THE FOOD SECURITY ISSUE RE-EXAMINED

Abstract

This thesis explores the main shifts in thinking about global food security since the World Food Conference in 1974. It traces the changing perceptions of the food security problem from one mainly concerned with the aggregated levels of the problem, namely international and national levels, to one focusing on the disaggregated levels of the problem, namely regional, household and individual perspectives. This shift has been reflected in changing policy initiatives. Previously, the stress was on a production-oriented approach. Today, policymakers are more focused on the problem of inadequate access and unequal distribution. The widespread concern of food security as the main policy goal was kindled by the world food crisis of 1972-74. The conventional thinking at that time was that food security could be safeguarded if domestic agricultural production was increased and international agreements such as global reserve stocks and multilateral food aid targets were established. The consensus in the theoretical literature was that storing grain to achieve food security would come only at a very high cost. Later, experts began to recognise that the major causes of world market price variability were restrictive trade policies adopted by countries. In essence, it is man and not nature that is responsible for the price fluctuations. One remedy is the use of an international financial approach to alleviate the foreign exchange constraint so that developing countries facing highly unstable food import bills will be able to get some reprieve by obtaining foreign exchange to import the food required. This supply-oriented concept began to change in the late 1970s as experts began to realise that though food supply was adequate worldwide many people were still starving. Attention turned to the demand side of the food security concept and the need for disaggregating the undernourished into identifiable groups and designing suitable policies to deal with the differing needs of each group. Thus, the concept of food security has evolved from focusing on the problems of inadequate supply at the international and national levels, to the problems of inadequate access and unequal distribution at the regional, household and individual levels. In particular, many of the earlier food security studies failed to recognise that international and national food security did not imply household or individual food security. Some disaggregated groups of interest include the rural and urban poor and women. For these groups, it is important to build innovative rural finance systems that will lower the transaction costs of lending to the poor. Since the lack of purchasing power is related to the massive and growing unemployment problem in developing countries, tackling the unemployment problem would be an effective means of alleviating food insecurity. Attention should be paid to investing in productive and remunerative employment for the poor as an alternative to subsidising food. The food security problem is inextricably linked to the purchasing power of individuals. This is perhaps the most important shift in the thinking about world food policy since the World Food Conference in 1974. As emphasised in the World Food Summit, poverty is one of the major causes of food insecurity and sustainable progress in poverty alleviation is critical to improved access to food. The belief now is that the best way for households or individuals to achieve sustainable food security is by securing a reliable and adequate source of income, relative to food prices. Thus, policymakers must take into account the income distribution implications of proposed food policies in addition to the production implications.