"Latin America and the Caribbean have understood this and this was the first region to take on the challenge of fully eradicating hunger and not only diminishing it, by launching the Hunger Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative in 2005", he added.

Graziano da Silva highlighted the many initiatives that have emerged in the region, such as Hunger Zero in Brazil and the Crusade Against Hunger in Mexico - launched this week - which will help more than 7.4 million Mexicans living in extreme poverty and food insecurity.

"When a country decides to say 'no more hunger', the improvements that can be achieved are surprising," said the FAO Director General.

Graziano also highlighted the fact that Antigua and Barbuda has joined the UN Zero Hunger Challenge: Zero Hunger in Antigua and Barbuda has the full support of the FAO, and other agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA),  the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM).

Latin America on the front line  against hunger

Latin America and the Caribbean has become a benchmark in the global fight against hunger. In the last 20 years, 16 million people have ceased to suffer hunger in the region.

 In 1990-1992 hunger affected 14.6 percent of the population, or 65 million people, while in 2010-2012, it affected only 8.3 percent, or 49 million people. Add to this significant legislative advances: currently seven countries in the region already have food security laws, while another ten are developing legislation on the matter.

Hunger in the region is fundamentally a problem of access to food and not of food availability, Graziano said: "Latin America and the Caribbean, with a population of 600 million people, produces enough food to feed 750 million people. However, 49 million of the current population still suffer hunger," he said.

The Hunger Free Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 Initiative has provided strong support to this process by promoting the fight against hunger and the realization of the right to food, with action such as the creation of Parliamentary Fronts Against Hunger, which already exist in 14 countries

Tackling food waste

"A sustainable world requires not only that production be sustainable, but also consumption," said the Director General of the FAO.

Graziano da Silva said that globally, a third of all food produced is wasted, and he stressed that if one could avoid this waste "it would be possible to feed all the hungry people and have food to spare."

In Latin America and the Caribbean, losses and waste of food for retail during the production phase reach 200 kg per capita per year. At the consumer level, 25 kilos per capita per year are wasted. In cereal production, losses reach 30 percent of the grains produced, 40 percent of roots and tubers, 55 percent of fruits and vegetables, 20 percent of meat, almost 30 percent of fish and seafood, and more than 20 percent of dairy products.

The Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint campaign is in support of the SAVE FOOD Initiative to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production and consumption - run by the FAO and trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf - and the UN Secretary General's Zero Hunger Initiatives. The new campaign specifically targets food wasted by consumers, retailers and the hospitality industry.

The campaign harnesses the expertise of organizations such as WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), Feeding the 5,000 and other partners, including national governments, who have considerable experience targeting and changing wasteful practices.

Think.Eat.Save. aims to accelerate action and provide a global vision and information-sharing portal for the many and diverse initiatives currently underway around the world.

Worldwide, about one-third of all food produced, worth around $1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems, according to data released by FAO. Food loss occurs mostly at the production stages - harvesting, processing and distribution - while food waste typically takes place at the retailer and consumer end of the food-supply chain.

"In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense - economically, environmentally and ethically," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

"Aside from the cost implications, all the land, water, fertilizers and labour needed to grow that food is wasted - not to mention the generation of greenhouse gas emissions produced by food decomposing on landfill and the transport of food that is ultimately thrown away," he added. "To bring about the vision of a truly sustainable world, we need a transformation in the way we produce and consume our natural resources."

"Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300 million tonnes annually, occurs because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption," said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General. "This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world."

"If we can help food producers to reduce losses through better harvesting, processing, storage, transport and marketing methods, and combine this with profound and lasting changes in the way people consume food, then we can have a healthier and hunger-free world," Graziano da Silva added.

