1. What issues should be addressed by the Committee in the biennium 2016-2017?
- Women are the central drivers of change: Subsistence farming is often an immediate means to food security at the household level.
- National and regional capacity to address food insecurity must be strengthened: Governance constraints and continuing challenges at the national and regional levels can undermine efforts to respond to food insecurity. The level of institutional capacity is considered a key determinant for the attainment of food security objectives in many countries. Specific governance issues related to food insecurity vary enormously within countries and regions. Lack of integration between national policies and implementation mechanisms at the local level, such as investments in infrastructure to support “farm – to – market” transportation and “access – to – market” information, and limited extension services to ensure appropriation by farmers of new agricultural practices that could boost sustainable agricultural productivity are examples of important factors limiting improvements to food security.
2. Explain the issue and describe why you are proposing it:
- Achieving food security is a significant and growing challenge in the developing world and highly critical to alleviating poverty. People’s health and education and their ability to work, assert their rights, and achieve equality are compromised by not having food security. In developing countries, women and girls are the most susceptible to the impacts of food insecurity because they have less access to and control over resources than men.
- There are numerous causes of food insecurity. These include population growth and rising food, transportation, and agricultural costs. As well, the recent economic downturn has resulted in reduced global investment in food and agricultural development.
3. What kind of activity do you propose to address this issue? Which kind of CFS workstream should be put in place to address it?
While improved ‘green water’ management will contribute to meeting the increased food demand, investments in ‘blue water’ infrastructure, such as dams and irrigation systems, are still needed. These investments need to ensure optimal returns to society at large, including more ‘jobs per drop’. A large proportion of the world’s food production is based on un-sustainable exploitation of groundwater that at the same time are threatened by increasing pollution by agro-chemicals.
Santosh Kumar Mishra