[ LIFDCs are defined as those countries with a per caput income in the range used by the World Bank for IDA lending, and a negative trade balance in cereals, averaged over the previous five years.]
Trends in many low-income food-deficit countries show that food production since the 1970s has failed to keep pace with the needs of a growing population. This has resulted in a sharp rise in cereal imports and a decline in average per caput food consumption in most of these countries. Debt servicing obligations and balance of payments problems restrict their ability to import food on the world market and the shortcomings of food aid as a durable solution to chronic food supply problems are widely recognised.
As the population grows, per caput availability of arable land will decrease even further. Thus, in order to meet the growing food requirements from diminishing land resources, there is a need to intensify agricultural production. "Agriculture has to meet this challenge, mainly by increasing production on land already in use and by avoiding further encroachment on land which is only marginally suitable for cultivation" (Agenda 21, Chapter 14.1) [ The Programme draws from Agenda 21, unanimously adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. ] . Agricultural production can best be intensified on land on which sustainable agricultural production techniques have already been introduced, or on which modern husbandry methods may help to make more intensive production sustainable.
FAO's Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) is an initiative unanimously approved by the 106th Session of FAO Council in May-June 1994 in response to the above challenge. The SPFS, with a focus on LIFDCs, is a country level action-oriented programme aimed at rapidly increasing overall food availability, stabilising food production and generating employment and income in the agricultural and other sectors in order to stem the growing incidence of food insecurity and malnutrition. The programme will cover all LIFDCs, currently numbering 82, of which 41 are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The SPFS will be a crucial vehicle for the implementation of the World Food Summit Plan of Action for food security in LIFDCs at the individual, household and national levels.
Implementation of the programme follows two phases, namely a Pilot Phase of usually three years�duration followed by an Expansion Phase.
The Pilot Phase, which is made of four interrelated and complementary components, is planned and implemented by the Governments and rural communities concerned through the mobilisation and training of local personnel and the supply of seeds, tools and equipment within the framework of people�s participation and gender-sensitive activities. Technical and financial assistance is provided by national and international sources. The four components are as follows:
The expansion phase is made of two components:
i) a food security and agricultural sector policy programme to lift macro-level socio-economic constraints and provide an environment favourable to agricultural production, processing, marketing and trade and to access to food;
ii) an agricultural investment component of three years adjusted annually to overcome the physical constraints including infrastructure and to increase private and public financing of agricultural activities and services.
The Special Programme therefore does not deal with productivity, production and instability of supplies only, but also with trade and access to food, the other aspects of food security. But without more stable and increased production when demand is growing, there may be scarcity which can only be overcome by costly imports, making access more difficult in particular for the poor and vulnerable groups.
The SPFS is currently implemented in 18 countries but is now being extended to other countries as results were generally positive and resources became available. Main results of the Special Programme in the initial 10 participating sub-Saharan African countries are summarised below.
Burkina Faso: In 1990 the Government set the enhancement of food security as one of its three objectives in formulating an agricultural adjustment programme. It was decided to formulate priority programmes and specific actions for the cereal sub-sector, especially rice and maize. In 1994 the need to raise rice output through irrigated and lowland cultivation, and by introducing rainfed rice where possible was emphasised. It is within this context that the SPFS was devised. The pilot phase of the SPFS became operational in January 1995 in Comoé, Hauts Bassins and Mouhoun regions. Target corps are rice and maize. The yield of irrigated rice in 1996/97 is between 5 and 6.6 tons/ha which is under the target of 7 tons/ha. A comparison carried out in only one of the sites indicated an increase of about 20 percent on demonstration plots compared to a control group. The yield of rainfed rice doubled in 1996/97 compared to the 2.4 tons/ha in 1995/96.
Eritrea: Increased food security in Eritrea requires widespread increases in food output which can be consumed or exchanged locally, not just an increase in the surplus available for sale in urban areas. Perhaps the most important long term constraint on agricultural growth is the country's arid and variable climate. For this reason, programmes to reduce the drought sensitivity of agriculture will play a major role. The objectives of the SPFS converge with the Government's food security policy and strategy where the aim is to raise the country's level of food security by increasing the production of staples for domestic consumption and high value agricultural products for export. The pilot phase of the SPFS became operational in July 1995 in three agro-ecological zones: Central Highlands, Western Lowlands and Eastern Lowlands. Target crops are tef, wheat, sorghum, barley and sesame. In 1995/96 (which was a drought year) trial fields generally did better than local fields. However, the results were not economic. The preliminary results of the 1996/97 season are very positive with yield increases of at least 100 percent.
Ethiopia: Food insecurity and malnutrition are prevalent on a widescale in Ethiopia. It is estimated that no less than 50 percent of the population is food insecure, of whom 75 percent are the rural poor and 25 percent the urban poor. Transitory food insecurity is more common in drought prone areas even among farmers with more resources and among pastoralists. The SPFS is designed within the framework of the Government's Agricultural Development-Led Industrialisation (ADLI) strategy which aims to use the agricultural sector as the base for overall socio-economic development. Central to this strategy is the enhancement of the productivity of small farmers and achievement of food self-reliance in the medium-term at national level. The pilot phase of the SPFS started in January 1995 in Wofla, Habra and Gonder Zuria districts. Target crops are tef, wheat, maize and sorghum. In 1995/96 yields in demonstration areas generally more than doubled with an average value/cost ratio (VCR) of about 2.42 compared to neighbouring areas under traditional practices showing the net income of participating farmers to have generally doubled.
