//  Nominees

These should be individuals who have worked successfully toward this goal in any field involved in the world food supply, including food and agricultural science and technology, nutrition and health, crop protection, policy, research and extension, manufacturing, economics, political leadership, social sciences, and other related fields that have demonstrated a valuable contribution toward addressing this complex problem.

//  Search for candidates

GFAR is asking for help in identifying inspiring and committed candidates deserving this recognition.
If you know any such individuals you can nominate them as a candidate for the World Food Prize through GFAR Secretariat (This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by the end of April 2012.

//  The World Food Prize

worldfoodprize.org

Nominations

//  Source

The Global Forum on Agricultural Research

//  Sahel brief main points

1. Cereal prices may continue to increase during the next months in Sahel countries. They could reach extremely high levels during the lean period. This scenario is not certain because maize imports from coastal countries might reduce the increase of millet, sorghum and maize prices in Sahel countries. However, there is a significant risk to experience a continuous increase in prices and very high price levels during the lean period. Two factors are pushing in this direction: seasonality and the high level of rice price on international markets. Indeed, prices have already reached very high levels in spite of the fact that the last harvests were only three months ago (in almost all the towns of Mali, millet, sorghum and maize prices have already reached or overcome the level they have during the lean period at the moment of the 2005 crisis). The seasonal dynamic of prices should lead them to increase until the new harvests (October – November 2012). This means that prices are likely to increase during the next nine months. The second factor that can lead prices of dried cereals (millet, sorghum and maize) to increase a lot is the high level of rice price on international markets. During the 2005 crisis, the price of imported rice played the role of a ceiling for the prices of millet, sorghum and maize. But this ceiling is much higher now than it used to be in 2005 (in Bamako, its level is currently 375 FCFA/kg compared to 275 FCFA/kg en 2005). So, there is a significant risk to have extremely high level of prices in few months for millet, sorghum and maize. This is a big concern because these cereals play a crucial role for the food security of the poorest households.
2. In Sahel, price spikes generate not only short term food insecurity (by complicating access to food for the poorest households), but also medium term food insecurity (by constraining many households to sold assets, what increases their vulnerability to future crisis and leads some of them to fall into chronic malnutrition). This kind of medium term effects will probably be very strong in 2012. First, households' capital has probably already been reduced by the high frequency of food crises during the last years (2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012). In addition, many families have lost an important source of income because of the return home of many migrant workers from Libya, Ivory Cost and Nigeria. Last but not least, pastures, fodder and water shortage leads many households to sell part of their cattle.
3. Emergency targeted aid (transfers to vulnerable households; nutrition programmes) is necessary in period of crisis to protect the most vulnerable persons from malnutrition. But it is neither relevant to face the problem of households' capital and resilience reduction nor the problem of chronic food insecurity. Because this aid is targeted to food insecure households, it is not able to prevent the reduction in capital of those who will be able to face the crisis by selling the last assets they have. Because it is activated only in situation of emergency, it can not restore the resilience of households who do not have any more assets to sell (even less if they are already in a situation of chronic malnutrition). Consequently, managing food crises only through emergency targeted aid is not sustainable. From one crisis to the next, the reduction in the resilience of many households and the fact that part of the population is falling into chronic food insecurity lead to increase the volume (and the cost) of the required emergency aid. In Niger, the cost of emergency aid during the 2010 crisis was twice its cost during the 2005 crisis. The cost of the 2012 crisis may be even higher: it is estimated that 6.4 millions of persons will need aid, accounting for 40% of the country population (ECHO 2012).
4. Consequently, in order to manage the Sahel food crisis, it seems necessary (in addition to emergency aid) to implement policies i) to prevent the prices of millet, sorghum and maize to increase more and ii) to rebuild the capital of households with a low resilience. Ex ante, it is possible to prevent the price of dried cereals (mil, sorghum and maize) to increase more by subsidizing maize imports from coastal countries or rice imports from international markets. It is well established yet that the price of imported rice plays the role of a ceiling for dried cereals. This means that a simple and effective way to prevent an additional increase in the price of dried cereals would be to subsidize rice imports in order to lower the price of imported rice to a level relevant to play the role of a ceiling for dried cereals. Such a measure would entail a cost of about 90 millions Euros (to subsidize 600 000 tonnes of rice). This is a reasonable cost if one takes into account that it would allow lowering the level of emergency aid which would be needed during the lean period. Ex post, a safety net will be required to rebuild the capital of households with a low resilience (Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Programme can be used as a reference).

//  Download Sahel brief (French)

//  Source

CIRAD, F. Galtier

//  Zero draft of Rio+20 Outcome Document

From 25 to 27 January, the first discussion round of the zero draft for the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development took place in New York. In view of the weight of the upcoming Rio+20 conference, there was however broad agreement on the need to create a more ambitious draft. More tangible measures are expected to be included in June. The suggestion to include the Sustainable Development Goals (made by the governments of Columbia, Guatemala and Peru) was widely supported.

//  Response to zero draft

The response of the Rome-based organizations to the zero draft outcome document underlined the necessity of acknowledging and significantly including agriculture in the Rio+20 agenda. They called attention to the scale of change in policy which was required in agriculture for food security, the reduction of environmental degradation and poverty reduction. A green economy, the response argued, can only be achieved with green agriculture and sustainable development and only if smallholder farmers are included in the considerations.

//  Download

Zero draft of the outcome document

Response to zero draft of the Rome-based Organizations