FAO recommends extending social protection to eliminate hunger
1/11/15
According to a new report on
the situation of food and agriculture in the world, in poor countries, the
system of social protection - especially cash flow, food, education and public
projects - supplies an economic mean to help people most escape extreme poverty
and hunger, as well as improve health, education and the chances of success for
children.
In developing countries, the
social protection programs bring benefit in many different ways for 2.1 billion
people, of which 150 million individuals saved from extreme poverty. According
to the report, if we want to quickly reduce the number of people living in
poverty, we need to expand this program in the rural area and link these
programs with the growth policy.
The FAO report published
before the anniversary of World Food Day (16/10), in which this year's theme
stressed the importance of social protection for breaking the vicious circle of
poverty in rural areas.
“We need urgent action to
assist the most vulnerable people in order to liberate the world from poverty”
- FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said. "The social protection
programs enable households to have access to nutrition more frequently and
increase planting productivity as well as to make nutrition and their food more
variety and nutritious. These programs have a positive effect on nutrition for
children and mothers, reduce child labor and improve school attendance as well
as a favorable factors to increase productivity”.
According to the report, only
about one third of the world's poorest people receive some forms of social
protection. This percentage is still very low in South Asia and sub-Saharan
Africa, the regions with the highest poverty rates.
Without social support, many
poor and vulnerable people have to struggle to escape the trap of poverty,
disease and lack of education, hurting future generations.
Most countries - even the
poorest - can also have a certain form of social protection. According to the
evaluation of FAO, about 67 billion dollars of additional revenue every year,
most of which provide for the social protection program along with other forms
of investment, which are intended for poor farmers to eliminate hunger by 2030.
This financial accounting under 0.10% of world GDP.
Currently, many extremely poor
households are forced to sell assets, children have to work and exploit land unsustainably
or do low-paying jobs.
However, the basic social
system gives the poor the ability to improve potential production as well as
bring about positive benefits for the local economy, increase business
opportunities, higher wages agriculture, enable the poorest people to purchase
goods or invest in assets.
According to FAO, at least 145
countries now offer one or more forms of social protection, especially the unconditional
cash flow which is synonymous with
subsidies for those who benefit. These countries also provide forms of
conditional cash flow associated with
going to school or health care as well as public labor programs for job
security. Other forms of social protection such as the natural flow form of
distribution of food or food programs in schools.
However, the report also
stressed that in order to completely eliminate hunger, it need to coordinate
public investment in social protection for the public and private investments
in agriculture and rural development. Such measures will contribute to ensuring
a comprehensive economic growth, enable breaking the vicious circle of rural poverty
in a sustainable way.
All comments [ 16 ]
the poverty and hunger is one of the most serious challenges for many countries, especially in Africa and South Asia.
many people who live in poverty expect assist from goverment's program of social protection
to address poverty problem need determination and involvement of governments and the social classes
some countries have effectively implemented the reduction of poverty and were appreciated by FOA
Vietnam is one of the most outstanding example for the reduction of poverty and recognized by the international community
Poverty in its various forms has increasingly occupied the attention of the international community during the last decade.
Hunger and food insecurity - the most serious forms of extreme poverty - have now become international priorities,
During the last decade, food insecurity and malnutrition appear to have contributed to an increasing frequency of crisis events as well as to the vulnerability of countries to shocks. Most of today's armed conflicts and natural disasters are concentrated in regions heavily dependent on agriculture and in countries with a high proportion of food-insecure households and classified by FAO as "low-income food deficit".
As well as being a consequence of a conflict, food insecurity can be the cause and lead to conflict.
Hunger may induce conflict when people feel they have nothing to lose and military service offers a free meal and the power that goes with touting a gun.
The slow pace of poverty and hunger reduction points to an urgent need for strategies that better target the areas where poor people live and the activities on which their lives depend.
Today, 75 percent of poor people in developing countries live in rural areas. In 2020, when the majority of the world population is projected to live in urban areas, 60 percent of poverty will still be rural poverty.
Agriculture is the principal driving force of the rural economy and, for those developing countries without substantial mineral resources, often the whole economy.
People in abject hunger must have enough to eat if they are to share the benefits of agricultural and rural growth. The vicious circle of undernourishment leading to low productivity and growth perpetuates underdevelopment and hunger.
There is now substantial evidence of the economic and social benefits of early health and nutrition interventions. The lesson is that targeted nutritional interventions are a cost-effective way of investing in alleviating human suffering, increasing productivity and generating economic returns.
Your comments