G8 Background Policy Brief

March 2012

Food Security, Agriculture and Nutrition

Please address comments and questions to: John Ruthrauff Director of International Advocacy InterAction jruthrauff@interaction.org 1.202.552.6523 Sue Pleming Senior Director, Communications InterAction spleming@interaction.org 1.202.341.6523

The U.S. G8/G20 Task Force urges G8 leaders to implement the following recommendations at the May summit in Camp David. As the largest association of U.S.-based, non-profit organizations, InterAction, its members, and allies seek to address the impact of global poverty. The current financial crisis has had a serious impact on commitments made by G8 members to developing nations. Through strong actions and a commitment to greater transparency, the G8 should leverage good governance efforts by its partners and remove impediments to economic growth. Recognizing that the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals is approaching rapidly, G8 leaders should commit to a Camp David Food Security, Agriculture, and Nutrition Security Initiative that would build upon, revitalize and improve the commitments made at LAquila in 2009. They should reaffirm their commitment to the Rome Principles, improve the LAquila Initiatives transparency and accountability, and reinvigorate LAquila through a resultsoriented focus on achieving ambitious impact targets through country agricultural investment plans and complementary investments in nutrition. To accomplish this, leaders should begin by meeting their outstanding LAquila financial pledges by the end of 2012. Moving forward, leaders should make a new financial pledge for the three-year period 2013-2015, prioritizing malnutrition, women small-scale farmers, and sustainable agricultural practices..

Comments and questions on specific recommendations should be addressed to the following individual(s): Dan Desai Martin Associate Director, Public Policy & Advocacy Save the Children ddesaimartin@savechildren. org 1.202.640.6784

Summary of Recommendations
As a part of this commitment, the G8 nations should: 1. Pledge not less than $30 billion for food security, agriculture and nutrition over the three-year period 2013-2015 to meet the needs outlined in country agricultural investment plans and to ensure a robust impact on reducing chronic malnutrition. 2. Prioritize support for investments in agriculture and food security that benefit women small-scale farmers; employ climate resilient techniques; use sustainable approaches; integrate linkages to nutrition outcomes; and address the special needs and vulnerabilities of pastoralists. In addition, the G8 should prioritize interventions that address chronic malnutrition during the critical window from pregnancy to age two.

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3.

Agree to abide by the Rome Principles and align financing with recognized country investment plans as the default option where such plans are available and encourage all other donors (bilateral, multilateral, private institutions and organizations) to do the same. In countries without country investment plans, donors should support partner country efforts to develop new plans that address both food security and nutrition through multi-stakeholder processes with full civil society participation. Ensure robust financing for multilateral mechanisms so as to improve sustainable agricultural productivity, rural economic development and/or malnutrition such as 1 2 3 4 GAFSP , SUN , IFAD , CGIAR , and the 5 CAADP Multi Donor Trust Fund.

As Secretary Clinton said in August, 2011, The last time a drought of this magnitude struck Ethiopia, in 2002 and 2003, more than 13 million people faced starvation. Today, fewer than 5 million do.6 Global investments in infrastructure, agriculture, nutrition, safety nets, and early warning systems are paying dividends in the form of lives saved. The food price crisis brought with it a global focus on the need to increase agricultural production. However, lessons from the Green Revolution and more recent research have led to an increasing recognition that simply producing more food is not enough to bring about a healthy and hungerfree world. Investment in agriculture needs to be: combined with targeted investments in nutrition; focused on women, who make up the majority of the world's producers; and resilient to climate change, which is expected to hit the poorest countries the hardest. Nutrition is being addressed at both the highest multilateral level and the grassroots level through the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Framework. The SUN Framework has been developed by specialists from governments, academia, research institutions, civil society, private companies, development agencies, UN organizations and the World Bank. It has been endorsed by more than 100 organizations and was unveiled in Washington in April 2010 at a meeting co-hosted by Canada, Japan, USAID and the World Bank. The SUN Framework is designed to help national governments, civil society, donors, and the UN system to coordinate their efforts. The U.S. Government helped launch the 1,000 Days Partnership to bring specific attention to the nutritional needs in the critical 1,000 days window from pregnancy until a childs second birthday. In the world today, one child in four is stunted due to malnutrition7, and in developing countries this figure is as high as one in three8. Poverty, malnutrition and disease work in a deadly cycle. Poor children are more likely to be malnourished, malnourished children are more likely to suffer from disease, and the more they suffer from disease the more likely they are to be malnourished, which leads to lower productivity and poverty later in life. Inadequate food intake leads to weight loss, and a weakened immune 2

