Reducing vulnerability while combating poverty
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Syed L. Ali Bahram and Professor M. Shamsul Haque
IDENTIFICATION of flows of existing measures and development of a consensus on issues relating to measurement of food security, vulnerability and poverty as well of food production and distribution remain a political and technical challenge, especially in the context of Bangladesh. New measures might have implications for the existing equilibrium about policy and allocation of resources. Exploring possibilities and advancing improvement are measured by the poverty-related questions.
Under the existing system, only Food for Works Programme (FWP), some occasional relief measures and international or national donations etc., are sources of support for low income groups. Transfer of political power sometime is explained, as a sort of justification, for stepping up the drive for poverty alleviation and for minimising vulnerability and change in an ideology are at times paraded as actions for implementation of "poverty-free agenda". But it is a pertinent question whether any relative change does at all take place.
The answer is NO. So to go further deep into the issue, the following points do merit consideration :
Compositional Changes:. Steps are needed to alter the relative vulnerability of poverty among various groups. Claims on resource or public attention may, in part, depend on the perceived vulnerability of the group, whether children, or the elderly or the working poor or single mothers. Obviously it is needed that the vulnerability that represents poverty has to be measured from a more realistic dimension.
Geographical Distribution: Changing the measure can alter the geographical distribution of the poor. Under some scenarios, poverty increases on both costs, where the mid-section of the country appears to be vulnerable to food security issue. This can be seen as good as lead news, depending on whether the relative changes are viewed as reflection of policies or as a prediction of future resources.
Historical Understanding: A new measure may well reshape our understanding of the record of the poverty situation in Bangladesh. The conventional wisdom holds that the economic position of children is not improving and that of elderly has been improving. What will happen if new measure modifies these assumptions? What would that do to our understanding of the situation about which public policies have worked and which have not.
Consequences of Resource Allocation: A new statistical measure of poverty is necessary for efficient allocation of public resources. It would be not entirely appropriate to assume that a change in the measure might eventually have real consequence for who are helped and who are not.
Recasting the political debate: The political consequences of a new poverty measure might be large. They are certainly unpredictable. Let us suppose the poverty rate changes as a result of a new measure; a rise might viewed as a transparent attempt to increase spending on the poor or conversely, to demonstrate that prior spending has been ineffective. A drop in the rate might be viewed as a threat to continued efforts to deal with poverty or as evidence that public initiatives are working and should be expanded.
Because of conceptual controversy, accurate data problems, political concerns, experts and interested parties remain divided over many of the issues and real hazards are faced. So, we should take re-examine, review and improve key economic indicators such as national output, the incidence of joblessness and the price level.
Enhancing people's resilience to overcome shocks, building their capacity to transcend food insecurity with a more durable and diverse livelihood base and increasing human capital will result in long-term sustainable improvement of food security. A sustained attitude towards policy matters of the country should be supported and maintained. Food availability, access and utilisation constitute the three pillars of food security.
Technical and institutional innovation has permitted food production to more than keep pace with population growth. Projection up to the year 2020 indicates that food supplies will remain adequate. Poor farmers are frequently in a mix of subsistence and commercial activities. Small-scale farmers face many constrains, including lack of access to productive resources, natural resource degradation and health crises.
Poverty drives food insecurity. Due to persistent poverty, more than 600 million people in developing countries will face food insecurity in 2015. Food insecurity is concentrated in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Discrimination, political disempowerment, violent conflict and natural disorders also contribute to food insecurity.
Unless developed countries reduce their agricultural subsidies and open their markets to developing countries' exports, the potential of globalization to contribute to food security will remain mostly unrealised.
Our aim should be to co-ordinate and promote multi-disciplinary food security and vulnerability analysis activities to improve the ability to respond to shocks, manage food security programme and strengthen government capacity to manage food-based programme.
Today, 850 million people go hungry or suffer from malnutrition. In order to meet the minimum requirement of a growing population, food production will be needed to doubled over the next 30 years. The natural resources like soil, water and biodiversity are required to produce this additional food.
Low income food-deficit countries (LIFDCS) are always concerned over the environment as well as the degradation and dwindling of natural resources in the context of food security policy. Food security embraces food production, stability of supply and access to food.
Role of livestock in food security also counts. Trade-offs between livestock production and environmental objectives, such as high value protein-rich animal products, indirectly support crop production and the same may help stabilise the sources of income and store of wealth for small holders. Thus, they provide the access of food to the people.
Livestock strengthens food security. Meat and milk can be produced year round, being less seasonal than cereals, fruits and vegetables. Animals, in particular the smaller species, can be slaughtered as the need arises, either for food or income and butter, milk and meat can be preserved to cover periods of food shortage. Mixed farming system can cover the gaps of the resources.
Market failures in the input supply system are key seasons of vulnerability. So, well-groomed marketing network is a prerequisite for distributive justice relating to food stock.
There is a need to distinguish more carefully between vulnerability and risk. As food access is not a risk itself, it can be put at risk by other factors.
The relationships between demographic changes and vulnerability should be analysed and better understood, especially in the context of HIV/AIDS. The relative impacts of HIV/AIDS on mortality and morbidity are different in different contexts, depending on infection rates and cumulative deaths.