The global food system has profound implications for the environment, and producing more food than is consumed only exacerbates the pressures, some of which follow:

• More than 20 per cent of all cultivated land, 30 per cent of forests and 10 per cent of grasslands are undergoing degradation;
• Globally 9 per cent of the freshwater resources are withdrawn, 70 per cent of this by irrigated agriculture;
• Agriculture and land use changes like deforestation contribute to more than 30 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions;
• Globally, the agri-food system accounts for nearly 30 per cent of end-user available energy;
• Overfishing and poor management contribute to declining numbers of fish, some 30 per cent of marine fish stocks are now considered overexploited.

Part of the trigger for the campaign was the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, in which Heads of State and governments gave the go-ahead for a 10-Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Patterns. Developing an SCP programme for the food sector must be a vital element of this framework, given the need to sustain the world's food production base, reduce associated environmental impacts, and feed a growing human population.

"There can be no other area that is perhaps so emblematic of the opportunities for a far more resource-efficient and sustainable world - and there is no other issue that can unite North and South and consumers and producers everywhere in common cause," said Mr. Steiner.

According to FAO, roughly 95 per cent of food loss and waste in developing countries are unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain due to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems.

However, in the developed world, the end of the chain is far more significant. At the food manufacturing and retail levels, large quantities of food are wasted due to inefficient practices, quality standards that over-emphasize appearance, confusion over date labels, and consumers being quick to throw away edible food due to over-buying, inappropriate storage and preparing meals that are too large.

Per-capita waste by consumers is between 95 and 115 kg a year in Europe and North America/Oceania, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia each throw away only 6 to 11 kg a year.

According to WRAP, the average UK family could save £680 per year ($1,090) and the UK hospitality sector could save £724 million ($1.2 billion) per year by tackling food waste.

"In the UK, we have shown how tackling food waste through engaging with consumers and establishing collective agreement with retailers and brands, reduces environmental pressures and aids economic growth," said Dr. Liz Goodwin, CEO of WRAP. "With a rising population, even more pressure is going to be put on resources, and we are excited to be a partner in UNEP and FAO's Think. Eat. Save. campaign, which is a great start to tackling food waste on a global scale."

In a similar vein for other parts of the world, the European Union is looking into the issue of food waste, and the European Commission has lent its weight to the new initiative.

"In the EU we have set ourselves a target to halve edible food waste by 2020 and to virtually eliminate landfilling by 2020; the Commission is planning to present ideas next year on the sustainability of the food system which will have a strong focus on food waste," said Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment.

"Less food waste would lead to more-efficient land use, better water resource management, more sustainable use of phosphorus, and it would have positive repercussions on climate change. Our work fits perfectly with the launch of this initiative," he added.

For the campaign to reach its huge potential, everyone has to be involved - families, supermarkets, hotel chains, schools, sports and social clubs, company CEOs, city Mayors, national and world leaders.

The campaign website provides simple tips to consumers and retailers, will allow users to make food waste pledges, and provides a platform for those running campaigns to exchange ideas and create a truly global culture of sustainable consumption of food.

"France shares FAO's and the UN's position that we are not in a food price crisis, but we need to remain vigilant," said Graziano da Silva.

During the meeting, Graziano da Silva recognized the role played by France in placing food security and food price volatility on the international agenda.

President Hollande has said that "the old order has gone but the new one has not yet emerged," including the need to create new governance arrangements to adequately address hunger and new challenges to world food security in the long-run.

"We thank France for its leadership in these issues," said Graziano da Silva. "The establishment by the G20 of the Agricultural Market Information System in 2011 is important to improve market information and reduce volatility," added Graziano da Silva.

AMIS was set up in 2011 to improve transparency and information flows on global markets and, through its Rapid Response Forum, to promote better coordination of policy responses to food price volatility.

France has been chair of AMIS since it was created. At the end of September, the United States assumes the chair for a 12-month period.

"France has done a very good job in chairing AMIS in its first year," said Graziano da Silva.

The Director-General voiced his support for convening a meeting of the G20 agricultural ministers at FAO headquarters in Rome on 16 October, an opportunity presented by the fact that some ministers have already confirmed their presence for the World Food Day Ceremony and the Committee of World Food Security Session that will take place that week.

