BANGLADESH FOOD SECURITY INVESTMENT FORUM 2010

2627 May 2010 Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka

Key Recommendations & Messages from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

by Shenggen Fan, Director General, IFPRI

27 May 2010

1. Put agriculture in a broad framework:

a) Leverage macro/trade and non-agriculture investments to support agriculture

b) Promote non-farm employment

2. Invest in agricultural productivity:

a) Research and development

b) Irrigation

c) Adaptation to climate change

d) Non-rice crops

e) Non-crops, such as livestock and fisheries (important to increase income and diversity of diets)

3. Link smallholder farmers to markets:

a) Invest in and improve rural infrastructure

b) Involve private sector

4. Improve targeting of social protection programs to reach the very poorest and most vulnerable and

use innovative delivery mechanisms:

a) Target women and children

b) Target during the “window of opportunity” or when children are under two years of age

c) Provide innovative forms of insurance

d) Use productive safety nets --- give poor people access to productive assets so they can help

themselves out of poverty and hunger

e) Reduce leakage and cost

5. Build a strategic food reserve with optimal stock and use trade effectively:

Lessons from 2007-2008 food price crisis show financial resources may not be sufficient if food is

unavailable (e.g., food exports restricted by countries such as India, Vietnam)

6. Reform institutions & government structures to improve effectiveness of public spending:

a) improve accountability

b) improve incentive systems

7. Use evidence to inform policymaking, strategy formation, and investment planning:

a) Improve capacity building (including to conduct analysis)

b) Use research and data for evidence-based policymaking

c) Improve data and information, gather current and reliable data, and improve statistical

information system, to include data on: market prices, poverty, income, hunger

8. Invest in women and girls and focus on their particular needs:

a) Make changes to agricultural extension system to reach women farmers

b) Invest in human capital, education

c) Improve women and caretakers’ knowledge of nutrition to improve diets and household nutrition