Securing Food Security in the

AMERICAS

Inter-american Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Rafael A. TrejosCAESPA

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Contents

I.The concept

II.Measuring Food Se-curity in LAC

III.Some conclusions

IV.Strategy for Secu-ring Food Security in LAC

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I. Food Security: the con-cept

Availabili-ty

Access

Use

Stability

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II. Measuring food security: LAC coun-tries show improvement to reduce hunger

Source: IICA with data from IFPRI

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Source: IICA (CAESPA), with data

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Figure 1. Global Hunger Index (GHI)

1990 2010

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Undernutrition remains critical in several countries

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Food production is growing in LAC: the supply of food in the LAC countries is sufficient

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But with major differences from region to region

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Regional production could grow faster and make a bigger contribution to food security

▶The biggest net food-exporting countries are able to use a large percentage of their arable land to grow primary products.

▶But, the food importing countries have the smallest

amount of arable land available for food production

▶The importance of additional arable land being available for food production and improve of produc-tivity

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Specializing in the production of export crops

can be a good thing, but is always riskyShare of cereals/oilseeds and tropical crops

in agricultural land (2010)

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The importance of produc-tivity

▶The countries that produce most food per capita are not necessarily the ones that have the most arable per capita.

▷The United States uses only 68% of the amount of arable land that Paraguay does for agricultural produc-tion, but its produces more

▷Costa Rica, which uses the same amount of land per capita to

▷produce twice the amount of primary crops per capita as countries such as Saint Vincent, Peru, Panama, El Sal-vador, and Guatemala

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High international prices limit ac-cess to food by net food importing coun-tries

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High international prices limit access to food by net food importing coun-

tries

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The Caribbean countries are more vul-nerable in terms of access to interna-tional food supplies

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“Individual access” the large debt of many LAC countries is the fundamental problem

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Poverty and indigence are the variables with the greatest impact on access to food

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The fall in GDP further reduced access to food

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Food price inflation has accelerated in recent years, with the greatest impact being felt by the poorest groups

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III. Some conclusions: The problem of the use of food in-creases its importance

▶Water is a main constrain

▶It is essential to promote the biological

utilization of food through adequate diet and

access to clean water, sanitation, health care and safe food

▶New problems such as rising levels of obe-sity

and unhealthy diets, "junk food"

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The problem of food security in the Americas is not associated with food availability

▶The region produces sufficient food to supply its

population and even to export

▶the Americas region has an important role to play in

securing the global food supply

▶ Food availability is threatened by climate variabil-ity and climate change

▶ Climate variability and climate change also affect Incomes and living conditions of vulnerable segments

of the population, especially in rural areas

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Food security problems are mainly as-sociated with individual access to food

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It is necessary to reaffirm the impor-tance of small and medium-scale agri-

culture▶In LAC, family-based agriculture provides :

▷ between 27% and 67% of all foodstuffs,

▷occupies between 12% and 67% of the agricul-tural land

▷generates between 57% and 77% of agric. em-ployment

▶They have a huge productive potential if they im-prove their productivity and ensures access to ma-rkets

▶These producers are highly vulnerable to the crises and instability in world markets

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Access to land and sustainable use of natural resources: important emerging issues

▶The high levels of land concentration

▶Improving access to agricultural in-puts

and

▶Maximizing the sustainable use of natural resources

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IV. Strategy for securing food security

1. Significantly and urgently increase investment in Agriculture to develop and strengthen scientific, Research, innovation and extension capabili-ties.

2. Develop and strengthen national and local agricul-tural markets to make them more efficient and transparent.

3. Create a political environment that makes it possi-ble to adopt policies, establish institutional ar-rangements and implement actions that promote the sustainable integration of small-scale farmers into markets.

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Strategy for securing food se-curity

4. Promote free international trade in food

5. Implement programs that provide access to food for population groups that are vulnerable

6. Implement strategies and programs designed to minimize the risks that climate change, climate variability and agricultural price volatility pose

7. Promote comprehensive education programs in food and nutritional security

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THANKS YOU

“By putting in place a comprehensive agenda of

pro-agriculture policies, Latin America can attract the investments and innovations to be-come the 21st. Century global breadbasket”

Margaret M. Zeigler. Executive Director, Global Harvest Initiative

More informa-tion: Web http://www.iica.int

e-mail rafael.trejos@iica.int