Globalisation and food security Guyana the wider world by Dr Clive Thomas Stabroek News February 25, 2001 In September of this year, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IPRI) has scheduled a global conference on the theme 'Sustainable Food Security For All By 2020: From Dialogue to Action.' In its advertisement, the IPRI has described food security "as the biggest challenge of the new millennium." This is a big claim, which is plausible because mass poverty and hunger can be the source of our greatest disasters, whether at the environmental, economic, social, or political levels. As much as any other factor, food insecurity can be the prelude to global warfare and mass destruction. Meaning What is meant by food security? The Rome Declaration on World Food Security, which was made at the World Food Summit in 1996, defined it as "a situation in which all households have both physical and economic access to adequate food for all members, and where households are not at risk of losing such access." This definition has a number of important elements. One of these is the emphasis laid on the availability of food. Food availability should hold good for the world as a whole, as well as all countries and households separately, year-round. Availability refers also to the amount, quality, and variety of food required to make it acceptable to persons. Another important element is the recognition of the importance of stability in food supplies. The definition implies that the risk of food supplies falling short of needs for whatever reason at any point in time, should be eliminated, before food security can be said to exist. The definition also embraces the important notion of access to food. That is, food should not only be physically available, but at the local level of individual households, access to food to satisfy basic needs should be assured before food security can also be said to exist. It is clear from this discussion that food security cannot be separated from development policy in its broadest and therefore, most fundamental sense. When we link the two, other aspects of food security emerge. One such is equity. That is, the need for a sense of fairness in the distribution of, and access to food, so that all individuals, households, communities and nations benefit from it. Without this the attainment of food security is impossible. Another aspect is sustainability. Food security embraces the idea of social and environmental sustainability of the processes through which food is made available. Finally, there is also the aspect of risk. Countries and households should be able to reduce or minimize exposure to disruptions in food supplies caused by market forces, such as for example, high prices or insufficient incomes. The facts In practice, for purposes of global monitoring, food security is measured on the basis of three indicators. One is the available calories in a country per person per day. The other is the percentage of undernourished in the population of a country. And the third is the aggregate household availability in a country. What are the facts in relation to these indicators? First, we find that globalisation has witnessed, despite occasional reverses, considerable improvements. There have been the doubling of global grain output and the trebling of livestock production since the early 1960s. Indeed per person "availability" of food globally in 1999 could be considered as "adequate," at 2,700 calories per day. Projections are that this will rise to 2,900 calories per person per day by 2020. At present also, world grain stocks are at the desired target of 17-18 per cent of world cereal consumption. This amount has been estimated by the FAO as the required minimum to ensure global food security. Much of this increased output can be attributed to better technology and improved productivity. If this is the case, why then is there a problem of food security? In answering this question, we see clearly the contradictions of globalisation; and the reason why it is claimed that globalisation poses both opportunity and risk. While on the one hand as we saw above, improved technology and yields have led to a dramatic expansion in food output on a global basis. On the other, inequalities in access to this food remains a scourge. Thus we find presently it is estimated that about five million children die each year worldwide from nutrition-related illnesses. There are as many as 140 million school children worldwide who are also malnourished. This figure represents one in every three children in developing countries! In total, at present as many as 825 million people do not have access to sufficient food to lead healthy and productive lives. Imbalances In all these instances, the bulk of global deprivation and want is concentrated in the developing world. Thus while the per person availability of food per day is, as was pointed out, 2,700 calories on average worldwide, in developing coutries it is significantly lower (2,500 calories). In South Asia it is as low as 2,300 calories. And in sub-Sahara Africa it is sadly just 2,040 calories! Chronic malnourishment, hunger, want and death from nutrition-related illnesses therefore coexist in a world where, at the global level, ample food supplies exist. The principal factor causing food insecurity is therefore not the lack of food, but imbalances in food distribution between countries. And, by extension, the imbalances in food distribution between regions, communities, households, and families. In Guyana, we are familiar with this pattern. When this startling situation is drawn to the attention of persons, their first inclination is to presume that the price of food has risen so high that poor people have been priced out of the market. While it is true that poor people have been priced out of the market, this has occurred in a period when the prices of most food items in real terms have been decreasing! We are familiar with this in the case of sugar. As we are aware, since the Asian crisis of 1997, the price of sugar has fallen significantly in both real and nominal terms. The ability to purchase food is therefore key to promoting food security. Most of the food consumed globally is traded in the market place, and this conclusion should come as no surprise. Because of this situation however, the importance of income, wealth, and access to assets, in the attainment of food security for the individual, household, region, or country cannot be overestimated. We can state unequivocally that, poverty, powerlessness, voicelessness, the lack of productive employment, and the inequitable distribution of income and assets, all of which accompany globalisation, weaken efforts at promoting food security everywhere. Next week we shall pursue this theme further. We shall do so by examining three remarkable transformations now underway in this age of globalisation. One of these is the impact of globalisation on agricultural trade generally, and trade in food in particular. The second is to look at the explosive growth of bio-technology and its impact on food availability and cost. The third will be to consider the evolution of 'good practice' in coping with the tragic manifestations of food insecurity, shortages and deprivation, both within countries and households. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today If you do not see the 'Guyana: Land of Six Peoples' drop-down menu on the left then please click here to enter through the front door which will give you additional options and information.