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Food Aid and Food Security
February 1995
>> This Is USAID >> USAID Policy Papers >> Food Aid and Food Security
Preface Measures to Improve Food Security
Food Aid Management Objectives
Program and Management Policy Conclusions
Wednesday, 11-Jul-2001 16:48:37 EDT
The ability of the world to feed itself has improved dramatically over the last three decades. Intensive agriculture and new crop varieties have fueled steadily increasing per capita food production. Decreasing world food prices have made food more available to a greater number of people. In 1975, approximately one in three people in developing countries was underfed; today, the number of underfed has dropped to one in five. I. Introduction
The long-term sustainability of this progress, however, is increasingly at risk. Advances in major crop yields, such as wheat and rice, have slowed. The intensive use of land and water, which brought major production increases, now brings growing environmental costs. And most significantly, world population continues to grow at the rate of nearly 100 million people per year--mostly in the developing world.
Though millions have benefitted from the world's agricultural progress, the distribution of global food supplies is very uneven, with hunger still prevalent in some regions of the world, particularly South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The challenge of world hunger in the 1990s is real:
- 800 million people are chronically undernourished.
- More than 180 million children around the world are severely underweight.
- 13 million people die every year from hunger and related causes (mostly children under age 5).
- An estimated 35 million people "at risk" needed 4.5 million tons of emergency food assistance in 1994.
Most hunger is still found in rural areas--large regions of persistent poverty, such as the Horn of Africa, where development has failed and fragile ecosystems and civil strife combine to keep hunger alive. Rapid urbanization has also drawn growing numbers of rural poor who have little or no access to jobs and are therefore unable to feed their families.
For the United States, global hunger is both a humanitarian concern and a strategic problem. Americans have traditionally supported humanitarian assistance for those in need and in crisis. However, our aid reflects not just a noble humanitarian impulse, but also an investment in preventive diplomacy. Hunger and food insecurity contribute to political instability; exacerbate environmental degradation; create migration pressures and displaced populations; and prevent sustainable development. Ultimately, global hunger affects our own basic interests as a nation.
However, alleviating hunger is a daunting challenge, especially so if self reliance is the goal. The causes of hunger are complex, and improvements in food security are difficult to sustain.
- Hunger results from lack of broad-based economic growth, especially for the very poor. Hunger prevents people from being economic participants, except in desperation or as supplicants--and lack of economic opportunity engenders poverty. Increased food productivity plays an important role in alleviating hunger and in broad-based economic growth. Very few countries have experienced rapid economic growth without growth in food productivity preceding or accompanying it.
- Hunger results from environmental degradation. Food insecurity drives the exploitation of marginal lands, the misuse of water supplies, the exhaustion of soils, and deforestation. Nearly two-thirds of tropical deforestation currently comes at the hands of small-scale agriculturalists attempting to grow more food.
- Hunger results from lack of access to family planning services. World population is growing by 100 million per year, straining the productive capacity of agriculture. Hunger also causes poor maternal health and high rates of infant mortality--the latter a factor that drives higher birth rates.
- Hunger is a democracy issue. Pursuit of democracy is hampered when basic human needs are lacking. Conversely, democratic governments tend to be more responsive to the basic needs of their people.
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Last Updated on: July 11, 2001 |
