Severe hunger and poverty affects nearly 1 billion people around the world. It is estimated that by 2050, the earth’s population will reach 9 billion. Global food production will need to increase by 70 percent to 100 percent to feed these people. Furthermore, rising incomes, increasingly scarce resources, and a changing climate are putting additional strains on agricultural productivity. Over two billion people in the developing world are malnourished. Malnutrition continues to be the world’s most serious health problem and the single biggest contributor to child mortality.
To target these challenges, an enormous emphasis has been placed on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has initiated an Agricultural Development initiative that aims to reduce hunger and poverty for millions of poor farm families in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Investing in Agriculture
The power of investing in agriculture is clear. Agricultural development is two to four times more effective at reducing hunger and poverty than any other sector. Helping farm families grow more is the smartest way to fight hunger and poverty. It is essential to addressing the need to feed a growing population and improving their nutrition. When farmers can grow more food and earn more income, they can achieve self-sufficiency and live better lives. Improvements in agricultural productivity create social and economic ripple effects. With increased incomes, small farmers can better feed their families, send their children to school, provide for their health, and invest in their farms. This makes their communities economically stronger and more stable.
Over the past 200 years, nearly every part of the developed world has seen an agricultural transformation. As farming improved, so did incomes, health, and economies. More recently, we’ve seen amazing progress in parts of the developing world. During the Green Revolution, which took place from the 1960s to the 1980s, improvements in staple crops such as maize, wheat, and rice helped double the amount of food produced, saved hundreds of millions of lives, and drove broader development throughout much of Asia and Latin America. These efforts demonstrated that large-scale progress against hunger and poverty is possible. From 1980 to 2004, donor countries cut the percentage of development assistance for agriculture from more than 16 percent to less than four percent. In addition, agriculture accounted for only four percent of public spending in developing countries. The stagnation and decline in agricultural productivity was felt most throughout much of Africa and South Asia.
Food Disparities
Today, the average farmer in Sub-Saharan Africa gets just over a ton of cereal per acre, while the average Indian farmer gets about twice that, the average Chinese farmer about five times that, and the average American farmer about seven times that amount. The reason for such a disparity is that farmers in other regions have tools, techniques, and resources that farmers in Africa do not. In the last several years, the global community has begun to refocus its attention on agriculture. Rising food prices and concerns about feeding a growing population are prompting more and more organizations and governments to understand the urgency of supporting agricultural development.
Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people get their food and income from farming small plots of land that are typically the size of a football field or smaller. In addition, most of them labor under difficult conditions. They grow a diversity of local crops and must deal with unique diseases, pests, and drought, as well as unproductive soil.
It is asserted that in order to effectively reduce hunger and poverty, agricultural development programs must understand and be designed for women farmers. Women are a vital part of these farms because in addition to caring for and feeding their families, they do most of the farming but often with limited support. In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, women are vital contributors to farm work and are typically in charge of selecting food for and feeding their families. Yet compared to their male counterparts, women farmers are less productive and unable to reach their full potential. Yields on women’s plots are typically 20 percent to 40 percent less than men’s, putting rural families and communities at risk of not having enough nutritious food to eat or any extra to sell at the market. The Gates Foundation asserts that agricultural development programs must understand and be designed for women farmers in order to effectively reduce hunger and poverty.
The way that this is primarily being tackled is by focusing on small farmers. These farm families work on small plots of land, which they often rely on for their food and income. The focus is on crops and livestock that are important to the rural poor in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Research is conducted to understand the realities that they face in their local areas. A partnership is then created with organizations that understand the local context and realities and that are best suited to address these problems. A comprehensive approach is adopted where farmers are helped to prosper by helping to increase productivity but focusing on preserving and enhancing the viability of soil, water, and other natural resources. Furthermore, the approach includes developing heartier seeds, helping farmers to get access to new tools and farm management techniques, opening doors to markets, and supporting effective policies. There is no single, simple solution to tackling the challenges that farm families face.
Through creating strategic partnerships, understanding individual needs and tackling them in a systematic way while locating and leveraging additional funding, the goal to reduce hunger and poverty for millions of poor farm families in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia can be achieved.
Written by Joanne Myers