Guinea: The SPFS is consistent with the strategic agricultural development objectives as defined by the Agricultural Development Policy Letter (ADPL) which identifies the reduction of rice imports through the rehabilitation of local rice production as crucial to national food security and the surest means of maximising farmer income and re-establishing the balance of payments. A new ADPL (LPDA2) is being prepared in which specific reference is made to the Special Programme. The SPFS became operational in May 1995 in the Guinea-maritime and Haute Guinea regions. The target crop is rice. The 1995/96 crop output showed an increase in yield in the range of 71 to 146 percent compared to 1994/95. A cost-benefit analysis, which was partially conducted, indicated a positive result. Outcome of the 1996/97 harvest, which is completed, is not yet received.
Kenya: The economy continues to be dominated by agriculture, which accounts for 30 percent of GDP, employs 78 percent of the labour force and generates over 60 percent of the value of exports. Food production has not kept pace with population growth, with cereal output per person being halved over the past 20 years. Almost 40 percent of the population are chronically undernourished and 46 percent of rural families live below the poverty line. With the high population growth (over 3 percent p.a) projections to the year 2010 indicate that substantial increases in per caput food production will be required to avoid a widening deficit. There is a large convergence between the Government's national and household food security policies and the approach followed by the Special Programme. The SPFS became operational in January 1995, initially in Western Region and progressively expanding to Central and Coastal Regions for rainfed soybean and maize-based systems components, and an irrigation component in Eastern and Coastal Regions. There are no measurable results yet for maize, because the first full season of work with farmers was scheduled to begin in March 1997. Good results have been obtained from soybean grown.
Mauritania: The SPFS is fully in line with the strategy of the Government for food security which includes the rehabilitation and water control of existing irrigation schemes to increase rice, sorghum and maize production. The pilot phase of the SPFS started in June 1995 in Traza (Senegal River Valley) and Gorgol. Brakna has been added for irrigated agriculture. Target crops are rice (irrigated), vegetables, flood-recession maize and sorghum. In demonstration plots, rice output showed an increase of 24 to 32 percent compared to control fields reaching, on average, as high as 7 tòns/ha. Cost-benefit analysis, conducted for fertiliser use only, appears to be positive.
Niger: The SPFS fits within the National Food Security Policy of the Government, with its integrated and participatory approach and components. The pilot phase started in May 1995 in Tillaberi and Maradi Departments. Target crops are millet, sorghum, rice and vegetables.In 1995 the rainfed areas showed a negative result due to the drought in that year. The 1996 results for the rainfed areas showed an increase of 30 to 60 percent on the demonstration plots compared to control plots.
Senegal: The SPFS is in line with the Government's agricultural development policy which gives pre-eminence to the improvement of food security. It stresses irrigation improvements, promotion of rainfed agriculture and increased meat and milk production in a participative approach. The pilot phase of the SPFS started in January 1995 in Casamance and River Senegal areas. Target crops are rice, millet, sorghum and maize. In 1995/96 rice yields on demonstration plots in Senegal River Valley varied from 4.2 to 6.7 tons/ha. In the inland valleys of Kourouck, Sounaye and Banny of the Casamance sites, yields varied between 1.1 and 1.9 tons/ha. However, some farmers in Kourouck obtained yields of up to 4.5 tons/ha.
Tanzania: Food insecurity remains a big problem in the chronically food-deficit regions. Fifty-one percent of the population is estimated to live below poverty line, the bulk of which are in the rural villages. The SPFS was designed within the general framework of the Tanzania National Comprehensive Food Security Programme (CFSP). The pilot phase of the SPFS became operational in July 1995 in Dodoma and Morogoro regions. Target crops are maize and rice. The results showed that, compared to 1994/95, the 1995/96 rice production doubled on demonstration plots and maize production more than doubled.
Zambia: Zambia's Agriculture Sector Investment programme (ASIP) is the first of an intended series of four-year programmes aimed at implementing Government's medium and long-term goals of improving national and household food security. The SPFS is to be implemented within the framework of ASIP. The pilot phase of SPFS started in August 1995 in Kalomo and Kaoma districts. Target crops are maize, bullrushmillet, legumes and cassava. Farm-budget studies for all demonstration areas are currently under way but he results in 1995/96 season on demonstration sites show that there was a significant variation in yields of maize (from 1.2 to 7.4 tons/ha) and bullrushmillet (0.024 to 1.2 tons/ha).
The implementation of the Special Programme is expected to begin in 1997 in an additional number of countries including Angola, Mali and Mozambique. Formulation of the Programme is underway for Madagascar and is planned for a considerable number of other countries.
The Special Programme started in 1994/95 with a modest allocation of "seed" money from FAO�s Regular Programme budget. As resources become available from external and national sources, a mix of inputs from participating Governments, FAO and donors are now supporting the programme. A number of bilateral and multilateral donors are already supporting the Special Programme. International Financial Institutions are showing interest in a partnership whereby FAO would provide the technical expertise and they would take the lead in socio-economic and investment issues. Within this framework, Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Contacts have been made with the Islamic Development Bank and are planned with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the European Development Fund. Also, a number of bilateral donors (e.g. Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Spain, France and Japan) are already supporting the programme or are expected to do so soon, but still more are needed. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is the first institution of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to decide to participate in the Special Programme, in particular in the study of socio-economic constraints.
Moreover, a South-South Cooperation initiative has been launched within the framework of the SPFS. Under these arrangements, a large number of experts (roughly one hundred) are provided from an advanced developing country to another developing country to work for two to three years with farmers and rural communities involved in the SPFS to achieve a critical mass and create an impact.
This cooperation has already started in some countries notably in Ethiopia, where discussions with China are currently on-going to finalize cooperation where China would provide a large number of irrigation experts, and in Senegal, where a total of 52 Vietnamese experts are expected. The first nine Vietnamese experts have already arrived in the country and 34 others will arrive in the first half of 1997. India and Morocco have also expressed interest in participating in the programme.