The proposed meeting would allow a review of the progress made towards
better governance of food markets since the establishment of AMIS.

In their first official meeting, Hollande reaffirmed his commitment to the Organization and praised the work being done by Graziano da Silva.

Food stocks

One option discussed to address the impact of food price volatility was the creation of strategic food security stocks to provide emergency relief in a crisis, targeting the poor countries.

France confirmed its support to a code of conduct for emergency humanitarian food reserve management. Work on this code of conduct is being started and will include all stakeholders, said the Director-General.

They stressed that such stocks should not be designed for any intended market intervention to set a ceiling on prices, but rather, could serve together with other safety net mechanisms as cushions in the event of any threat to national food security.

Sahel

The need to increase short, medium and long-term support to poor developing countries, such as those from the Sahel, was also a topic at the meeting in Paris.

"We will work together with other partners to increase assistance to the countries in the Sahel. Our focus will be to prevent further crises and to reinforce the resilience of vulnerable populations there, with a special emphasis on promoting agricultural investments and supporting the livelihoods of pastoralists," the FAO Director-General explained.

FAO's emergency programme in the Sahel currently benefits 3.8 million people in food and livestock production, domestic animal protection, related technical assistance and desert locust control activities.

Africa's Sahel region has been hard hit by a series of droughts, conflict and plant pests. Currently, 18.7 million people are facing food and nutrition insecurity in this region.

The increased support to the Sahel was discussed in the framework of a new cooperation agreement signed by France and FAO.

France and FAO renew framework agreement

During the Director-General's visit to Paris, France and FAO signed a four-year accord to strengthen cooperation.

The agreement strengthens the already solid cooperation that exists and focuses on emerging food security and agriculture issues: the need for greater sustainability in our food system, the need to increase resilience in vulnerable populations, the need to reinforce our global standard-setting work and bring this to the country level and the need to continue increasing the participation of all stakeholders - governments, international and regional organizations, the scientific community, the private sector, civil society and non-governmental organizations.

The Director-General and the Minister Delegate for Development of France, Pascal Canfin, signed the agreement in a ceremony also attended by the Minister of Agriculture of France, Stéphane Le Foll.

World Organisation for Animal Health

Earlier in the day, Graziano da Silva met with Bernard Vallat, Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which is headquartered in Paris. They agreed to work on a formal accord to address the overlaps in the mandates of the two agencies and facilitate and improve cooperation.

Priority issues mentioned during the meeting included the progressive control of transboundary animal diseases; joint strategies and working groups on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and rift valley fever (RVF); placement of regional animal health centres; joint work on food- and wildlife-borne diseases; aquatic diseases and aquaculture.

Graziano da Silva pointed out that FAO's work in this area should focus on the organization's core mandate to fight hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty.

“There can be no freedom from hunger – there can be no food security - without the active participation of all sectors of society, including the private sector,” said FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva at the conference.

He added that apart from important investments, financial and in-kind contributions, the private sector can make another important valuable contribution, which “is not easy to quantify, but that is crucial: the political support that the private sector can give to food security. We need to build consensus and mobilize all stakeholders towards this goal. With the private sector on board, national and international efforts to fight hunger have added legitimacy."

Integration

The conference explored ways to improve the trade conditions between transition countries and the Southern and Eastern rim of the Mediterranean. 

Furthermore, with a view to develop farming and maximize the efficiency of food chains, different models of vertical integration were discussed. Agricultural cooperatives were singled out as one of the models to support more inclusive food systems.

And as the involvement of the private sector strongly depends on agricultural policies, much attention was given to ways of fostering private-public dialogue, to ensure that key partners can make their voices heard in policy-making processes and, eventually, enrich the policies themselves, bearing in mind the special interest of millions of small farmers.

Food chain

Earlier this year, the EBRD and FAO stepped up their efforts to promote private sector investment in agribusiness in EBRD's Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED), reflecting the two organizations' push for strengthened links with the private sector and civil society to fight hunger and promote sustainable development.

