It is imperative to ensure that there are adequate food supplies to provide food and nutrition security for the world’s poor, especially given increased vulnerability to hunger due to rising food prices and higher demand for food production. This panel will examine the effects of food supply and demand on agricultural productivity, considering questions such as how to provide food security in the current global context, the consequences of the demand for meat-based diets, and the role of indigenous crops in combating under-nutrition and hunger.Moderator:
Andrew Martin, New York Times
Panelists:
Jerry Steiner, Monsanto
William Masters, Purdue University
Pedro Medrano, World Food Programme
Alice Pell, Cornell University
Pedro Sanchez, Columbia University
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Andrew Martin is kicking off the first panel, introducing the panelists.
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Pedro Medrano is giving first presentation on food and nutrition security. He is saying we have concentrated too much in the past on food security and not enough on nutrition. Interventions are not always based on who needs it but on political relevance. He argues that the most vulnerable should be protected and their access to food facilitated, while food production is stimulated.
Vulnerable groups:
Vulnerable groups:
- Children under three years of age, pregnant and lactating women (biological vulnerability)
- Families in poverty and indigence situation (socio-economic vulnerability)
- Indigenous and afro-descendants (ethnic-cultural vulnerability)
- Rural people and marginal urban (geographical vulnerability)
“The new face of hunger”
- The urban poor
- Small-scale farmers and pastoralists (net-buyers of food)
- Landless
- The rural poor
- Orphans and vulnerable school children
- HIV/AIDS patients
- Refugees, displaced people
In addition to food production, we must think about food availability. Need to link immediate interventions with long-term interventions.
Opportunity to improve nutrition and food security in ways which better align emergency assistance with the need to build sustainable nutrition and other food security programs
Priority actions to respond to this food and nutrition crisis:
Opportunity to improve nutrition and food security in ways which better align emergency assistance with the need to build sustainable nutrition and other food security programs
Priority actions to respond to this food and nutrition crisis:
- Food production is not enough
- Vulnerable people needs should be assessed and protection systems should be strengthened
- Interventions to develop new economic opportunities for the most vulnerable.
- Promote agricultural production, linking existing markets to the poorest producers (i.e. WFP’s P4P program)
- Social policy advice to governments to strengthen and to scale-up proved nutrition interventions (Lancet Series on Nutrition) targeting pregnant women and children 0-3 years
- Ramp up existing and launch horizontal cooperation between countries, sub-regions and regions
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Alice Pell is speaking now on how to solve the hunger problem in rural areas. The food system is dynamic and complex. She urges a systems approach: If you make one change there will be a cascade.
We need to keep thinking about the "Food-based Malnutrition Solutions." She gives some field-based case studies.
She stresses moderation in meat consumption.
She presented a slide on livestock GDP as percentage of Agriculture GDP. It is getting increasingly difficult for pastoralists to survive. Need to think of ways to preserve pastoralist culture.
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Alice Pell is speaking now on how to solve the hunger problem in rural areas. The food system is dynamic and complex. She urges a systems approach: If you make one change there will be a cascade.
We need to keep thinking about the "Food-based Malnutrition Solutions." She gives some field-based case studies.
She stresses moderation in meat consumption.
She presented a slide on livestock GDP as percentage of Agriculture GDP. It is getting increasingly difficult for pastoralists to survive. Need to think of ways to preserve pastoralist culture.
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- So far, world prices are still relatively low …and yet food remains out of reach for the very poor.
Causes of the 2007-08 crisis might not be what you think:
"Can this wake-up call reverse 20 years of falling aid for food & agriculture?" Masters asks. Aid for agriculture is not rising in correlation to total foreign aid. More aid is being given for debt relief and health.
Pedro Sanchez blames himself, as an agriculture researcher, in driving food prices down. He gives some possible solutions to the food crisis:
It costs $77 to produce an extra ton of food with fertilizer and hybrid seeds. The price to deliver a ton of food far outweighs the cost to produce it using these interventions. He takes a look at value/cost ratios in the Millennium Villages, and finds that they are generally equal or better.
Dr. Sanchez then highlighted Malawi as the "first African Green Revolution." By encouraging government subsidies, Malawi saw maize production increases of 50%+ in 2007 and 2008.
Now he is talking about Brazil's energy and agricultural policies. From an agricultural point of view, they are becoming very efficient. They use locally produced grain, bran and silage. We should take a look at Brazil as an example.
Actions:
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- It’s not… China and India. They are nearly self-sufficient, and changed little.
- It's not ... Climate change (yet) or meat demand (yet). So far these have not outpaced productivity growth.
- It is… partly an accounting illusion. Falling dollar created a large nominal price rise has real effects.
- It is ... largely triggered by US and EU biofuels policy: Sharp rise in corn and oilseeds use, when stocks were low.
- It is ... worsened by other countries’ policies: Many governments cut exports and bought more grain.
"Can this wake-up call reverse 20 years of falling aid for food & agriculture?" Masters asks. Aid for agriculture is not rising in correlation to total foreign aid. More aid is being given for debt relief and health.