4.

Background
In 2008, food prices spiked around the world as the global economy plummeted, thrusting more than 100 million vulnerable people into hunger and poverty on top of already existing and staggeringly high numbers of malnourished children and vulnerable populations, and creating civil unrest as people rioted to protest the lack of access to food. As leaders in the nonprofit field, we understand that the economic environment continues to be a hurdle to longterm development funding. However, now is not the time to scale back on agricultural, nutrition and food security commitments. The recent crisis in the Horn of Africa has provided evidence both that need remains high, and that programs to blunt the worst effects of a crisis are succeeding. In the Horn of Africa, millions of people are still suffering from the ongoing food crisis. Yet in parts of Ethiopia and Kenya, years of intensive efforts to prepare for a disaster have paid dividends. While far too many people were still affected by the most recent drought, millions more were spared from the worst effects by cooperative efforts by national governments and international donors to build productive social safety nets and long-term food security.

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system, which means that childhood diseases will be more severe and will last longer. This in turn leads to a loss of appetite, thus making the situation worse. However, recent research indicates that both agriculture and nutrition can lead to a wealthier and healthier developing world. The World Bank has shown that investment in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective at reducing poverty than investment in other economic sectors9. The Lancet Medical Journal identified a package of 13 interventions that were proven to have an impact on the nutrition of children and mothers in all contexts, such as vitamin A and Zinc supplements, iodized salt and the promotion of healthy behaviors such as handwashing and breastfeeding. This cost-effective and affordable package could prevent almost two million under-five deaths, a quarter of the global total, and a substantial amount of illness in the short-term if it was able to reach the majority of children in the 36 countries that are home to 90% of malnourished children. Investments in agriculture and nutrition should go hand in hand to bring about an end to global hunger and malnutrition. To this end, nutrition indicators should be included to measure outcomes of investment in agriculture. As of 2012, the national governments of over 30 lowincome countries have developed country investment plans for the agriculture sector. Governments have had plans vetted by their peers through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) process and through the grant application process of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). Aligning donor investments with these plans represents the best path forward for ensuring strategic coordination, country ownership and a sustainable impact on poverty. In tandem with agricultural investments, supporting nutrition action plans and proven nutrition interventions in these countries, especially those that are disproportionately burdened with child malnutrition, will provide the one-two punch needed for them to begin the Millennium on a path toward being sustainably healthy and hunger-free. For every five people suffering from hunger, three rely on farming for their livelihoods. To sustainably improve food 3

security, supporting small-scale farmers, women in particular, is crucial. Gender-based inequalities at every point in the value-chain have traditionally impeded the realization of food and 10 nutritional security . According to UNICEF women do 66 percent of the world's work, produce 50 percent of the world's food but earn only 10 percent of the world's income 11 and own only one percent of the world's land . In most developing countries women play a key role in the cultivation of food and cash crops as well as the nutritional care of their children and are therefore critical to food and nutritional security. Investment in women can lead to tremendous dividends. Increases in womens education accounted for 43 percent of the total 15 percent reduction in child malnutrition in the developing world between 1970 12 and 1995 and providing women with equal access to agricultural resources, including land, has been shown to 13 increase yields in sub-Saharan Africa by over 20 percent . In order to be sustainable, investments in agriculture must incorporate not only the needs of small-scale women farmers but they must also be resilient to climate change. Climate change, which is already affecting agricultural production, will be one of the greatest threats to food and nutritional security in the next generation. Climate change threatens to reduce agricultural productivity by half in parts 14 of sub-Saharan Africa and cause yield declines and price increases for rice, wheat, maize and soybeans, leading to an increase in child malnutrition by 20 percent by 2050 15 relative to a world with no climate change . Therefore, it is critical to invest in sustainable agricultural practices that result in climate resilient crops, in order to ensure that investments can meet the long-term challenges that climate change poses. By scaling up efforts in these areas, the G8 can help lead the way to a more prosperous and stable world.

