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Food Security Information for Action

Food Security PoliciesFormulation and Implementation

Lesson 1

Establishment of aFood Security Policy Framework

Learners Notes

FAO, 2009

This course is funded by the European Union andimplemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations


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Course - Food Security Policies - Formulation and ImplementationLesson 1 - Establishment of a Food Security Policy Framework

Table of Contents

Learning objectives ....................................................................................................... 2

Introduction ....................................................................................................................3

Conceptual framework for food security policies ..........................................................4

Subjects of food security policies ..................................................................................5

Policies with multiple effects on food security ...............................................................9

Linkages to other policies, strategies & programmes .................................................11

Summary .....................................................................................................................12

If you want to know more............................................................................................ 13

Learners Notes 1


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Course Food Security Policies Formulation and ImplementationLesson 1 Establishment of a Food Security Policy Framework

Learning objectives

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

explain the need for policies aimed at improving food security;

describe the main features of food security policies; and

acknowledge food security as a policy issue cutting across different sectors.

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Introduction

Combating the problem of hunger and malnutrition requires specific policy actions.

Governments of many countries have defined food security objectives to be pursued in theframework of national development policies.

Policies aimed at improving the food situation of a country and its people are directed tocontribute to the achievement of the first Millennium Development Goal (Eradicatedpoverty and hunger) and the realization of the basic human Right to Food.

Example: Preamble to the Food Security Policy document of Timor-LesteThe preamble to the Food Security Policy document of Timor-Leste states:Food insecurity in TimorLeste has been one of the main concerns of the first government

after gaining independence because a high share of the population suffers from the lack offood, in quantitative and qualitative terms. Many people do not reach the minimumstandard of a balanced diet that guarantees them a healthy living and a productive andlong life.The Food Security Policy will be a complementary instrument, not only for achieving theMillennium Development Goals, but also for materializing the Governments policy toeradicate hunger in all its forms, thus contributing to poverty reduction in 2020, as stated inthe National Development Plan (NDP).

There are two typical approaches to designing food security policies:

Integration of food security policy issues into overall and sectoral nationaldevelopment policies and strategies of a country, e.g. Poverty Reduction Strategy andagricultural and social sector policies and strategies.

Preparing a specific Food Security Policy document, incorporating all aspectswhich are relevant for improving food security and taking into account the linkageswhich exist to overall and sectoral development policies and strategies of the country.

This lesson provides guidance for the preparation of food security policies, be it in the form

of preparing a special Food Security Policy document or in the form of an incorporation offood security policy issues into other national development policies and strategies.

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Conceptual framework for food security policies

A state of food security requires that:

sufficient food is available; all people have economic and physical access to the food they need; access and availability are ensured over time (stability), and the food is effectively utilized.

Definition of food securityWe refer to the definition of the World Food Summit 1996:

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access tosufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for

an active and healthy life.

This definition of food security includes the following four aspects or conditions of foodsecurity:- Physical AVAILABILITY of food- Economic and physical ACCESS to food- Food UTILIZATION- STABILITY of the other three dimensions over time.

Food insecurity exists if even one of these conditions is not met.The actual food situation in many developing countries is characterized by deficiencies

with regard to several of these aspects.

Example: Food security situation in EthiopiaThe food security situation in Ethiopia can be outlined as follows:In years of average and good harvests, Ethiopia produces largely enough food to feed itspopulation and only a small amount of food has to be imported.However, there are many poor households, particularly in rural areas, neither producingenough food on their own nor having the means to buy the food they need. Even in yearsof good harvests they suffer from hunger.The country is prone to recurrent droughts and other natural disasters. The shortfalls in

production which occur in the wake of natural disasters affect both food availability andaccess, severely aggravating the food situation of the poorest population groups.Due to lack of knowledge about hygiene and nutrition, unsafe drinking water, diseases andother factors, the food prepared and consumed is often not fully utilized.

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Subjects of food security policies

Food security (FS) policies have to address those conditions for food security that are not(yet) fulfilled.Depending on prevailing food security problems in a country, appropriate policy measuresto remedy the problems should be defined.

Table 1: Policy measures to remedy problems

If the problem is: FS policies have to aim at:

Insufficient Suppliesi.e. if the food available in a country isnot sufficient to adequately feed itspopulation

Increasing food supplies,e.g. by promoting domestic food productionand/or facilitating food imports.

Insufficient Accessi.e. if there are people and householdswho cannot obtain the food they need

Improving access,by enabling food insecure people andhouseholds to obtain the food they need.

Ineffective Utilizationi.e. if the food is prepared and consumedin a way that it cannot be properlyutilized by the body

Improving utilization,e.g. by enabling people to prepare the food ina way which is safe, maintains its nutritiousquality and that the nutrients are fullyabsorbed by the body.

