Urgent cogitations on

The Role of Agriculture in

Combating Global Hunger
By Arlene Mitchell, Executive Director
Global Child Nutrition Foundation
May 17, 2017
Des Moines, Iowa
What to expect

Hunger is horrible; famine is worse

A summary of testimony to the Senate Committee on

Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry hearing on the Role of
Agriculture in Combating Global Hunger -- December 2,
2015 (seems like a century ago)

Update

We need your action

Questions, discussion
Hunger is horrible

Hungerparticularly chronic hunger--is terrifying and

debilitating
Hunger limits potential and causes people to behave in
extreme ways
Hunger also takes an economic toll now and into the future
even for those of us who are far removed. Costs:
Humanitarian assistance Lost productivity

Health care Civil unrest

Lost education Intergenerational impact

Famine is worse than horrible

and famine is happening. Now. Deaths are certain,

not hypothetical
20 million people or more are on the brink of starvation in at
least four countries
South Sudan
Yemen
Somalia
Nigeria
Neighboring countries are also at risk
Testimony: Its a new environment
Combating hunger and poverty isnt just
a foreign aid issue, but on that topic
Traditional development and humanitarian aid are challenged by:

Technical, digital, & cultural Political, trade, & economic

divides pressures

Global weather patterns Demands & actions of the BRICS

Brazil, Russia, India, China, & S. Africa

Conflict and displacement Failed governance/failed state realities

Meanwhile,
Economic growth trends in Africa are positive and projected
to continue to be positive
The Middle East is in turmoil
The European Union is grappling with new challenges
In Asia, there are significant changes occurring in many
countries (e.g., South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand)
And more (the U.S. position vis--vis aid may be shifting,
Russia is asserting itself)