The EBRD and FAO are providing and mobilizing investment in infrastructure and equipment and improving farmers' access to finance thanks to the secured-transactions reform that will allow them to pledge crops and equipment as collateral.

The EBRD and FAO also encourage efficient use of resources, which means "more food per drop" of water and fertilizer.

Since the start of their partnership in 1994, FAO and the EBRD have implemented over 90 technical assistance projects for a total value of about USD 12 million. These projects have helped to address institutional and regulatory bottlenecks, as well as improve transparency and efficiency along the whole food value-chain in EBRD's countries of operation. 

Tackling the root causes of high food prices and hunger

by José Graziano da Silva, Kanayo F. Nwanze and Ertharin Cousin*

Two interconnected problems must be tackled: the immediate issue of some high food  prices, which can impact heavily on food import-dependent countries and on the poorest people; and the long-term issue of how we produce, trade and consume food in an age of increasing population, demand and climate change.

In responding to those challenges, we are better placed today than five years ago. We have developed new policies and new instruments, like the United Nations High-Level Task Force on Global Food Security and AMIS, the G20's Agricultural Markets Information System, which improves transparency in global markets. We also have the AMIS-related Rapid Response Forum, set up to facilitate coordinated policy responses by the major world producers and traders of key cereals and soybeans in the event of market upheavals.

We have learned that not all are affected in the same way - the urban and rural poor and people in food import-dependent countries are most vulnerable to international commodity price increases, when these are transmitted to local markets, because they spend the largest proportions of their incomes on food.

We have also learned that smallholder farmers, many of whom are also poor and food insecure, can be enabled to benefit from higher food prices and become part of the solution by reducing price spikes and improving overall food security.

We have thus adopted a twin-track approach which supports long-term investments in agriculture, notably smallholder agriculture, while ensuring that safety-nets are in place to help poor food consumers and producers avoid hunger, asset losses and poverty traps in the short run.

Many countries have social protection systems including safety nets - such as assistance for smallholder farmers, nutritional support to mothers and children, and school meals - to ensure that their poorest citizens have enough to eat; yet, these need to be expanded significantly in poorer countries. Safety nets that are affordable, predictable and transparent are an absolute must if we are to safeguard against recurring price shocks and crises.  

Small-scale food producers also need to be better equipped to raise their productivity, increase their access to markets and reduce their exposure to risk. And, of course, people need decent jobs and incomes so that they can afford the food they need and escape from poverty.

In responding to high food prices, the things we must avoid doing are just as important as the things we should do. In particular, countries must avoid panic buying and refrain from imposing export restrictions which, while temporarily helping some consumers at home, are generally inefficient and make life difficult for everyone else.

Above all, however, we must understand that high food prices are a symptom, and not the disease. So while the international community must take early action to prevent excessive price increases, it should also move to act on the root causes behind such surges.

There have been three international food price spikes in the last five years. Weather has been among the drivers of each. Droughts in some part of the world have impaired global grain production virtually every other year since 2007. Elsewhere, major floods have also caused severe damage to crops. Increased diversion of food stock for non-food purposes and increased financial speculation are among the various drivers of increased  price levels and volatility.

Until we find the way to shock-proof and climate-proof our food system, the danger will remain. In the short term, this has costs, not only for those directly impacted, but also for the international community at large. For instance, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that every 10 per cent increase in the price of its food basket means it has to find an extra $200 million a year for food assistance.

We are vulnerable because even in a good year, global grain production is barely sufficient to meet growing demands for food, feed and fuel - this, in a world where there are 80 million extra mouths to be fed every year. We are at risk because only a handful of nations are large producers of staple food commodities, and when they are affected, so is everyone else.

The challenge - and the opportunity - is both to reduce and to spread that risk. And the most obvious way is to promote sustainable food production in poor, food-importing countries, where there is often huge potential to improve production. That would make more food available in local markets and provide jobs and income, especially in rural areas where 70 per cent of the world's poor live. We should also address the fact that, globally, one third of food produced is wasted or lost to spoilage, damage and other causes.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme are helping poor people to eat today while building their resilience and capacity to feed themselves tomorrow. But more needs to be done.

