Food Security And Environmental Quality In The Developing World

Can developing countries meet the food requirements of their growing populations without jeopardizing a natural resource base that is already under great stress? Can increases in food production achieved in the past two decades be sustained in the next two decades? Can developing countries achieve freedom from hunger and malnutrition

Approx.210 pages Approx.210 pages

In the last half decade since sustainable development became a serious objective, what have we achieved? Are livelihoods more secure? Are nations wealthier and more resilient? Is environmental quality being restored or maintained? These are essential questions of development. Their answers are many, varied between communities and regions, even between individuals. Two years ago, in the aftermath of the Earth Summit and ratification of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, but before the first Conference of Parties, I participated in a panel at the inaugural Oxford Environment Conference on Climate Change and World Food Security. The panel vigorously reviewed issues of resilient development and food security. This book is a product of the Oxford Environment Conference. It takes the essential questions of sustainability as a starting point to focus on present food security and its future prospects in the face of climate change. Why is this book important? First, I believe our goals to end hunger are under threat. We know what to do in many respects, but fail to generate the finances and political will to change the structures that thrive on poverty. Second, I believe concern about the environment has become dangerously separated from the fundamental issues of human deprivation. Third, I believe climate change is a serious threat and I am dismayed at the way nations dither over how to control greenhouse gas emissions and mechanisms to meet the challenge of adverse climate impacts.

The book tries to answer the most fundamental question of whether there is a link between abundant food supply and economic growth with respect to a higher degree of human development. In order to have flourishing economic growth within a country the need for a food security system is a must. The world as we know is faced with shortages of food supply which has been a major factor in the country's economic development. The book is an attempt to understand the problems and current situation of food systems in the developing world. It focuses on the pathways to understand the challenges that it faces and predict future scenarios. The motive is to create academic literature to understand the basis of sustainable food security. The social, economic, and political factors become the main theme of the book. It focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of food security. Many a time we only understand the idea of food security through the lens of scientific nature but in the meantime, it forgets the other important factors that are governing the issue of food security. The inclusion of the cases section in the book helps to outline the current scenarios of the developing world. It helps to formulate a pathway or a way forward to understand the causes of food security. Food has now become a political context in the international system. The need for analyzing the political angle is necessary. The context of innovations and technological developments forms an important part of food security. The critique of existing policy systems across the developing world is a must need discussion as it is the policies that will make the food systems sustainable. Last but not least is to look at how the global food systems work and how far it has been able to fix the problems of food insecurity in the developing world. Overall, the book is an excellent interdisciplinary food security literature.

In recent years, a greater level of integration of the world economy and an opening of national markets to trade has impacted virtually all areas of society. The process of globalization has the potential to generate long-term benefits for developing countries, including enhanced technology and knowledge transfers and new fina- ing options supporting agricultural and economic development. However, risks of political and economic instability, increased inequality, and losses in agricultural income and production for countries that subsidize their agricultural and other e- nomic sectors threaten to offset potential benefits. Globalization can also have a profound impact on the water sector – in terms of allocation and use of water – and thus on food security as well. Other global change processes, particularly climate change, are also likely to have far-reaching impacts on water and food security, and societies around the world. To discuss these issues in-depth, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, held a three-day International Conference on “Globalization and Trade: Implications for Water and Food Security,” at CATIE’s Turrialba, Costa Rica, headquarters under the auspices of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food in 2005. The workshop set out to identify the major risks and emerging issues facing developing countries related to global economic and environmental change impacts on water and food security.

The global food system is characterized by large numbers of people experiencing food insecurity and hunger on the one hand, and vast amounts of food waste and overconsumption on the other. This book brings together experiences from different countries addressing the challenges associated with food security. Seen through various disciplinary lenses the different cases included are countries at various stages of food security, with diverse stories of success as well as failures in their efforts. China, Brazil and India, as well as less developed countries in Africa and Asia, such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Philippines. The authors pay special attention to the environmental and socio-economic challenges in the respective chapters and how they contribute to food insecurity. Each of the case studies identifies and analyzes which factors or drivers (environmental, economic, policy, technology, markets) have been the most powerful shapers of the food system and their future impact. The case studies identify interventions at regional, national and local level that contribute positively to food security, highlighting solutions that are effective and easy to implement for all levels of decision makers, from farmers to policy makers. Overall, the book provides insights in order to foster a greater understanding of the issues surrounding food security and support progress towards the goal of a sustainable food system for all.

First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.