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Issues Related to Food Security
Improving Food Security
Trade and Food Security
Agricultural Resources and Productivity
Issues Related to Food Security
Obesity in the Midst of Unyielding Food Insecurity
in Developing Countries (September 2008) recounts that the continued
escalation of food prices has again focused attention
on global food insecurity and its root cause, poverty.
Despite international commitments to improve food security
in low-income countries, progress has been limited.
However, the persistence of widespread food insecurity
is troublesome because food consumption in many developing
countries has improved, sometimes to the point that
overweight and obesity are becoming concerns.
Food Security Assessment, 2007 (July 2008) projects that the food security situation in 70 developing countries will deteriorate over the next decade. The estimates also indicate that the number of food-insecure people for these countries rose between 2006 and 2007, from 849 million to 982 million. Food and fuel price hikes, coupled with a slowdown in global economic growth, hinder long-term food security progress. For a related Amber Waves article, see A Pilot Program for U.S. Food Aid (November 2008).
Rising Food Prices Intensify Food Insecurity in Developing Countries (February 2008) reports that the use of food crops for biofuels, coupled with greater food demand, has reversed the path of declining price trends for several commodities. For highly import-dependent or highly food-insecure countries, any decline in import capacity stemming from rising food prices can have challenging food security implications. Food aid, a key safety net source, has stagnated during the last two decades, and its share has declined relative to total food imports of low-income countries.
Food Security Assessment, 2006 (June 2007) projects that the number of hungry people in 70 lower income countries rose between 2005 and 2006, from 804 million to 849 million. However, the food distribution gap—an indicator of food access—declined, which means that, although more people are vulnerable to food insecurity, the intensity was less in 2006 than in 2005. By 2016, the number of hungry people is projected to decline in all regions, except Sub-Saharan Africa.
Food Security Assessment,
2005 (May 2006) estimates and projects food gaps in 70 low-income
developing countries and presents findings for North Africa,
Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
and the Commonwealth of Independent States. On average,
there has been a slight decline in the number of hungry
people, from 688 million in 1992-94 to 639 million in
2002-04. Asia experienced the greatest decline in the
number of hungry people. Despite strong growth in food
production, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where
the number of hungry people—over 19 percent of the
population—has risen during the last decade.
Food Security Assessment,
2004-05 (May 2005) projects food gaps in 70
low-income developing countries and presents findings
for North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, and the Commonwealth of
Independent States. Over the coming decade, food security
is projected to improve most significantly in Asia,
followed by Latin America and the Caribbean. The situation
is expected to deteriorate in Sub-Saharan Africa,
where deep poverty, political unrest, and the effects
of HIV/AIDS hinder prospects for improvement.
Food Security Assessment,
2003-04 (May 2004) projects food gaps in 70 low-income
developing countries and presents findings for North
Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and
the Caribbean, and the Commonwealth of Independent
States. Food aid's past performance and future role
are discussed in commemoration of the 50th anniversary
of the U.S. food aid program. Special articles focus
on food security and food assistance programs in Brazil
and food security developments in Russia.
Food Security Assessment,
2002-03 (February 2003) projects food gaps in
70 low-income developing countries and presents findings
for North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, and the New Independent
States of the former Soviet Union. Special articles
focus on methods used to measure food security in
the United States and consumer and producer price
policies in India.
Food Security Assessment,
2001 (April 2002) projects food gaps in 67 potentially
food-insecure countries and presents findings for
North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America
and the Caribbean, and the New Independent States
of the former Soviet Union. A special article focuses
on market reform and food security policies in China.
Food Security in Central
America (October 2001) is a series of five reports
that were produced as part of USDA reconstruction
activities for Hurricane Mitch. They focus on the
four individual countries most affected by the hurricane—El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The
reports cover issues including historical trends
of imports, production, and yields; country-level
food gaps; implications of changes in growing conditions
and movements in export prices on food availability;
resource/land-quality constraints to increasing agricultural
output; and the cost of a healthy food basket, with
comparisons of this cost to income levels in the
four countries.
Issues in Food Security (April and June 2001) discusses a broad range of issues to consider at a global level
if countries—and their households—are to become and remain
food secure.
Food Security Assessment,
2000 (March 2001) measures food security in
low-income developing countries. Two articles focus
on the impacts of land degradation and HIV/AIDS on
food security.
Vulnerability
to HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa (December
2000) reviews the historical role of population and
the labor force in food markets in Sub-Saharan Africa
and the expected impact of HIV/AIDS on the structure
of the population.
Food Security Assessment:
Why Countries Are at Risk (August 1999) studies
trends in food security in low-income developing countries
and examines performance of the key factors contributing
to these trends: agricultural productivity, foreign
exchange earnings, and population growth.
Income
Inequality and Food Security (November 1997) presents measurements
of inequality among countries and discusses factors that
could affect income inequality and food security.
Improving Food Security
Fifty
Years of U.S. Food Aid and Its Role in Reducing World Hunger (September 2004) states that most poor countries do not have the financial
resources to support national food safety net programs.
As a result, they depend on international food aid. Differing
objectives in food aid programs, lack of consistency among
donors' approaches to food aid, and types of food donated—the
share of higher priced, noncereal foods, which are unlikely
to reach the poorest segment of the population, is growing—are
just a few factors that limit the effectiveness of food
aid.
