in funding for surveillance.
None of the varieties of cassava being distributed to farmers in Africa appears to be resistant to the virus.
Cassava is a global food source of particular importance in Africa as it does well on poor soils with low rainfall.
But like many crops it is threatened by a number of pests and diseases that hinder its production. Viral infections have periodically wiped out the crop in some regions leading to famine.
Now the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that another virus is threatening the crop in large parts of East Africa.
The scientists say the Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) is on the verge of becoming an epidemic. It first appeared in Uganda in 2006 but in the past few months has been found in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the first time.
According to Mike Robson, a plant production and protection officer with the FAO it's hard to know exactly where the virus is as surveillance systems are poor.
"It is hard to say precisely but we're finding it where we go looking for it "
Robson says that a particular problem with this virus is that farmers may think they have a healthy crop until the harvest, as the symptoms only show on the roots.
"That's a particularly distressing situation where a farmer thinks he has a healthy field of cassava but when they come to uproot it, their expectations of food are not going to be met."
But there are some strategies that can help reduce the impact of the infection, according to Mike Robson.
"The main ways of controlling are to try and control the movement of planting material. Cassava is propagated from cuttings and if you move a cutting that has the infection you're effectively moving it to a new area"
"The other thing that farmers can do if they suspect they have the disease is to harvest early. They will get smaller roots of cassava but they will be less affected by the disease - it shows up late in the production cycle."
The FAO scientists say they are in a race against time with this particular strain of virus. They are calling for a rapid increase in funding to improve surveillance. They also want to improve training for farmers and they want to ban the distribution of infected plants between districts.
Some eight varieties of the crop are under development by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture which show some level of resistance to CBSD - It is hoped that these varieties could be made widely available within two years.
