Southern Africa Food Security Outlook

FEWSNET

2012/03/22

This publication by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNet) tracks the current food security situation of nine countries in southern Africa. Currently, most parts of the region remain generally food secure, despite the current peak of the lean season. The report discusses the ways in which a green harvest and targeted food distribution programmes are helping to ameliorate acute food insecurity in areas facing food shortages due to poor harvests. It notes that the region offers successful examples of programmes implemented to relieve food shortages and prevent food insecurity.

Keywords: food security, southern, africa, green harvest, food distribution, food shortages, programmes

Recent Findings on Trade and Inequality

Ann Harrison, John McLaren and Margaret S. McMillan

International Food Policy Research Institute 2011/02/12

The 1990's dealt a blow to traditional Heckscher-Ohlin analysis of the relationship between trade and income inequality, as it became clear that rising inequality in low - income countries and other features of the data were inconsistent with that model. As a result, economists moved away from trade as a plausible explanation for rising income inequality. In recent years, however, a number of new mechanisms have been explored through which trade can affect (and usually increase) income inequality. These include within-industry effects due to heterogeneous firms; effects of offshoring of tasks; effects on incomplete contracting; and effects of labor-market frictions. A number of these mechanisms have received substantial empirical support.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: food for work, trade, inequality income, economic

Foot-and-mouth disease caused by serotype SAT2 in Egypt and Libya

FAO

2012/03/27

This Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention Systems (FAO EMPRES) publication examines the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) serotype SAT2 in Libya and Egypt between February and March of this year. These outbreaks are of particular concern due to the large ruminant populations at risk, the inconsistency of vaccination programmes in the region, and the possibility of a spread to Europe and Asia.

Keywords: foot and mouth, livestock, outbreak, risk, disease

Integrating Food Security Information in National Statistical Systems: Experiences, Achievements, Challenges

Seevalingum Ramasawmy

FAO 2012/03/20

This publication is edited by Seevalingum Ramasawmy, a statistician at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and aims to provide a better understanding of how food security indicators can be used for policy-making and planning. It presents eight case studies of countries gaining insight into food insecurity through National Household Surveys. It also looks at ways in which statistics can be used to improve the reliability of food security information at both national and sub-national levels.

Keywords: statistics, food security, policy, planning, case studies

Foresight Report

UNEP

2012/03/20

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report examines the most pressing global environmental issues. It underlines the need for a green economy, greater cooperation for global sustainability and the urgency of ensuring food security for the growing population. The report also stresses the vulnerability of food security to the unintended consequences of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Keywords: climate change, agriculture, environment, green economy, sustainability, food security

Does Social Capital Build Women’s Assets?

Neha Kumar and Agnes R. Quisumbing

IFPRI 2010/07

This paper investigates the long–term impact of agricultural technologies, disseminated using different implementation modalities, on men’s and women’s asset accumulation in rural Bangladesh. Data were collected in 1996–97 to examine the effects of the adoption of new vegetable varieties and polyculture fishpond management technologies on household resource allocation, incomes, and nutrition, and a followup survey was conducted ten years later.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: gender, and, food, security, Bangladesh, Asia, women, impact, agriculture, technology, rural, development

Releasing the Pressure: Water Resource Efficiencies and Gains for Ecosystem Services

SEI

2012/03/23

This report by researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) urges policymakers to take into account water regulation and purification, pollination, erosion control and other ecosystems services performed by wetlands and forests. These water-dependent services, and the communities that rely on them, can be adversely affected when water is siphoned off from rivers or streams, or drained from marshes, for agricultural use. Balancing these goals can serve to improve human well-being, increase crop yields in a sustainable way and support the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and equitable green economy.

Keywords: water, energy, environment, sustainability, rivers, ecosystems, green economy, carbon, drainage

EU's Common Agricultural Policy coherent with development goals

ODI 2011/09/19

This briefing paper by the Overseas Development Institute calls for a fresh look at the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in relation to international development goals and within the new global context. It concludes that more research is needed to reconcile reforms to the CAP with the EU’s development policy towards third countries.

Beyond the Arab Awakening

IFPRI

2012/03/20

This report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) discusses key policy priorities for poverty reduction and food security in the Arab world following the Arab Awakening. It introduces a new welfare matrix reflecting food security risks, which classifies Arab countries into five groups and suggests three policy recommendations, including fostering growth to enhance food security at national and household levels.

Keywords: food security, arab awakening, spring, welfare, policy