SOCIAL PROTECTION & FOOD SECURITY UNICEF Social Protection Training Course IDS, Brighton ~ 15 July 2009 Stephen Devereux Centre for Social Protection Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK

Structure of Session 1.What is food security? 2.Food security and “entitlements”: (1) production–based food insecurity (2) labour–based food insecurity (3) trade–based food insecurity (4) transfer–based food insecurity 3.Discussion Groups: “High food prices”

What is Food Security? “Secure access by all people at all times to enough food for a healthy, active life”

Food Security and “Entitlements” Production–based entitlements Labour–based entitlements Trade–based entitlements Transfer–based entitlements  Source of food: What is grown  Source of vulnerability: Harvest failure  Source of food: What is worked for  Source of vulnerability: Unemployment  Source of food: What is bought  Source of vulnerability: High food prices  Source of food: What is given  Source of vulnerability: Lack of support

Production–based food insecurity Production–based food insecurity Production–based entitlements Labour–based entitlements Trade–based entitlements Transfer–based entitlements Vulnerability factors Vulnerability factors (1) Dependence on rain–fed agriculture; (2) Low and stagnating yields of food crops; (3) Droughts, floods & climate change; (4) Chronic food deficits & seasonal hunger. Social protection responses Social protection responses (1) Fertiliser subsidies (making a comeback); (2) Free inputs (“Starter Packs” in Malawi); (3) “Livelihoods packages” (Ethiopia, BRAC).

Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Chronic food insecurity: Low agricultural productivity Production–based entitlements

Transitory food insecurity: Weather shocks & climate change Production–based entitlements Maize production in Malawi, 1980s–2000s

Production–based entitlements Labour–based entitlements Trade–based entitlements Transfer–based entitlements Labour–based food insecurity Labour–based food insecurity Vulnerability factors Vulnerability factors (1) Limited off–farm employment; (2) Labour–constrained households; (3) Shocks reduce demand by farmers for goods & services (“derived destitution”). Social protection responses Social protection responses (1) Employment–based safety nets (inflexible, supply–driven, discretionary); (2) Employment Guarantee Schemes (flexible, demand–driven, guaranteed, achieves the “right to food”).

Production–based entitlements Labour–based entitlements Trade–based entitlements Transfer–based entitlements Trade–based food insecurity Trade–based food insecurity Vulnerability factors (1) Weak food markets (no supply, hoarding); (2) “Price scissors” (terms of trade collapse); (3) “High food prices” (demand for biofuels, rising fuel prices, rising fertiliser prices). Social protection responses (1) Open–market operations (buy cheap after harvest, sell later to dampen price rises); (2) Price subsidies (protect farmers against low prices, and consumers against high prices).

Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation * April 2008 Global food price inflation, 2007/08 Trade–based entitlements

Source: United Nations World Food Programme Food riots around the world… Trade–based entitlements

Source: United Nations World Food Programme Vulnerability to high food prices is concentrated in Africa and Asia Trade–based entitlements

Vulnerability factors (1) “Modernisation” (changing social norms); (2) Commercialisation (“moral economy” to “market economy”); (3) AIDS (undermines community coping). Social protection responses (1) Food aid; (2) Cash transfers; (3) Reviving indigenous coping mechanisms (“chief’s fields”, village grain banks). Production–based entitlements Labour–based entitlements Trade–based entitlements Transfer–based entitlements Transfer–based food insecurity Transfer–based food insecurity

National government Affected population Building accountability (1): National Government Transfer–based entitlements

World Food Programme National government Affected population Second level First level Main pathway to accountability Building accountability (2): Government + Donors Transfer–based entitlements

World Food Programme National government Affected population Food security ombudsperson Second level First level Alternative pathway to accountability Main pathway to accountability Building accountability (3): “Food Security Ombudsperson” Transfer–based entitlements

World Food Programme UN Secretariat: “Right to Food” National government UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Affected population Food security ombudsperson Second level First level Alternative pathway to accountability Main pathway to accountability Building accountability (4): Ombudsperson + “Right to food” Transfer–based entitlements

Discussion Groups 1. What are the implications for food aid programming of the “high food prices” crisis? 2. What are the implications for cash transfers of the “high food prices” crisis? 3. What other social protection responses could effectively address the “high food prices” crisis?