Instability of Food Suppliesi.e. if there are seasonal food shortagesor deficits in the wake of harvest failuresor disasters

Stabilizing food supplies,e.g. by making timely provisions so thatsufficient food is available throughout theyear and if a disaster strikes.

Interactions between the different dimensions of food security need to be considered whenfood security policies are designed.

Example: Interaction between different food security dimensionsFor example, low levels of agricultural production not only limit food supplies but alsoagricultural income, thus constraining access of farm households to sufficient food andmaking them vulnerable to temporary food shortages.On the other hand, policies to promote agricultural production have positive effects not

only on food production and supplies but also on access and stability.

Next we will have a look at what types of food security policies can be designed to improveeach one of the four dimensions of food security.We will consider:

a) Policies to increase food supplies (availability)b) Policies to improve access to food poverty alleviationc) Policies to improve utilizationd) Policies to ensure stability of food supplies

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A) Policies to increase food supplies (availability)

Food availability refers to the supply side of the food economy.Sources of food supplies are:

domestic food production (subsistence plus marketed production); and

food imports.

Food availability can be increased:

Increasing domestic food production; and

Facilitating food imports.

Table 2: Increasing Food Availability

Increasingdomestic

foodproduction

In general, domestic food production is the main source of food supplies.Therefore, in situations with insufficient food supplies, food security policieshave to focus on increasing domestic food production, including all policy

measures which typically form part of agricultural development strategies,such as: agricultural research, extension, improved technologies, inputsupply and subsidies, land tenure reform, natural resource conservation,rural infrastructure and food marketing.

Facilitating

foodimports

If food supplies from domestic production (and available food stocks) areinsufficient to cover the needs, the balance has to be covered by foodimports. Food security policies must facilitate food imports, e.g. by grantingimport licenses, removing tariff and non-tariff restrictions on food imports,overall trade liberalization, promoting market data exchange andinformation.If a country depending on food imports lacks, due to foreign exchange

constraints, the means to finance commercial food imports according to theneeds, food insecurity in terms of supply deficits (expressed e.g. in pricehikes) occur. In order to avoid such deficits, external assistance is required.The government may seek external assistance in the form of foreignexchange support, to increase the food import capacity of the country, ordirectly in the form food aid (food imports on a grant basis or atconcessional terms).

B) Policies to improve access to food poverty alleviation

Insufficient access to food is the core problem of food insecurity.It is closely related to poverty, affecting all households who are living below the povertyline, i.e. who dont have sufficient assets and means to cater for their needs.

Access refers to capacity of households and individuals to obtain the food they need,either by producing it on their own, by buying it on the market, or obtaining it throughtransfers.

Since insufficient access to food is the result of poverty, policy measures to improve

access to food essentially are poverty alleviation policies.

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Policies with multiple effects on food security

Most of the policy measures aimed at improving the food security situation have effects onmore than one aspect of food security. In designing food security policies, such multipleeffects are to be considered and deliberately made use of.

Policy measures serving more than one food security objective are called twin-track- ormultiple-track-approaches.

Examples of twin-track- or multiple-track-approaches

Agricultural development policies enhancing the productivity of small and poorfarmers, leading to:- increased food production and supplies, and simultaneously- contributing to increased incomes and improved access to food of poor and

vulnerable population groups; furthermore, such measures may also bring aboutimproved stability of production and access;

Irrigation policies directly affect production/supplies, income/access and stability; Agricultural marketing policies will have effects on food production and supplies, onaccess via producer and consumer prices and incomes, as well as on stability ofaccess and supplies;

Policy measures to improve rural infrastructure, with positive impacts and access,supply, stability as well as utilization.

The following graph shows a wide spectrum of multiple effects of policy measures indifferent policy spheres which typically form part of food security policies:

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Learners Notes 10

affectingFOOD

AVAILABILITY

affectingSTABILITY

affectingACCESS

affectingUTILIZATION& NUTRITION

Agriculturaldevelopment

Water and sanitation

Food stocks

Rural infrastructure

Resource conservation

Food processing

& preservation,

Food safety

Education

Health & nutrition

Rural finance

Food marketing

Irrigation

Land tenure

POLICIES

regarding

Food imports

Food aid deliveries Relief food assistance

Feedingprogrammes

Safety nets

EmploymentFormalInformalUrbanRural

Public employmentschemes


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Linkages to other policies, strategies & programmes

Since food security is a cross-cutting issue, food security policies encompass a wholerange of policy measures pertaining to different sectors and policy spheres.

