LOOKING TO 2015
Te year 2015 offers a rare chance to reshape the global development agenda through the Sustainable Development Goals. Food and nutrition security garnered much political atention in 2014. If this momentum can be leveraged into a post-2015 plan that includes holistic and comprehensive food and nutrition investments, policies, and programs, the international community may soon have a chance to end hunger and malnutrition once and for all. Of course, seting goals is one thing; achieving them is another. Until countries are commited to improving the well-being of all their citizens—and to devel- oping the capacity to do so—they are not likely to atain the SDGs or any such goals. A conference on financing the post-2015 agenda will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July of 2015, and the final goals are expected to be hammered out at the UN General Assembly in September. Te outcome of global climate change talks in
Paris in 2015 will also have critical implications for future food and nutrition security, and indeed for human well-being. Any climate change agenda must place people—particularly poor people—as the top priority and must be woven into the SDGs, rather than standing alone as an entirely sepa- rate commitment. Te Group of Seven (G7) countries will con-
tinue to play a large role as collective donors. Under Germany’s leadership, the G7 countries must main- tain the momentum created by Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States to accelerate prog- ress in reducing hunger and undernutrition. Yet the role of the G7 goes beyond aid. North–South and South–South knowledge sharing, learning, and cooperation provide even greater opportunities for progress. Te year is also certain to bring challenges. Nat-
ural and human-caused shocks will strike, espe- cially with the continuation of climate change. Oil prices remain a wild card dependent on the deci- sions of major oil producers. While lower oil prices
can boost the purchasing power of oil-import- ing countries and free up resources for other uses, they can conversely reduce government revenues in countries that depend on oil exports. Indeed, oil-producing countries in Africa and elsewhere have already felt the pinch of declining oil prices. If these governments respond to budget pressures by reducing or eliminating food subsidies, poor people in these countries will likely face greater hardship. If oil prices are volatile in 2015, they are likely to lead to more volatile food prices and thereby harm poor developing country producers and consum- ers, who have limited capacity to adjust to rapid price changes. More broadly, evidence and experience make
clear the need for policy changes. We need to pro- duce more food, but our food production must be linked to beter nutrition and must be accomplished sustainably. Only innovations in technology, insti- tutions, and policies will make this feasible. We need more and beter-targeted investments in social protection. Safety nets prevent 150 million peo- ple from falling below the $1.25 poverty line every year, but 73 percent of the world’s population still has no access to comprehensive social protection programs.35 At the same time, it is important to cur- tail wasteful and poorly targeted agricultural and food subsidy programs in order to release national budget resources for more effective programs and investments. We need to beter manage strategic food reserves so they are available to help buffer the impacts of food shocks. And it is abundantly clear that we must strengthen safeguards against the spread of zoonotic diseases. We face a double imperative: we must end hunger
and malnutrition, and we must do so sustainably. Our progress in improving global food security is fragile and in many ways environmentally unsus- tainable. Meeting both imperatives is doable, but it will demand more strategic use of resources, stron- ger responsibility and accountability, and more cre- ativity from all of us. ■
FOOD POLICY IN 2014–2015
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