We need to invest much more in agriculture and social protection, including programmes that help poor people to access food that has become unaffordable in their local markets.

Lastly, we also need to review and adjust where applicable policies currently in place that encourage alternative uses of grains. For example, adjusting biofuel mandates when global markets come under pressure and food supplies are endangered has been recommended by a group of international organizations including FAO, IFAD, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, WFP, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. That recommendation, made to the 2011 G20 summit in Paris, still stands today.
 
In moving to prevent a possible deterioration of the situation, we need to remain vigilant and prepare for the worst in the short run, while working on sustainable solutions for the long haul. Not to do so would inevitably mean that the world's poorest and most vulnerable pay the highest price. Getting this right will help us respond to the "Zero Hunger" challenge set by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of eradicating hunger from the globe.

*The authors are respectively the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme.

It is crucial to build on these lessons and step up efforts to enable the world's most vulnerable people to withstand future shocks and produce the food they need to live active and healthy lives.

• Industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food — respectively 670 and 630 million tonnes.
• Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).
• Fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food.
• The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world's annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).

Losses and waste

The report distinguishes between food loss and food waste. Food losses — occurring at the production, harvest, post-harvest and processing phases — are most important in developing countries, due to poor infrastructure, low levels of technology and low investment in the food production systems. 

Food waste is more a problem in industrialized countries, most often caused by both retailers and consumers throwing perfectly edible foodstuffs into the trash. Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia each throw away only 6-11 kg a year.

Total per capita food production for human consumption is about 900 kg a year in rich countries, almost twice the 460 kg a year produced in the poorest regions. In developing countries 40 percent of losses occur at post-harvest and processing levels while in industrialized countries more than 40 percent of losses happen at retail and consumer levels.

Food losses during harvest and in storage translate into lost income for small farmers and into higher prices for poor consumers, the report noted. Reducing losses could therefore have an "immediate and significant" impact on their livelihoods and food security.

Squandering resources

Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources, including water, land, energy, labour and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change.

The report offered a number of practical suggestions on how to reduce losses and waste.

In developing countries the problem is chiefly one of inadequate harvest techniques, poor post-harvest management and logistics, lack of suitable infrastructure, processing and packaging, and lack of marketing information which would allow production to better match demand. 

The advice is therefore to strengthen the food supply chain by assisting small farmers to link directly to buyers. The private and public sectors should also invest more in infrastructure, transportation and in processing and packaging.

In middle- and high-income countries food losses and waste stem largely from consumer behaviour but also from lack of communication between different actors in the supply chain.

Over-emphasis on appearance

At retail level, large quantities of food are also wasted due to quality standards that over-emphasize appearance.  Surveys show that consumers are willing to buy  produce not meeting appearance standards as long as it is safe and tastes good. Customers thus have the power to influence quality standards and should do so, the report said.    

Selling farm produce closer to consumers, without having to conform to supermarkets' quality standards, is another suggestion. This could be achieved through farmers' markets and farm shops.

Good use for food that would otherwise be thrown away should be found. Commercial and charity organizations could work with retailers to collect, and then sell or use products that have been disposed of but are still good in terms of safety, taste and nutritional value.. 

Changing consumer attitudes

Consumers in rich countries are generally encouraged to buy more food than they need. "Buy three, pay two" promotions are one example, while the oversized ready-to-eat meals produced by the food industry are another. Restaurants frequently offer fixed-price buffets that spur customers to heap their plates.

Generally speaking, consumers fail to plan their food purchases properly, the report found. That means they often throw food away when "best-before" dates expired. 

Education in schools and political initiatives are possible starting points to changing consumer attitudes, the report suggested. Rich-country consumers should be taught that throwing food away needlessly is unacceptable.

They should also be made aware that given the limited availability of natural resources it is more effective to reduce food losses than increase food production in order to feed a growing world population.