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Pedro Sanchez blames himself, as an agriculture researcher, in driving food prices down. He gives some possible solutions to the food crisis:
- Eliminate hunger in Africa
- Intelligent agriculture in Brazil
- Policy change in the U.S.
It costs $77 to produce an extra ton of food with fertilizer and hybrid seeds. The price to deliver a ton of food far outweighs the cost to produce it using these interventions. He takes a look at value/cost ratios in the Millennium Villages, and finds that they are generally equal or better.
Dr. Sanchez then highlighted Malawi as the "first African Green Revolution." By encouraging government subsidies, Malawi saw maize production increases of 50%+ in 2007 and 2008.
Now he is talking about Brazil's energy and agricultural policies. From an agricultural point of view, they are becoming very efficient. They use locally produced grain, bran and silage. We should take a look at Brazil as an example.
Actions:
- Solve the world hunger problem by 2020
- Rational agriculture/energy policies in the U.S.
- Get us off the high fat diets
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Jerry Steiner doesn't believe there is one single thing you can do. It will be solved by a myriad of solutions, such as sensible diets. He is going to focus on one aspect, improving seed and agricultural production. Need to turn potential into reality, and protect and harness that potential.
If we take a look at U.S. corn, yields are up 26% in the last decade without increasing natural resources. It is essential that this increase in food production be translated world-wide, in a scalable manner, not just for food security, but for economic security.
To make this happens, we need to form unique partnerships in Africa. Farming is a risky business, we need to put together business models that take away downside risks.
QUESTIONS OR THE PANEL:
Andrew Martin: What caused this turnaround in Malawi and who is responsible?
Pedro Sanchez: Political will and subsidies.
Jerry Steiner: Stressed the "show and tell" aspect of the Millennium Villages project and the choice for farmers to choose hybrid seeds.
Andrew Martin: What is the reality of funding? How do you get governments involved in funding?
Will Masters stresses that there is a common value for all. We have proven that money leads to increased returns. U.S. does it uniquely well.
Alice Pell: Increase prices leads to lower food and availability. Malawi can be source of food an have an open playing field.
Jerry Steiner: Need to look for public and private partnerships.
Pedro Medrano: At the end of the day it's a governance issue, and also a cultural issue. 80-90% of poor are of indigenous or African descent. Need policies to address these marginalized groups.
AM: What role does meat and protein-based diets have in this debate?
AP: Depends on what animals are being fed. Having them be direct competitors with humans is not desirable. She also stresses distribution in small quantities.
PS: We should not turn into vegetarians. Babies need iron and protein-dense foods, which is meat, but small quantities is okay. This can and should be done with grass-fed cattle.
A Q&A session ensued with more questions and discussions from the audience, including some commentary from Jeff Sachs about the importance of birth control and population control and how not enough money is being directed to the food crisis. He is stressing that the U.S. needs to change roles from simply being a food exporter to providing agricultural expertise and technology to countries in need. In regards to meat-consumption, we need to refrain from being anecdotal and come up with evidence-based approaches that take into account the overall food system.
If we take a look at U.S. corn, yields are up 26% in the last decade without increasing natural resources. It is essential that this increase in food production be translated world-wide, in a scalable manner, not just for food security, but for economic security.
To make this happens, we need to form unique partnerships in Africa. Farming is a risky business, we need to put together business models that take away downside risks.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
QUESTIONS OR THE PANEL:
Andrew Martin: What caused this turnaround in Malawi and who is responsible?
Pedro Sanchez: Political will and subsidies.
Jerry Steiner: Stressed the "show and tell" aspect of the Millennium Villages project and the choice for farmers to choose hybrid seeds.
Andrew Martin: What is the reality of funding? How do you get governments involved in funding?
Will Masters stresses that there is a common value for all. We have proven that money leads to increased returns. U.S. does it uniquely well.
Alice Pell: Increase prices leads to lower food and availability. Malawi can be source of food an have an open playing field.
Jerry Steiner: Need to look for public and private partnerships.
Pedro Medrano: At the end of the day it's a governance issue, and also a cultural issue. 80-90% of poor are of indigenous or African descent. Need policies to address these marginalized groups.
AM: What role does meat and protein-based diets have in this debate?
AP: Depends on what animals are being fed. Having them be direct competitors with humans is not desirable. She also stresses distribution in small quantities.
PS: We should not turn into vegetarians. Babies need iron and protein-dense foods, which is meat, but small quantities is okay. This can and should be done with grass-fed cattle.
A Q&A session ensued with more questions and discussions from the audience, including some commentary from Jeff Sachs about the importance of birth control and population control and how not enough money is being directed to the food crisis. He is stressing that the U.S. needs to change roles from simply being a food exporter to providing agricultural expertise and technology to countries in need. In regards to meat-consumption, we need to refrain from being anecdotal and come up with evidence-based approaches that take into account the overall food system.
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