Food security is an elusive goal for many of the world’s poorest countries. There seems to be a “two
steps forward, two steps back” scenario constantly in play. If it’s not a multi-year drought or disastrous
hurricane, then it’s a coup d’etat, civil war, increase in global commodity prices, or a Biblical locust
plague, to name but a few. To alter the famous opening line of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, “[Rich
countries] are all alike, every [poor country] is poor in its own way.” We in the development community
have been trying to crack the nut of food insecurity for a very long time. We have some wins with our
various approaches and a few losses. It’s extremely rewarding to see a tangible impact on the ground,
but shattering to see our best laid plans fall apart.
The buzz word these days is “resilience”. How do communities who are moderately food secure weather
the storm when the unexpected disaster comes to pass? This is actually a critical component of the
food security model because a natural disaster can wipe out even the most herculean efforts to combat
hunger. In 2008, I was in Haiti when 3 major hurricanes rolled in and pummeled the hilly terrain west of
Jacmel where a team of agricultural extension agents I was managing worked with smallholder farmers
to increase agricultural production. The farmers had just planted an improved variety of black bean
seed which we had provided weeks before. The seeds had germinated well and on track to double
their yields. They lost 90% of the crop that year, and farmers were back to square one. We eventually
managed to get things on track the next season, but the example highlights the fact that many of the
world’s poorest farmers are teetering on the brink of ruin season after season.
Climate change is also having a significant impact on many countries’ ability to produce sufficient food
for growing populations. We are witnessing multi-year droughts that are unprecedented in the modern
era. Prior to the conflict, Syria experienced a five-year drought from 2006 which had severely impacted
food production and caused millions of rural households dependent on agriculture and livestock to
move to urban areas for survival. For a region that has been a bread basket since the time of Moses,
neither rural households nor the government were able to cope with this change. In fact, many argue
that the roots of the revolution against the Assad regime were in part based on the government’s
inability to enact policies to assist struggling households or adapt to climactic changes through efficient
technology such as drip irrigation – an invention from their neighbors in Israel to cope with limited
water. According to a recent paper by Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell from the Center for American
Progress entitled “The Arab Spring and Climate Change”, the ongoing drought had a destabilizing effect
in Syria and led to violent consequences. They are argue that we are likely to see more conflicts arise
from the effects of climate change in certain parts of the world.
The stakes are high. Global food security is an issue that needs a lot more attention and funding to
support the most affected countries by using strategic approaches, improved technology and research.
This blog will explore various issues related to food security and some efforts that Nile Point are
engaged in to battle hunger.
