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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org, nmgreens@yahoogroups.com
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  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope
  • Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 12:16:33 -0600

NEWS RELEASE
Source: 'insights health' #5, id21, 2004

Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope

Food security can be defined as 'having enough physical, social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food'. Threats
include the ability of people to deal with declining farm productivity
or the loss of assets before or after harvest. Increasingly, the
traditional rural focus of food security is shifting due to rapid
urbanisation and growing urban slums.

Approximately 800 million people in the developing world are
undernourished and suffering from chronic hunger. Whilst food security
is most at threat from political instability or civil conflict leading
to situations of famine, it is also related to vulnerability of the poor
to:
* shocks e.g. droughts, floods, crop pests and diseases
* seasonality e.g. periods of underemployment or prolonged dry
spells
* trends e.g. population growth or increasing water scarcity.

Developing and promoting crop varieties which have a greater tolerance
or resistance to adverse conditions can help to alleviate food
insecurity. Early-maturing varieties of groundnut, chickpeas and beans,
all important sources of protein for poor people, can pre-empt potential
water scarcity later in the season. However, it is important to
recognise that there are still many gains to be made from conventional
breeding techniques. Improved management methods, such as seed priming
are also contributing to better crop establishment.

Rural-urban migration is having a dramatic impact on food systems and
security. A massive increase in urban and peri-urban livestock keeping,
provides an important source of income and nutrition for the landless.
In both urban and rural areas, livestock keeping can act as an ultimate
food security insurance policy against crop failure as it provides a
source of nutritious milk and meat, and people are able to sell their
animals for cash in times of extreme hardship. However, animals must be
well maintained and kept healthy to ensure these insurance policies
remain viable.

Even if a good harvest is achieved, post-harvest losses of crops and
fish due to pests and diseases can still devastate the livelihoods of
poor people. In West Africa, the larger grain borer insect is capable of
turning many maize and cassava stores to dust. Research using natural
predators, pheromone traps and diatomaceous earths (naturally occurring
mineral dusts) as alternatives to expensive and potentially hazardous
pesticides, is proving successful in reducing its impact in Ghana and
Tanzania.

In the fisheries sector, losses also occur throughout the supply chain
in handling, transportation, processing and storage. Blowfly and hide
beetle infestation in traditionally cured fish are a complex and
important cause of nutritional and economic losses. Although research
into physical (barriers to access) and chemical (insecticides, salting,
plant-based repellents) methods have had successes, there is a need to
tackle underlying causes. Current research in east India is addressing
this issue by focusing on systemic studies of the forms and influences
of infestation.

A holistic food security policy should look at both pre- and
post-harvest issues as well as socio-economic considerations such as
equitable access to inputs, services and markets and the overall welfare
of farming households as well as goals of increased yield or
productivity. Agriculture can help contribute to long-term environmental
sustainability through improving the efficiency of input and resource
use. In all research, continued emphasis on integrated social and
natural science partnerships will be vital to ensure food security and
minimise the vulnerability of the poor in future years.

-ends-

NOTES FOR EDITORS

This 'insights health' article was contributed by
Dr. John Witcombe, Manager, Plant Sciences Programme, Centre for Arid
Zone Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK
Email: j.r.witcombe@bangor.ac.uk

John Sanchez, Manager, Post-Harvest Fisheries Programme, Natural
Resources International Ltd, Park House, Bradbourne Lane, Aylesford,
Kent ME20 6SN, UK
Email: j.sanchez@nrint.co.uk

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  • [Livingontheland] Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope, Tradingpost, 05/26/2004

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