These factors are causing shifts in power

dynamics and calling for new paradigms
10 areas of investment in agriculture
to fight hunger abroad AND help the US
1. Reduce food loss and waste
Facts:
Were losing about a third of what is produced.
This is a triple loss:
o There is less food available for those who need it;
o The entire original investment involved in producing the
food is lost; and
o Additional investment is required to replace the amount
lost or wasted
2. Build transportation & storage
solutions; leap-frog costly, outmoded,
unsafe, unusable, corrupt systems
o We can get around on Mars and negotiate rivers,
sand dunes, ice, and snow, but
Fresh produce rots before getting to markets that are
just a few miles away.
o Huge amounts of money have been spent on building
and maintaining roads, trucks, trains, ships and
planes, but
Moving food long distances is costly and complicated; it
doesnt get to those who need it quickly and at a price
they can afford.
3. Make food safety a global priority
Food safety problems are most acute in the poorest
families and communities of the poorest countries
Small producers/women, consumers, and vulnerable
groups such as young children, are hardest hit.
o Millions in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia are
chronically consuming unsafe levels of aflatoxin through their diets
o Export of peanuts from Africa dropped by ~70% when stringent
aflatoxin standards were applied
Food safety is also a trade issue, limiting economic growth
Food safety is an issue at home, not just in poor countries
(eg, E-coli, Salmonella)
4. Equitably involve women
Women carry indisputably important roles throughout fields of
farming, water use, food handling and preparation, and family
wellbeing, yet (per IFAD, 2011):
Women rarely have access to the resources that would
make their work more productive and ease their heavy
workload
Women are held back by lack of education, unequal
property rights and limited control over resources.
Labor-intensive and time-consuming activities further hinder
womens ability to improve their income-earning potential.
More on the equitable involvement of
women
And, according to FAO:
If women had the same access to productive resources as
men, they could increase yields on their farms by 2030
percent.
This could raise total agricultural output in developing
countries by 2.54 percent.
Production gains of this magnitude could reduce the
number of hungry people in the world by 1217 percent.
5. Urgently solve age issues globally
The average age of farmers globally is likely now over 55
For American farmers, in 2012 (per USDA/NASS) it was 58.3 years; a
full one third were over 65
More than half of Ag researchers in 19 African countries were
over 50 in 2011 (ASTI)
There is a vast age gap in many countries; farmers and
researchers are greying and retiring, but
There are few younger replacements in the pipelines
Agriculture is not sexy andwith few exceptions, it hasnt been a
priority for funding since the mid 1980s
The Food, Fuel, &Finance crisis of 2008 brought a glimmer of
hope, but that is fading.
More on age issues
Africa has the youngest population in the world (African
Economic Outlook 2012):
o There were 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 in Africa
o The current trend indicates that this figure will double by 2045
Unemployment for youth occurs at a rate more than twice that
for adults in most African countries (AfDB)
Unemployment rates for American youth are also high
o 15% of workers ages 16 to 24 are unemployed, compared with 7.3
percent of all workers. (Excluding young people who are not working because
they are in school, who are no longer looking for work or who were too
discouraged to begin a job search.) ( (NYT 2014)
Yet few youth are turning to Agriculture as a profession
Few are studying agriculture; even fewer are pursuing ag
studies that realistically focus on African agricultural conditions
6. Fix broken (and unfair) market
systems and boost adoption rates
For small-scale producers, like anyone else, feeding the
family is the primary concern, not feeding the world
(Their) questions might be
o What opportunities are there to increase sales? Add value? To
protect the market I have?
o Will (investing) bring new customers, new competition, or both?
o Can I get the goods to the market?
o Can I meet the quality standards the buyers impose? (HIVOS,
2012)
Early evidence indicates that structuring large, predictable,
long-term markets to allow smallholder access can result in
at least short-term improvements (P4P )
More on market failures and adoption
rates...
Solid data re adoption rates in poor countries is hard to find, but a
study of 20 crops in 30 sub-Saharan countries showed:
The area-weighted grand mean adoption level of improved varieties
across the 20 crops is 35%. [But]
[This]is skewed as 14 of the crops are characterized by a mean
adoption level that falls below 35%. (DIVA project)
Small-scale farmers in poor countries are more astute managers
of their resources than are some larger-scale farmers
While yields on family farms are sometimes lower than those on
large farms, family farm costs are often lower than large farms (and)
Small farmer income is two times to ten times higher than the income
from wage employment. (Landesa 2011)
7. Study and address crop and animal
diseases, pests, and threats
Left unchecked and unstudied, these threaten the worlds food
supply.
Two examples are:
UG99 (Uganda 99) wheat stem rust, is leaping across
international borders at an alarming pace, and is extremely
difficult to wipe out.
o itcan affectproduction and food security on a global scale.
o No wheat-growing nation is safe. (Oklahoma Farm Report
Sept. 2015)
And
More re diseases, pests, and threats
Citrus Greening caused by a tiny Asian insect is having
a devastating effect on Floridas citrus industry.
o Consumption is down by nearly one-third in the past
decade, partly thanks to higher prices caused by
greening
o orange production in Florida is down...
o Acreage planted in citrus dropped by more than 1/3 since
2000, mostly because of greening.
o greening has cost growers in the juice business $7.8
billion since 2006
(Tampa Bay News, Feb. 2015)
8. Sync up agriculture & nutrition
goals, policies, and programs
Even the most successful (agricultural) policies can have
their downsides...
the global investment in improving productivity of cereal
crops in the green revolution, lifted millionsin Asia from
poverty and undernutrition, but
also focused researchon energy-dense rather than
micronutrient-rich crops.
[making] nutritious foods more expensive today. (Waage)
More on linking agriculture and
nutrition
Agricultureis no magic solution [to malnutrition]. But farming
could do more to improve nutritionas is clear from countries'
widely varying records.
when people have enough calories they need to diversify
towards vegetables, pulses and meat.
In many places, irrigation and fertilizer subsidies, government
marketing and other schemes implicitly or explicitly favor cereal
farmers.
So poor countries go on encouraging cereals longer than they
need to.
And plant breeders tend to raise cereals which maximize
calories, not nutrients. (Economist 2011)
9. Protect biodiversity & explore unfamiliar plants and animals

