The fight against hunger was one of the constant demands in leaders’ speeches this week to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. From the first speech, that of Brazil and its President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In three years, when natural disasters caused by climate change and the consequences of the war in Ukraine were added to the effects of the pandemic, this problem became even more urgent: food insecurity, reduced in previous years, increased again and today more than 700 million people are without it Food guarantee. But this crisis has also helped to raise awareness among countries, says Spaniard Álvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations and an international financial institution.
“Since 2019, we are experiencing an increase in poverty rates and food insecurity that has not occurred in the last two or three decades,” confirms Lario in an interview with EL PAÍS on the occasion of the celebrations of the Latin American Forum in Spain this week in New York. But the issue has served as a wake-up call in some ways: “It has made many countries, both rich and developing, aware of the importance of investing in local production to diversify much of the world’s food.” To strengthen food chains and focus on food security as a matter of national security, which is the case in the United States or Europe, but not so much in developing countries.
From their institution, one of the three food and agriculture authorities based in Rome along with the FAO and the World Food Program, they have confirmed that “more priority is now being given to this type of development investment, which is changing and transforming.” Realities, and it is not only provided for humanitarian assistance, which is necessary in the short term because it saves lives, but in the medium term it does not change the situation.”
In its case, IFAD hopes that this shift in leaders’ prioritization can lead to more increased funding from governments. This “will allow us to increase the number of millions of people whose income and access to markets we can increase,” says Lario.
Among the countries that have announced an increase in replenishment is Spain, whose incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged €20 million for IFAD “to further strengthen food security” at the Sustainable Development Goals summit in New York this week. The President of the Executive has indicated that he expects Spain to be among the top ten donors between 2024 and 2027 with contributions to the Trust Fund for Special Purposes and to the regular budget of United Nations organizations.
“This increase will allow us to interact primarily with low-income countries that need very specific subsidies and projects,” the senior international official explained. Spain’s declared willingness to increase its contributions to development cooperation “is great news, especially for small farmers in developing countries, who will thereby have alternatives to forced migration and the return to poverty.”
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Among the initiatives that IFAD is proposing to combat poverty and food insecurity is a $10 billion action program over the next three years through which the fund aims to enable more than a hundred million small farmers around the world to increase their income by 10 % to increase. increase to 20% and improve their market access. “It is not only important that they produce, but also that they can sell their products at prices that allow them to live a decent life,” says Lario.
“We don’t want to talk about subsistence farming, but about agriculture as a sector that creates wealth, that creates jobs and that allows people in rural areas to decide whether they want to stay and lead a decent life,” so that they don’t are forced to migrate either to urban areas or to other countries. The number of people forced to leave their homes due to economic conditions, disasters or wars is increasing every year, leading to an increase in humanitarian costs and the cost of living. “This is unacceptable, we cannot allow this,” emphasizes the senior official.
One aspect of these plans will be to involve the private sector in much of this investment, he adds. “How can we support micro and small businesses so that they can create more jobs? “How can we include more women and younger people in much of these value chains, not just in production but also in distribution, warehousing, sales and export,” she emphasizes.
According to her, food shortages have a gender component. “Because we have proven that it is relatively possible to increase the income of the community for women, and that often has an impact on better nutrition for the family, so that children can go to school. They make decisions for the community and for the good of the community.”
But it’s not just about increasing your own income, he admits. “What we find most difficult in transforming much of our programs and public policies is ensuring that these same women have access to land, access to productive assets and access to decision-making,” she emphasizes. “That’s why it’s not enough to just invest or increase returns. It is also necessary to establish dialogues and be able to talk about the role of women locally. “How can we give him better access to decision-making and also to assets?”
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