Symposium 2010

Solution for Meeting the Rising Global Demand for Food

The Challenge

It is becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy the rising global demand for food in a sustainable manner. A number of factors contribute to uncertainty about the world’s ability to meet the food demand of an increasing population: average living standards are rising; land use is shifting from agriculture to urban and industrial uses; the production of nonfood crops for biofuels is on the rise; investments in increasing agricultural productivity are growing slowly; water and arable land are increasingly becoming scarce; and global warming is making it more difficult to produce food in some poor countries. Moreover, the food price crisis of 2008 added fuel to the fire and put food security on top of the policy agenda.

▼ Abstract

2010

Concentrate on productivity increases and improved market access for small-scale farmers using public-private partnerships and modern communication technologies to disseminate technical assistance.

The contribution of small-scale farm production to food security could be improved significantly with the current level of technology if more smallscale farmers had access to modern technologies and markets. Private investments are necessary to develop cutting-edge technologies and their dissemination, but there may not be sufficient incentives to reach the most remote areas where purchasing power is low.

To overcome this drawback, public-private partnerships can be a suitable tool to ensure that small-scale farmers have access to the newest seeds that suit their environments and to technologies that can improve their market access.

Mobile telephones have already improved market access and the delivery of technical assistance in a number of African countries, notably Kenya. Such successful approaches should be scaled up using public-private partnerships along with the participation of local NGOs and farmers’ organizations.

Implemen- tations

Implementation

Symposium 2010

Kilimo Salama

Polity, Academia, Business, Civil Society

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Solution for Meeting the Rising Global Demand for Food

The Challenge

Implemen- tations

Kilimo Salama

Related Solutions

Collect data on commitments and achievements on food security for every country from national governments and make it publicly available to create public pressure for compliance.

Create international grain reserves and manage them effectively, for example, by issuing food vouchers to people who are affected by high food price volatility.

Increase access to index-based insurance systems to enable farmers to manage harvest risks, which are likely to increase as a result of climate change.

“International land deals” may help to alleviate the lack of investment in agriculture in developing countries, but they must be based on a transparent code of conduct to ensure that ...

Improve infrastructure for postharvest technologies and market access to decrease waste in the food chain.