Previous Commitments
The G8 has made several previous commitments to support global food security, agriculture and nutrition. The most notable commitments were made at the 2009 LAquila summit, which included more than $20 billion in new funding. But more than financial commitments, there have been several notable policy commitments, including:

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The 2008 G8 summit commitment from Hokkaido, Japan, to support the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programs (CAADP) goal of 6.2% annual growth in agricultural productivity, and work toward the goal of doubling production of key food staples in African countries meeting CAADP criteria in five to ten years in a sustainable manner, with particular emphases on fostering smallholder agriculture and inclusive rural growth; The 2008 commitment from the Hokkaido G8 summit to assist in the development of food security early warning systems; The 2009 commitment from LAquila G8 summit to partner with vulnerable countries and regions to help them develop and implement their own food security strategies, and together substantially increase sustained commitments of financial and technical assistance to invest in those strategies; and The 2010 commitment from Muskoka to track progress on delivering commitments through our accountability reporting.

Among those commitments, we call special attention to the need to partner with vulnerable countries and regions to finance existing low-income country agricultural investment plans and develop and implement food security strategies in those without. These strategies should be formed with robust consultation among local organizations and civil society groups. The voices of women small-scale farmers and food producers are especially important, as women play such a key role in both the production of food and preparation of nutritious food for families and children. As the commitment continues, the G8 should continue a robust accountability framework requiring nations to honor these commitments, including to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. This should include annual reporting on country allocations; types of interventions, including assistance for small-scale and women producers and nutrition interventions; results indicators, including poverty reduction, child stunting of growth; and donor disbursements against pledges. We applaud the United States government for its progress toward these accountability and transparency measures, and urge all governments to establish a budget line and national financial targets for nutrition. The LAquila commitments should be supported by strengthening the U.N.-based Committee on World Food Security. 2. Prioritize support for investments in agriculture and food security that benefit women small-scale farmers; employ climate resilient techniques; use sustainable approaches; integrate linkages to nutrition outcomes; and address chronic malnutrition from pregnancy to age two.

Detailed Recommendations
1.

Pledge not less than $30 billion for food security, agriculture and nutrition over the three-year period 2013-2015.

We applaud the G8 leaders for the bold action taken at previous summits to address global food security issues. While great progress has been made since the 2009 LAquila summit, much more work remains to be done. In 2012, the $22 billion financial commitment made at LAquila is scheduled to come to an end. Yet as noted above, global need remains high, and progress is being made. Therefore, we call on the G8 to continue the upward trajectory of funding for agriculture, food security and nutrition by pledging $30 billion from 2013-2015. In addition to the funding commitment, we call on the G8 to continue the policy commitments made at the LAquila summit, as well as previous and subsequent summits. 4

As the global population continues to grow, there is a definite need for increased agricultural production. More nutritious food is needed in more places by an increasing number of people. The G8 has played a strong leadership role in galvanizing support for increased investment in agriculture, and we applaud the progress that has been made thus far. Moving forward, we encourage G8 leaders to prioritize investments in food security and agriculture spending that will have a high impact on both food production and sustainable development. While we applaud the G8

