affecting staple food consumption, lowering dietary quality, and reducing expenditures on health.24 Given the barrage of complex shocks in recent
years, strengthening resilience was a major theme in the development community in 2014. Nongov- ernmental organizations implemented large-scale resilience projects in Ethiopia, Haiti, and Tanzania, to name a few.25 Efforts made to beter conceptu- alize, measure, and apply resilience included major events and publications by the UN, the World Eco- nomic Forum, the Resilience Alliance Network, and IFPRI. In May, IFPRI organized an international conference called “Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security.” Te conference identified which emerging shocks pose the biggest threats to food and nutrition security, reviewed approaches and tools for building resilience to shocks, and highlighted the areas where research, policy, and programming need to be improved or scaled up to successfully build resilience to food and nutrition insecurity.26 Among the people most vulnerable to shocks are
those responsible for producing much of the world’s food: small farmers. Te UN designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. Family farms—many of which are small—account for nearly
Among the people most vulnerable to shocks are those responsible for producing much of the world’s food: small farmers.
nine out of ten farms worldwide, provide livelihoods for 2.5 billion people, and produce much of the food consumed in Asia and Africa south of the Sahara (see Chapter 4). Yet the productivity and efficiency of small farms vary, and policy approaches to small farms must vary as well. For example, in Africa south of the Sahara—where rural populations are large, agriculture is responsible for a large share of the economy, and growth in other sectors is weak27
—programs to strengthen small and family farm- ers are key. In 2014, African leaders recommited to
8 STRONG ADVANCES AND STUBBORN SETBACKS
the principles of the CAADP, including promoting employment opportunities for women and youth in agricultural value chains and investing in social pro- tection programs.28 In other countries, such as China and Vietnam, manufacturing and services are begin- ning to replace agriculture as economic drivers.29 Here, the task is to make farming profitable for those with commercial potential while helping others move out of agriculture into other productive work.
EFFORTS AT AGENDA SETTING AND COOPERATION SHOWED PROMISE
Within the global development community, 2014 was marked by the first steps in the effort to renew the world’s development priorities. In September the UN-appointed Open Working Group, made up of more than 70 countries, put forth a draſt set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to identify emerging global priorities while build- ing upon the MDG commitments. Te draſt goals consisted of 17 SDGs, with 169 specific targets cov- ering a wide range of topics—from poverty, hunger, education, and water and sanitation to infrastruc- ture, energy, and urbanization.30 While all of these areas directly or indirectly complement agriculture as building blocks of food and nutrition security, it remains to be seen whether so many goals and tar- gets will allow for focused action or whether they will instead dilute efforts to meet the most essen- tial goals. In December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a report grouping the SDGs into six essential elements: people, planet, partnership, jus- tice, prosperity, and dignity.31 As currently conceived, the SDGs differ from
the MDGs in some important ways. Heavily focused on poverty, the MDGs applied mainly to developing countries. In contrast, the SDGs are envisioned to be universal, applying to rich and poor countries alike. Tis approach can help address such issues as inequality, climate change, and governance. It also recognizes that rich coun- tries face serious levels of malnutrition. It will be crucial, however, not to neglect the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people. Te MDGs and SDGs also treat food and nutri- tion differently. Whereas the MDGs combined food
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