 Women sell bread in Egypt. With nearly one billion people suffering from hunger and food prices still high in many countries, increased investments in agriculture and greater attention to food and agriculture in domestic and international policies are crucial in the fight against poverty, according to FAO in a new publication, Responding to the food crisis: synthesis of medium-term measures proposed in inter-agency assessments. Soaring food prices during 2007 and the first half of 2008 exposed the fragility of the global food system and its vulnerability to shocks. The ensuing crisis pushed millions more people into hunger. Although food prices on international markets have fallen from their 2008 highs, prices are volatile and the cost of basic food commodities in many developing countries remains high. This, combined with the global economic downturn, has created additional financial and social difficulties, particularly for small farmers and low-income consumers. The international community initiated a rapid and well-coordinated response to the global food crisis. In December 2007, the FAO launched its Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP), which was followed by the creation of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF) and the adoption of the Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA) in July 2008. From 2008 to 2009, a series of inter-agency assessments (IAAs) and rapid appraisals in the context of the European Commission (EC) Food Facility were carried out in nearly 60 countries. These assessments were done in consultation with the countries concerned and often in collaboration with regional organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and farmers’ organizations. Taking into consideration the problems facing each country, the assessments confirmed the need to ramp up investments in agriculture and to give higher priority to agriculture in all domestic and international polices. They also identified short- and medium-term measures to be taken immediately to curtail the impact of the food crisis, focusing on key issues such as: - protective and productive safety nets to ensure household food security and to reduce poverty and vulnerability
- improved access to quality seeds and fertilizers to boost smallholder farmers’ productivity
- strengthened capacity building in production, processing and marketing
- capacity and institution building in policy development and implementation
- better functioning markets at all levels and improved market infrastructure and information services, especially for small farmers
- sustainable management of natural resources
- increased participation of women in the agro-food sector
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