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donor nations increased attention to small-scale women farmers we strongly encourage G8 nations to increase funding and focus on this group. Interventions targeted at ensuring that small-scale women farmers have legal rights, access to necessary resources and agricultural markets, and control over agricultural and household assets can sustainably improve both food and nutritional security. Entrenched gender inequalities will not be erased after a few years of investment, making it critical to maintain a commitment to investing in small-scale women farmers. Additionally, all agricultural investments should be focused on climate resilient agriculture and sustainable practices with a particular focus on soil conservation, sustainable water management, biodiversity, and reduced dependence on external inputs. Climate change continues to evolve as a field, and the best knowledge to date shows that the very poor will be disproportionately affected by climate change. The G8 should lead the way in ensuring that innovations and technology in climate resilient agriculture and sustainable practices are widely adopted. This will ensure that both the needs of increased production are met both for this generation, and for generations to come. We applaud the continued global focus on reduced child and maternal malnutrition as a primary outcome of the Food Security Initiative. However, much more needs to be done. In order to galvanize public support and interest in nutrition, we recommend that the G8 make a bold commitment to reduce malnutrition in the next 5 years. While this commitment could take many forms, we recommend focusing efforts and energies on the 1,000 days from pregnancy to a childs second birthday. Interventions in this range not only can have a dramatic impact on a childs life, they can also have a profound impact on a countrys long-term economic development and stability. Sustained and chronic malnutrition is an enormous drain on a countrys financial and human resources and can cost a country more than 3% of its GDP, translating into deficits of several billion dollars per year. The World Health Organization recently proposed a goal of 16 reducing stunting by 40% in the next 10 years . The U.S. Government has a goal of reducing child undernutrition in 5

target countries by 30% in 5 years. The SUN Framework will come out with a recommendation of actions in 2012. The G8 should take a leadership role in the nutrition realm through a bold commitment to reduce malnutrition that is in line with other global efforts. We recommend that the G8 commit to reducing stunting by at least 20% in the next 5 years. This commitment 17 would give 34 million children a healthy start to life. The Muskoka Accountability Report indicates that G8 pledges for nutrition are less than 3 percent ($426 million) of the bilateral total. Over 50 percent ($9 billion) is pledged for agricultural, agro-industries, forestry and fishing. To ensure that pledges translate into tangible results for the nearly 1 billion hungry people worldwide, G8 leaders should re-evaluate priorities in order to improve nutrition and reach small-scale producers. We strongly encourage G8 nations to participate in and support the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement to raise the priority of direct nutrition interventions and nutrition-sensitive development in nations affected by high rates of child malnutrition, and endorse the SUN Roadmap. 3. Abide by the Rome Principles and align financing with recognized country investment plans as the default option where such plans are available.

The Rome Principles in the Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security are a blueprint against which all investments in global food security should be measured. While most donors are on track to meet the LAquila financial commitments, they have fallen far behind on their promise to channel this support in a more demand-driven and effective manner. Major, long-term improvements to food security tend to be driven by leadership in country, and where people and their government together have crafted a food security plan, its inefficient and wasteful for donors to continue to set up parallel systems that dont align with that plan. Last fall, major donors gathered at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan and committed to channel their aid through country systems as the default, lending further support to the Rome Principles. Its time for donors to live up to both commitments. Specifically, donors should:

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Invest in country-owned agriculture and nutrition investment plans to ensure that assistance is strategically coordinated, building toward developing better country systems, is need-based and promotes mutual accountability, responsibility and transparency. In countries without country investment plans, support partner country efforts to develop new plans that address both food security and nutrition through multi-stakeholder processes with full civil society participation. Strategically coordinate at the national, regional and global level to ensure that investments are not duplicated, that resource gaps are met and that resources are allocated efficiently. Invest in a comprehensive approach that ensures the immediate needs of the most vulnerable, including pregnant women and children in their first 1,000 days, and the long-term needs of smallscale farmers, especially women. Continue to strengthen and reform long-standing multilateral institutions, such as the FAO and the CGIAR, and provide a strong role for effective new ones, such as the GAFSP. Sustained investments in effective multilateral institutions allows for an international system that can provide a timely, coordinated response to global hunger needs. 4. Ensure robust financing for multilateral mechanisms so as to improve sustainable agricultural and rural economic development and alleviate malnutrition.

