1. Food Security and the Environment – African Perspective S. W. Omamo Food Security and Environment Meeting Stanford University CESP October 27, 2005

2. Food and Nutrition Security Utilization Access Availability How, given recent trends and current facts?

3. Availability How to achieve badly needed yield take-offs given: –Ubiquity and resilience of low-input, low-output, diversified, subsistence-oriented smallholder farming? –Extreme biophysical and institutional heterogeneity? –Low private rates of return to agricultural investment? –Crises in national governance => public goods deficits? Rural infrastructure, including irrigation? –Growing stresses on natural resources under population pressure and climate change? Soil degradation, rainfall scarcity and variability, …? –Globalization and market liberalization under inadequate institutions?

4. Availability (cont.) How to achieve badly needed yield take-offs given: –Cross-border and internal conflicts? Large-scale migration/displacement? –Gender-based inequities in access to productive resources? Land, water, energy, …? –Misalignment among policies, institutions, and microconditions in agricultural science and technology systems? Research, extension, education, technology acquisition and exchange? –Limited role of science/evidence in policy processes? –…

5. Access How to overcome the “food price dilemma” given: –Widespread poverty and economic vulnerability? –Crises in national governance => public goods deficits? Fiscal mismanagement => inability to provide social safety nets? –Globalization and market liberalization under inadequate institutions? –Cross-border and internal conflicts? Large-scale migration/displacement? –Gender-based inequities in access to productive resources? Land, water, energy, …? –Limited role of science/evidence in policy processes? –…

6. Utilization How to overcome malnutrition given: –Crises in national governance => public goods deficits? Unhygienic environments and poor access to health services? –Malaria, HIV/AIDS, sleeping sickness, … Poor access to clean water? Low levels of education (of parents, especially mothers)? –Burgeoning populations of impoverished people, especially in urbanizing areas? –Cross-border and internal conflicts? Large-scale migration/displacement? –Gender-based inequities in access to productive resources? Information/education? –Limited role of science/evidence in policy processes? –…

7. What to do? Where are the gaps?

8. Crosscutting (“Triangular”) Issues Population-environment-economy interactions –Urbanization –Cross-border and internal conflicts –Climate change –... National governance, security, and public goods provision –Globalization Gender-based inequities –Land, water, energy, … –Information/education Science/evidence in policy processes Water…?

9. How? Paint big pictures… with details…

10. “Big Picture” - 1 Sub-national National Sub-regional Regional Global Community Household

11. Policy environment Institutional arrangements Micro behavior “Big Picture” - 2 “Best practices”

12. Policy ResearchPractice Best Practice…

13. Food and agriculture Public “Big Picture” - 3 Horizontality Health Private Civil society Education

14. “Big Picture” - 4 Utilization Access Availability Tradeoffs? Sequencing?

15. Trends on which to build? Regional political and economic initiatives –NEPAD CAADP FARA (ASARECA, CORAF, SADC-FANR) –IGAD –EAC University initiatives in food, agricultural, and environmental policy analysis –Eastern and Southern Africa Collaborative MSc in Ag Econ –Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa – University of Pretoria –African Center for Food Security – University of Kwazulu Natal Donor initiatives –MDGs… science and technology making a comeback… –Increasing demand for strategic perspective – getting ahead of the game… Food and nutrition security increasingly accepted as integral to overall economic development …