Feeding hunger and insecurity

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6. what more is needed?non-food needs; the decision to choose the typeof ‘aid’ provided by transfers should be that ofthe recipient. The problem with cash transfers isthat food prices fluctuate according to seasons,and so purchasing power obtained through theseprogrammes also changes. To protect the incomeof participants, transfers can be indexed, meaningthat the amount of cash received is linked tofood prices. One example for this is the ‘Food andCash Transfers’ (FACT) project in Malawi wherefood markets were monitored throughout the hungerseason and the amount of food transferred tothe families was adjusted as food prices rose orfell (Devereux et al. 2008).These tools have proven successful in some countriesand are becoming well-established practicesamongst some governments and ‘development’organisations. More is known about the strengthsand weaknesses of these interventions, and theircosts. A combination of these tools will be neededto enable a successful response to the consequencesof high and volatile food prices, andmore generally to address malnutrition.6.2 What Must Change to EnableSuccessful Interventions?Though the interventions mentioned above haveproven successful in specific contexts, it is unlikelythat transplanting them from one countryto another will be effective without careful adaptation.They are a means to an end and not anend in themselves – success will be defined byreductions in malnutrition and improved food security.To improve the outcomes of the suggestedinterventions, a number of issues will need to beaddressed, including:World hunger and malnutrition must become apriorityMore funding is requiredThe right to food must be established and enforceableby those suffering from hungerSurveillance of food security and malnutritionmust improve and be linked to implementationAnd the politics of malnutrition must be understood,accepted and included in policy designFar from an exhaustive list, these changes wouldprovide a good basis for improved policies and programmesaimed at eradicating hunger.6.2.1 Make the Alleviation of Hungerand Malnutrition a Priority!Until recently, the Department for InternationalDevelopment (DfID) lacked “both a specific policyand measurable targets for assessing progress inreducing malnutrition” (International DevelopmentCommittee 2008). The current perception of theGlobal Partnership is focused largely on foodproduction and agriculture, and not on malnutrition– showing that even in the current climatemalnutrition is seen as a secondary priority. Thedouble standards exhibited recently by countriesof the North in their reactions to the Global FoodCrisis and the simultaneous Financial Crisis areastounding – giving us a useful valuation of thepolitical importance of poverty and malnutrition.The USA alone negotiated a US$700 billion bailoutplan in a matter of weeks under a poorly definedmandate, while the estimated US$40 billion peryear needed to address the food crisis (CFAestimate) has been virtually ignored – the USApledged only US$1.9 billion to WFP in 2008 (WFP2008d). If these attitudes persist, it is unlikely thatthe international community will make significantprogress in reducing malnutrition or even curbingpoverty.6.2.2 Provide More FundingLack of political will constrains funding when morefunding is desperately needed. WFP crudely estimatesthat there are almost one billion peoplewho do not have enough to eat, but only has thecapacity to provide support to 10 percent of thisnumber. Two questions must be asked: ‘wherewill this money come from?’ and ‘what will theimpact be on other sectors, like education andhealth’?54ACF International NetworkFeeding Hunger and Insecurity
6. what more is needed?Table 6.1: Percentage of GNI going to ODAamong donor countries (in order of greatestproportion in 20072006 20071 Norway 0.89 0.952 Sweden 1.02 0.933 Luxembourg 0.9 0.914 Netherlands 0.81 0.815 Denmark 0.8 0.816 Ireland 0.54 0.557 Austria 0.47 0.58 Belgium 0.5 0.4313 Germany 0.36 0.3714 UK 0.51 0.3621 USA 0.18 0.16Non-G7 0.51 0.51DAC-EU 0.43 0.39G7 0.27 0.23Source: OECD 2008aWith governments in the North currently preoccupiedwith the Financial Crisis, mobilising additionalfinancial resources may become moredifficult. At the Doha follow-up conference onfinancing development in 2008, donor governmentswere once again urged to allocate thepreviously agreed target of 