In designing food security policies, it is necessary to review other existing policies that arerelevant for food security, in order to:

know to what extent food security concerns are already (adequately) addressed inrelevant macro and sector policies and strategies; and

identify policy gaps still to be filled, either by incorporating food security concerns inexisting macro- and sector policies or by preparing a special food security policy.

Reviewing other existing policies is like putting a food security lens on the existing policy

framework, as shown in the following graph (taken from the example of the Food SecurityPolicy Lesotho):

Learners Notes 11

AgriculturalPolicies

(e.g. Agric. SectorStrategy, Irrigation,

Seed & SubsidyPolicy)

Poverty

Reduction

Strategy

(PRSP)

Emergency

preparedness

& response

(Disaster

Management,

Food Aid)

Social Sector

Policies

(e.g. HIV/AIDS,

Health, Nutrition

Pension

scheme)

Millennium

Development

Goals

SADC

Policies

NEPAD

Policies &

Programmes

Regional

Donor

Programmes &Policies


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Summary

There are two typical approaches to designing food security policies:

preparing a special Food Security Policy document; or incorporating food security policy issues into other national development policiesand strategies.

Food security policies have to address those conditions for food security that are not (yet)fulfilled. They can be designed to:

increase food supplies (availability); improve access to food poverty alleviation; improve utilization; or ensure stability of food supplies.

Policy measures serving more than one food security objective are called twin-track- ormultiple-track-approaches.

In designing food security policies, it is necessary to review other existing policies that arerelevant for food security, in order to identify policy gaps still to be filled.

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If you want to know more...

Online resources

Diskin, Patrick, UNDERSTANDING LINKAGES AMONG FOOD AVAILABILITY, ACCESS,CONSUMPTION, AND NUTRITION IN AFRICA: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND ISSUESFROM THE LITERATURE, MSU International Development Working Paper No. 46,Michigan, July 1994, web: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABS732.pdf

FAO, Policy Briefs, FOOD SECURITY, Issue 2, June 2006;ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/ESA/policybriefs/pb_02.pd f

Klennert, Klaus (ed.), ACHIEVING FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY, Actions to Meetthe Global Challenge, A Training Course Reader, InWent, Feldafing, 2005;

http://www.inwent.org/imperia/md/content/unternehmenskommunikation-intranet/internet/publikationen/food_reader_engl.pdf

Maxwell, Simon and Rachel Slater, FOOD POLICY OLD AND NEW, in: ODI, DevelopmentPolicy Review, Vol. 21, No. 5-6, Sep./Nov. 2003;http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/dpr/Maxwell_Slater.pdf

Rena, Ravinder, AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT AND FOOD SECURITY POLICY INERITREA - AN ANALYSIS, Ajfand online, Vol. 7, No. 5, 2007http://www.ajfand.net/Issue16/PDFs/Rena_2335.pdf

Additional reading

De Klerk, Mike et al., FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTH AFRICA: KEY POLICY ISSUES FORTHE MEDIUM TERM, Human Sciences Research Council, Integrated Rural and RegionalDevelopment, Position Paper, January 2004

Makhura M.T., The development of food security policy for South Africa (SAFSP): aconsultative process, Food Policy, Volume 23, Number 6, December 1998 , pp. 571-585(15)

Leblanc, Michel, CONCEPT OF A FOOD SECURITY POLICY, Rseau Europen deScurit Alimentaire, European Food Security Network, Commission europenne, DG VIII/ A, April 1999

Learners Notes 13
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABS732.pdffftp://ftp.fao.org/es/ESA/policybriefs/pb_02.pdfhttp://www.inwent.org/imperia/md/content/unternehmenskommunikation-intranet/internet/publikationen/food_reader_engl.pdfhttp://www.inwent.org/imperia/md/content/unternehmenskommunikation-intranet/internet/publikationen/food_reader_engl.pdfhttp://www.odi.org.uk/publications/dpr/Maxwell_Slater.pdfhttp://www.ajfand.net/Issue16/PDFs/Rena_2335.pdfhttp://www.ajfand.net/Issue16/PDFs/Rena_2335.pdfhttp://www.ajfand.net/Issue16/PDFs/Rena_2335.pdfhttp://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABS732.pdffftp://ftp.fao.org/es/ESA/policybriefs/pb_02.pdfhttp://www.inwent.org/imperia/md/content/unternehmenskommunikation-intranet/internet/publikationen/food_reader_engl.pdfhttp://www.inwent.org/imperia/md/content/unternehmenskommunikation-intranet/internet/publikationen/food_reader_engl.pdfhttp://www.odi.org.uk/publications/dpr/Maxwell_Slater.pdfhttp://www.ajfand.net/Issue16/PDFs/Rena_2335.pdf

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