www.odi.org.ukfoodsecurityforum

1
www.odi.org.uk/food-security-forum

• Facilitating debate on policy options for
  strengthening food security
• 500 stakeholders in the region, 100 in Malawi
• Bunda College APRU
• CIPs, Theme Papers, international e-discussions,
  draft Synthesis Paper
• Deadline June 2004

2
Perspectives on changes in 1990s

• Interpretations
• Increasing vulnerability (CARE)
• Increasing poverty under liberalisation (National
  RRA)
• but
• Increasing incomes, opportunities under market
  liberalisation (Orr Mwale, Orr Orr)

Why the differences?
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Malawi indicators of food security 2Crop
production

• Source FAOSTAT
• Highest increase in region in food production
  index 1990-2000 (WDI, 2002)
• But largely non-maize
• Maize yields only 1/3 of potential

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Malawi indicators of food security 3 Population
below poverty line

• Source State of Food Insecurity in the World,
  2003
• Local poverty line US 0.41 p.p. per day (US
  0.25 p.p. per day for 35 ultra poor)
• Malawi 163 out of 174 ldcs
• Poverty line 80 food ? families below poverty
  line cannot secure minimum food needs

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Food security policy options
6
Market-based economic development

• Coordination risks can be severe in emerging
  markets
• the search for effective economic institutions,
  including
• Public role in setting grades and standards,
  contract law, etc and not forgetting stable and
  consistent macro-economic policies
• Private role in forms of cooperation,
  contracting, interlocking markets (institutional
  innovation)
• Dorward, A (2003) Modelling poor farm-household
  livelihoods in Malawi lessons for pro-poor
  policy http//www.wye.ic.ac.uk/AgEcon/adu/researc
  h/porjects/ppag/mlhhmdrf.pdf

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Vulnerability

• How to reduce vulnerability? Maximising growth vs
  reducing risk e.g. HYV vs OPV maize in Malawi
• Safety nets affordability fiscal impacts?
  Safety nets a residual - important role for
  fiscal and monetary policy, productive Ministries
  
• Entitlement and targetting economic vs political
  case
• More nuanced indicators of vulnerability in EWS
  greater use of VAC data
• Farrington et al (2004) Social Protection and
  Agricultural Growth ODI Natural Resources
  Perspective Paper www.odi.org.uk

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Policy implementation
political context
Politics and policymaking
Campaigning, lobbying
Policy analysis research
Media, advertising, networking
Research, learning thinking
Scientific information exchange validation
evidence
links
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• Tiyeni tonse tipange kuti Malawi akhali ndi
  chakudya chokwanira