0.7 percent of grossnational income (GNI) to official development assistance(ODA) by 2015 and to increase voluntarycontributions to the United Nations developmentsystem (UN 2008a). Table 6.1 (page 54) indicatesthat while some countries have exceededthis requirement, many major donors, includingGermany, the United Kingdom and United Statesare still seriously short of the 2015 target – somecountries have actually reduced this proportionsince 2006.There is also an increasing request for local resourcemobilisation, particularly through tax reformswhich are a fundamental dimension ofstate-building. Major progress has been made inAfrica where implementation of development policiesled to mobilisation of domestic resources. Inaddition new, innovative sources of funding needto be developed, like the International FinancingFacility for Immunisation and the airline ticket solidaritylevy, which provides funds for UNITAID topurchase drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria(UN 2008a).6.2.3 Establish an Enforceable Rightto Food!“The implementation of programmes – no matterhow technically well-conceived – will fall apartwithout a fundamental transformation in the politicalobligations around hunger” (Devereux etal. 2008:104). An enforceable right to food at thenational and global level (possibly even at the operationallevel) is possibly the strongest mechanismto guarantee that commitments to end hungerare met.There is not a universally declared right to food,but some international institutions may provide thebuilding blocks for such a right to be introduced atthe global level. Article 25 of the Universal Declarationon Human Rights (UN 1988), Articles 1 and11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (UNHCR 1966)and Articles 24 and 27 of the Convention on theRights of the Child (CRC) (UNHCR 1989) alreadyinclude some provisions which may be interpretedas a right to food. The ICESCR goes beyond theright to be free from hunger, demanding a reformof the global food system; the Covenant gives legalbacking to the calls for a more equitable distributionof world food stocks.While the CFA also asks for a right to food, conventionson human rights have been traditionallytalked up but played down. The World Trade Organisationremains the only global body able toimpose sufficient sanctions to adequately enforceinternational treaties. Without a credible threat,there can be no realisation of this fundamental humanright. Ultimately, international right declara-ACF International Network Feeding Hunger and Insecurity 55
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Feeding Hunger and InsecurityField
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Executive SummaryKey MessagesThe cr
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executive summarybuffers and greate
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List of FiguresFigure 1.1Figure 1.2
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List of AbbreviationsACFCARCFACFSCR
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© ACF / S. Hauenstein Swan1. Intro
Page 17 and 18: 1. IntroductionFigure 1.2: Map depi
Page 19 and 20: © ACF / S. Hauenstein Swan2. What
Page 21 and 22: 2. what caused the global food pric
Page 23 and 24: 2. what caused the global food pric
Page 25: © Julien Goldstein3. Households in
Page 28: 3. households in crisis: who loses?
Page 31 and 32: 3. households in crisis: who loses?
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Page 36 and 37: 3. households in crisis: who loses?
Page 38 and 39: 4. The Hunger Crisis:4. What Happen
Page 40 and 41: 4. the hunger crisis: what happens
Page 50 and 51: 5. the global response to high Food
Page 52 and 53: 5. The global response to high food
Page 66 and 67: 6. What More is Needed?The global f
Page 70 and 71: 6. what more is needed?Box 7: Hunge
Page 72 and 73: 6. what more is needed?Box 8: Malaw
Page 74 and 75: 6. what more is needed?Table 6.3: T
Page 76 and 77: 6. what more is needed?and local in
Page 78 and 79: 7. ConclusionData from Ethiopia sho
Page 80 and 81: ReferencesAbebe, Y., Stoecker B.J.,
Page 82 and 83: Referencesable at: http://www.iht.c
Page 84 and 85: AnnexesAnnex 1: Real international
Page 86 and 87: annexesAnnex 5: Percentage househol
Page 88 and 89: annexesAnnex 7: Harriss’ typology
Page 90 and 91: A HUNGER WATCH PUBLICATIONhunger Wa
Page 92: ACF INTERNATIONAL NETWORKSiège d
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