While mechanisms such as GAFSP, SUN, IFAD, CGIAR, CFS, and the CAADP Multi Donor Trust Fund have different objectives, each contributes to making global food security more achievable. We applaud countries who contribute to bilateral efforts on agriculture, food security and nutrition, while recognizing the important roles that multilateral mechanisms play. In particular, we ask the G8 to explore ways to support through the G8 communiqu, action and financing the work of the SUN movement. This movement has garnered the support of high-level multilateral operators such as the United Nations, as well as grassroots support in many developing countries. As it seeks to highlight the role that multiple players can have in creating a better environment for nutrition interventions, we urge the G8 to formally support SUN. G8 leaders should also enhance their political and financial support to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) as the legitimate body for global governance on food security, agriculture and nutrition and specifically support the development of a strong CFS monitoring mechanism. G8 leaders should support the full implementation of the Guidelines on Land Tenure (particularly in developing countries), the development of the Global Strategic Framework, and contribute to ambitious policy outcomes on climate change and agriculture as well as on social protection in the next CFS Plenary. While the statement is not designed to be a consensus position of the contributors, it has been endorsed by InterAction leadership. The recommendations were developed by a team of task force members who are listed below. ActionAid Bread for the World InterAction Oxfam America Save the Children 1,000 Days Advocacy Working Group World Vision

In 2009, G8 countries came together to help form the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, or GAFSP, in order to help promote multilateral support for moving forward on shared agriculture and food security objectives. We urge that funding commitments to GAFSP be completed, and that moving forward, funding for multilateral mechanisms be robust.

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End Notes
1 The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the G8. 2 Scaling Up Nutrition: a multi-stakeholder movement comprised of governments, UN agencies, civil society, development partners and businesses that supports national priorities and galvanizes investments to improve nutrition at scale. 3 The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. 4 The CGIAR (originally the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for sustainable development with the funders of this work. The funders include developing and industrialized country governments, foundations, and international and regional organizations. 5 CAADP - Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program - a programme of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). 6 Remarks on the Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa, Secretary Hillary Clinton. Speech to the International Food Research Policy Institute (IFPRI), August 11, 2011. http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/08/170417.htm. 7 De Onis, Blossne and Borghi, Prevalence of stunting amoung preschool children 1990-2020, Growth Assesment and Surveillance Unit, Dept of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO (April 2011) 8 Black RE, LH Allen, ZA Bhutta, et al (2008) Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. Lancet January 2008. 9 Agriculture for Development, World Development Report 2008 (Washington: World Bank, 2007). 10 World Bank, IFAD, FAO. Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook. 2009. Washington, DC. 11 Facts & Figures on Women, Poverty & Economics. UN Women. 12 IFPRI. 2000. Women: The Key to Food Security. Washington, DC. http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/ib/ib3.pdf 13 Department for International Development (2005): Gender equality at the heart of development: why the role of women is crucial in ending world poverty, DFID, London. 14 Boko, M., I. Niang, A. Nyong, C. Vogel, A. Githeko, M. Medany, B. Osman-Elasha, R. Tabo and P. Yanda, 2007:Africa. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 433-467. 15 Nelson, G.C., Mark W. Rosegrant, Jawoo Koo, Richard Robertson, Timothy Sulser, Tingiu Zhu, Claudia Ringler, Siwa Msangi, Amanda Palazzo, Miroslav Batka, Marilia Magalhaes, Rowena ValmonteSantos, Mandy Ewing and David Lee, October 2009. Climate Change: Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation. International Food Policy Research Institute. 16 World Health Organization: Nutrition: Maternal, infant and young child nutrition: draft comprehensive implementation plan. December 15, 2011. 17 Based on a 20% reduction of the most recent figure of 170 million stunted children around the world.