International Evidence
on Food Consumption Patterns (October 2003) analyzes
expenditures across 114 countries on major consumption
categories, including food and different food subcategories.
Results indicate poorer countries are more responsive
to price and income changes and also allocate larger
shares of their total budget to necessities such
as food.
Safety
Nets: An Issue in Global Agricultural Trade Liberalization
(March 2002) examines which developing countries may
benefit and which may lose in the face of liberalization.
Current global safety nets, including food aid, are inadequate
to stabilize food supplies for vulnerable countries.
New proposals are being assessed that could help stabilize
grain import prices or manage import costs.
Food
Aid: How Effective in Addressing Food Security? (March
2002) evaluates food security situations in 67 developing
countries by first projecting the gaps between estimated
food consumption and several consumption targets through
the next decade. ERS then calculates the food gaps
that would remain even after food aid allocations,
using the most recently available food aid data.
Who
Will Be Fed in the 21st Century? Challenges for Science
and Policy (2001) describes how innovative technologies and
sound polices can help enhance food supplies and access
to food. The number of food-insecure people in the developing
world has declined in recent years, but lack of sufficient
access to nutritious food remains a persistent problem
with devastating human costs.
Policy Options to Stabilize
Food Supplies: A Case Study of Southern Africa (June
2001) finds that, for the Southern Africa region,
both a grain-stocking program and an import insurance
program would have reduced food-supply variability
more than historical food aid during 1970-95. The
stocking program, and possibly the import insurance
program, would have been less expensive than food
aid from a donor point of view.
World Food
Insecurity: A Policy Dilemma (November
1997) argues that reducing food insecurity requires
governments to facilitate development by creating
institutions and reversing market failures.
Can
Regional Policy Initiatives Help Achieve Food Security
in Southern Africa? (November
1997) explores three regional policy options—a
strategic grain reserve, a food import insurance program,
and a free trade zone—to address
food insecurity for Southern African countries.
Trade and Food Security
Indian Wheat and Rice
Sector Policies and the Implications of Reform (May 2007) suggests
that future developments in India’s food grain
sector will be shaped by how policies adapt to the
sector’s new economic environment. Some changes,
such as reducing price supports and the scope of government
food grain operations, would likely cut government
costs, benefit consumers, allow a larger private sector
role in the domestic market, and increase reliance
on trade.
The
African Growth and Opportunity Act: How Much Opportunity?
(August 2002) reviews the potential implications of the
Act, which Congress passed in May 2000, on trade for
Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Impacts
of Reform on Developing Countries (January 2001) reviews the implications
of a more liberalized global trading environment for trade
and food gaps in lower income countries.
Low-Income
Developing Countries and Trade Liberalization: An
Overview of the Issues (December
1999) discusses likely issues for agricultural trade
negotiations with direct or indirect impacts on the
food security of developing countries.
Trade
Liberalization and the Sub-Saharan African Countries
(December 1999) argues that participation in the next
round of trade negotiations could benefit Sub-Saharan
African countries, although domestic reforms could have
more impact than trade reforms.
Trade
Issues for Low-Income Countries in the Latin American
and Caribbean Region (December
1999) identifies some of the major regional agricultural
trade interests and reviews the relative importance
of multilateral and regional trade negotiations.
Trade
Liberalization and the South Asian Economies: Adjusting
to the Challenges of Globalization (December
1999) explores special opportunities and challenges
for South Asian countries in future trade negotiations.
The Link
Between Imports and Food Security (December
1998) reviews the trend in import dependency, the
contribution of food aid to food supplies, and factors
affecting commercial import capacity around the world.
Agricultural Resources and Productivity
Linking Land Quality,
Agricultural Productivity, and Food Security (June
2003) explores the extent to which land quality and
land degradation affect agricultural productivity,
how farmers respond to land degradation, and whether
land degradation poses a threat to productivity growth
and food security in developing regions and around
the world. Results suggest that land degradation does
not threaten food security at the global scale, but
does pose problems in areas where soils are fragile,
property rights are insecure, and farmers have limited
access to information and markets.
Sustainable
Resource Use and Global Food Security (February 2003) illustrates
that the concept of food security has expanded in recent
years from a relatively static focus on food availability
to one that recognizes longer term concerns about access
and resources.
Does
Land Degradation Threaten Global Agricultural Productivity
and Food Security? (June-July
2002) reviews the impact of soil erosion and other
forms of land degradation on productivity growth and
food insecurity, particularly where fragile resources
combine with poverty and poorly functioning markets.
The article finds that, when markets function well,
farmers have incentives to adopt appropriate conservation
practices.
Resource
Quality, Agricultural Productivity, and Food Security
in Developing Countries (December
2000) takes advantage of recent advances in data and
analytical methods to improve understanding of the
ways in which agricultural productivity and food security
are affected by the quality of resources.
Agricultural
Productivity and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
(December 1998) studies patterns of agricultural productivity
growth and finds that most of the variation is due to
differences in the application of conventional inputs
such as labor and fertilizer.
Resources,
Sustainability, and Food Security (November
1997) explains the links between resources and food
security and presents selected indicators of natural,
produced, social, and human resources.
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