Loss of biodiversity appears to impact ecosystems as

much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of
environmental stress
the very high rates of modern extinctions -- due to habitat
loss, overharvesting and other human-caused
environmental changes -- could reduce nature's ability to
provide goods and services like food, clean water and a
stable climate. (U of Michigan 2012)
10. Move agriculture and health out of
silos, into closer collaboration
Agriculture underpins the health of rural households. It:
Provides income that makes households resilient to health shocks;
Provides food to meet their nutrient and energy needs; and
Provides medicinal plants for treating ailments.
But agricultural systems can also have negative effects on health.
Agriculture may lead to environmental change with adverse health impacts
Use of inputs such as pesticides by untrained personnel often causes illness
Improper food harvesting and storage practices allow mycotoxins to flourish
Lack of diet diversity can lead to malnutrition
Certain animal diseases also can infect humans
Labor migrationcan contribute to high incidence of HIV infection. (IFPRI 2011)
More re linking agriculture and health
Ill health in farm households has three broad effects:
absenteeism from work due to morbidity (and eventual death);
family time diverted to caring for the sick; and
loss of savings and assets in dealing with disease and its consequences
The long-term impacts of ill health include
loss of farming knowledge,
reduction of land under cultivation,
planting of less labor-intensive crops,
reduction of variety of crops planted, and
reduction of livestock.
The ultimate impact of ill health is a decline in household income and
possible food insecuritythat is, a severe deterioration in household
livelihood (IFPRI 2011)
What else is being said?
Farmers surveyed in 2011 identified
key issues
Supplying the growing global demand for commodities arising
from developing economies and world population growth
Availability and price of land for expansion
New government mandates and regulations
Stability, development and fluctuations in global financial
markets
Impact of global trade policies on food security and the supply
and demand for commodities
Development and use of bio-based fuels
-- CaseIH.com 2011
Supplying the growing global demand from developing
economies and population growth

USDA/ERS November 03, 2016

Availability and price of land
Stability, development and fluctuations in global
financial markets

Business optimism dropped by 6 % in Mexico and by 13 % in Russia; business

leaders in the developed economies of the Asia Pacific (eg, Japan and Singapore)
also report predominantly pessimistic outlooks
The proportion of EU firms citing exchange rate fluctuations as a constraint of
growth has increased significantly
Elections in France and Germany threaten to inflict new volatility
Debt levels in China are a source of concern
Banking worries in Italy are causing murmurs of anxiety across Europe
Anti-corruption measures triggered the withdrawal of large sums of rupees in India
Our research reveals a particular challenge for businesses balancing profit growth
with wage growth
--The global economy in 2017, looking beyond uncertainty
Grant Thornton International Business Report
Climate Change Is Transforming the World's Food Supply

Climate change is poised to affect the worlds food supply

three key ways, experts say.
"There will be impacts on the
quantity,
quality and
location of the food we produce,"
said Dr. Sam Myers, a medical doctor and senior research scientist
studying environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health.

By Sara G. Miller, Staff Writer | February 16, 2017

The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2017
Plowed Under: US Farmers, who once fed the world are
overtaken by new powers
Americas share of global corn, soybean and wheat exports has
shrunk by more than half since the mid-1970s, the USDA says.
In soybeans, the most exported U.S. crop, U.S. supplies make
up about 40% of world exports, down from more than 70% three
decades ago.
Income in the U.S. farm sector will decline for a fourth year this
year, falling to $62.3 billion, half of the record $123 billion
farmers earned in 2013, the USDA projects.
The last time income fell four years in a row was in the mid-
1970s.
By Jesse Newman and Jacob Bunge
Snippets

The world should brace itself for a new wave of biological

invasions: An international team of scientists has identified
how our rapidly changing world will bring new types of
invaders, often from very unexpected places. University
of Cambridge, May 3, 2017

Science Daily Reports: Trumps expected choice for USDA

science job lacks scientific background related to food or
agricultureWashington Post, May 14, 2017
Wall Street Journal insert May 15, 2017

Urban Agriculture: A farm grows in the city

Big Data: Why big data hasnt made a dent on farms
International Trade: Shipping companies alliances stir fear
among farmers
Unfiltered Canadian Milk: Ultra filtered milk sparks a U.S.-
Canada trade battle
Climate Change Volatility: Farmers scramble to adapt to volatile
weather
Finding New Non-Food Uses for Commodity Crops: Sneakers
made from corn; car seat cushions made from soybeans
To conclude
 HUNGER EXISTS; IS HORRIBLE
FAMINE EXISTS AND IS EVEN WORSE

AGRICULTUREU.S. AND OTHERS AG-- IS NOT POSITIONED TO MEET THE NEED

YOU are in a position to do something about it

PLEASE DO

THANK YOU