The 2008 food crisis reinforced the need to think beyond food aid in addressing food insecurity. Food aid was once again the dominant response to food crisis, with less attention given to addressing problems of access to food and nutrition. The Sphere Food Security Standards emphasise the importance of good analysis to inform response, and stress that a range of options needs to be considered to address food insecurity, including income support (cash transfers, vouchers, public works) and agricultural and market support. The crisis provided an incentive to look again at the appropriateness of food aid in tackling food insecurity, in particular longer-term programmes such as food-based safety nets.
Second, combining responses that meet immediate needs with measures to address the structural issues that cause food insecurity was essential. The food crisis has led to a renewed emphasis on smallholder agriculture and social protection, as well as a reflection on building resilience at the household level. It also highlighted that agricultural support involves not just providing inputs, but also supporting appropriate policies and strengthening institutions, for example to improve access to credit, markets and land titles. This is equally applicable to any food crisis, including protracted crises that represent the most severe food emergencies. Indeed, approaches have improved in the past decade, with many donors now supporting combinations of simultaneous assistance to meet immediate livelihood and food security needs with steps to promote resilience (or address structural causes).
A good example of this was the € 1 billion EU Food Facility created in 2009. This was a two-year programme to help developing countries move towards long-term food security. Over €232 million was channelled through FAO, allowing the organisation to field operations in twenty-eight countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, touching the lives of more than 9 million people in rural areas. The Food Facility responded to FAO’s urgent calls for increased investment in agriculture after three decades of decline, and targeted the transition period from emergency aid to longer-term development. FAO helped to boost agricultural production by working with local communities and farmer organizations on quality agricultural inputs, seed and livestock production, extension, access to markets, storage, irrigation and conservation agriculture. A small portion of funds were diverted to contribute to FAO’s relief efforts following emergencies in countries where FAO was already operating Food Facility projects, such as Haiti and Pakistan (for the 2010 floods response).
EU Food Facility - fao.org/europeanunion/eu-projects/eu-food-facility-details/en/
https://odihpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/humanitarianexchange042.pdf
https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/alnaplessonsfoodpricecrisis.pdf
http://www.fao.org/3/i0854e/i0854e01.pdf