A separate report on food packaging for developing countries also prepared for the Save Food! congress noted that appropriate packaging is a key factor impacting on losses occurring at almost every stage of the food chain.

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 176 points in August, up nearly nine points from July, FAO said in its latest update on the global cereals supply and demand situation.  The increase - five percent - brought the Index up to its highest level since September 2008, but still 38 percent down from its peak in June 2008.

The FFPI surge mainly reflected the sudden sharp rise in international wheat prices following drought in the Russian Federation and the country's subsequent restrictions on wheat sales. But other drivers included higher sugar and oilseed prices.

World cereals production

FAO's update said that the forecast for world cereal production in 2010 has been lowered by 41 million tonnes to 2 238 million tonnes from 2 279 million tonnes reported in June.

However, even at this lower level, world cereal output in 2010 would be the third highest on record and above the five-year average. Among the major cereals, wheat accounted for most of the cut, reflecting mainly smaller crops in the leading producers in the CIS due to adverse weather.

Under the present forecast world cereal utilization would slightly exceed production in 2010/11. This would trigger a two percent contraction in world ending stocks from their 8-year-high opening levels and a small decline in world cereal stocks-to-use ratio. At 23 percent, however, the ratio would still remain well above the 19.5 percent low witnessed in the 2007/08 food crisis period.

Wheat production

A further cut in the forecast for 2010 world wheat production since FAO's last update  on 4 August puts this year's wheat crop at 646 million tonnes, down 5 percent from 2009 but still the third highest ever. The latest revision reflects a further cut in the estimate of this year's harvest in the Russian Federation to 43 million tonnes (from 48 million tonnes in August) more than offsetting higher forecasts for crops in a number of other countries including the United States and China.

The forecast for world wheat ending stocks in 2011 was also lowered, to 181 million tonnes, down 9 percent from their 8-year high opening level. The stock-to-use ratio for wheat in 2010/11 was projected at 27 percent, down 3 percent from the previous season but still 5 percent higher than the 30-year low in 2007/08. 

Coarse grains and rice markets are more balanced  

World production of coarse grains was forecast to reach 1 125 million tonnes, down 6 million tonnes from the previous forecast in June but up marginally from 2009 and the second highest on record. Maize production was heading towards an all-time high of 845 million tonnes, with expectation of record crops in China and in the United States.

But world barley production was forecast to fall by 22 percent to a 30-year low of only 129 million tonnes in 2010, driven mostly by a sharp cut in production in the CIS and in the EU as a result of poor weather.   

The forecast for global rice production in 2010 was also revised downward and now stands at 467 million tonnes, 5 million tonnes lower than the June 2010 forecast but still 3 percent more than in 2009 and a  historical record. Much of the revision was the consequence of Pakistan's floods but it also stemmed from lower expectations in China, Egypt, India, Laos and the Philippines.

The recent disturbances in  world cereal markets will be examined by delegates meeting at a special one-day session of FAO's Intergovernmental Group on Grains and Intergovernmental Group on Rice convened for 24 September at FAO headquarters in Rome.

"I'll pull my women together and we will do this together. We will share what we learn in workshops and field practice."

Vulnerable families will be involved in cash-for-work activities to rehabilitate pasture land and carry out erosion control works.

Adressing the root cause of the problem

Meanwhile, FAO continues to provide additional, longer-term support to farmers under the EU Food Facility (EUFF), the EU's aid response to rising world hunger. In Niger, €3 million is being used to build or rehabilitate agricultural input stores and warehouses, rehabilitate lowlands for vegetable production, improve seed production and spread knowledge through farmer field schools.

EUFF funds are also being used to scale-up an innovative financing scheme to allow smallholder farmers in Niger to make more money. Under this warrantage system, groups of farmers can access credit from a rural microfinance bank providing part of their agricultural production as guarantee.

The credit gives the smallholders the means to buy essential inputs for the next planting and also allows them to hold on to the produce until the lean season - when food stocks start to run low and prices climb.