There is a broad agreement that urban poverty and vulnerability are not receiving enough attention in the country, as in many other economies, especially in the context of assessments. Some evidence is there about how assessment methodology might be adopted to deal with the urban situations. For example, household expenditure rather than wealth groups can be used for the purpose (Since wealth groups are more difficult to define in urban areas with heterogeneity of activities and sources of income).
Measurement and assessment issues are there in the field of casual-wage-labour rates that show fluctuations. Assessments also need to appreciate the seasonal nature of vulnerability: specially off-season requires flow of income to buy food. Here, the importance of promoting small-scale rural industry for dry-season labour may be noted.
Rural-urban linkage is necessary to combat vulnerability and conducive economic relation is needed in between the two situations to cut down the spatial divide.
There is also a need to differentiate between social protection policies and policies that have social protection elements.
Social protection of people of a country with limited resources needs a long term strategy. But is there political will among the countries across the globe?
Equitable agricultural and rural development are essential to achieve food security. Public policies are also essential to ensure that rural-urban poor people have access to resources and services.
Pro-poor agricultural research, by engaging all relevant scientific tools, including, where appropriate, bio-technology, has a critical role to play in supporting efforts to attain food security. Efforts to achieve food security demand sustainable natural resource management including the role of property rights and collective action.
Public investments in agricultural and rural development in less-favoured areas often lead to high returns in terms of both economic growth and poverty reduction.
Policies must ensure that soil fertility is maintained and the same should promote efficient agricultural water use and integrated pest management strategies, to ensure sustainability.
To minimise leakage under the food distribution system in our context, attention should be focused on price stabilisation mechanisms, the impact of India's food policy and cross-border trade, rice procurement system, public stock policy and food aid.
IDENTIFICATION of flows of existing measures and development of a consensus on issues relating to measurement of food security, vulnerability and poverty as well of food production and distribution remain a political and technical challenge, especially in the context of Bangladesh. New measures might have implications for the existing equilibrium about policy and allocation of resources. Exploring possibilities and advancing improvement are measured by the poverty-related questions.
Under the existing system, only Food for Works Programme (FWP), some occasional relief measures and international or national donations etc., are sources of support for low income groups. Transfer of political power sometime is explained, as a sort of justification, for stepping up the drive for poverty alleviation and for minimising vulnerability and change in an ideology are at times paraded as actions for implementation of "poverty-free agenda". But it is a pertinent question whether any relative change does at all take place.
The answer is NO. So to go further deep into the issue, the following points do merit consideration :
Compositional Changes:. Steps are needed to alter the relative vulnerability of poverty among various groups. Claims on resource or public attention may, in part, depend on the perceived vulnerability of the group, whether children, or the elderly or the working poor or single mothers. Obviously it is needed that the vulnerability that represents poverty has to be measured from a more realistic dimension.
Geographical Distribution: Changing the measure can alter the geographical distribution of the poor. Under some scenarios, poverty increases on both costs, where the mid-section of the country appears to be vulnerable to food security issue. This can be seen as good as lead news, depending on whether the relative changes are viewed as reflection of policies or as a prediction of future resources.
Historical Understanding: A new measure may well reshape our understanding of the record of the poverty situation in Bangladesh. The conventional wisdom holds that the economic position of children is not improving and that of elderly has been improving. What will happen if new measure modifies these assumptions? What would that do to our understanding of the situation about which public policies have worked and which have not.
Consequences of Resource Allocation: A new statistical measure of poverty is necessary for efficient allocation of public resources. It would be not entirely appropriate to assume that a change in the measure might eventually have real consequence for who are helped and who are not.
Recasting the political debate: The political consequences of a new poverty measure might be large. They are certainly unpredictable. Let us suppose the poverty rate changes as a result of a new measure; a rise might viewed as a transparent attempt to increase spending on the poor or conversely, to demonstrate that prior spending has been ineffective. A drop in the rate might be viewed as a threat to continued efforts to deal with poverty or as evidence that public initiatives are working and should be expanded.
Because of conceptual controversy, accurate data problems, political concerns, experts and interested parties remain divided over many of the issues and real hazards are faced. So, we should take re-examine, review and improve key economic indicators such as national output, the incidence of joblessness and the price level.
Enhancing people's resilience to overcome shocks, building their capacity to transcend food insecurity with a more durable and diverse livelihood base and increasing human capital will result in long-term sustainable improvement of food security. A sustained attitude towards policy matters of the country should be supported and maintained. Food availability, access and utilisation constitute the three pillars of food security.
Technical and institutional innovation has permitted food production to more than keep pace with population growth. Projection up to the year 2020 indicates that food supplies will remain adequate. Poor farmers are frequently in a mix of subsistence and commercial activities. Small-scale farmers face many constrains, including lack of access to productive resources, natural resource degradation and health crises.
Poverty drives food insecurity. Due to persistent poverty, more than 600 million people in developing countries will face food insecurity in 2015. Food insecurity is concentrated in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Discrimination, political disempowerment, violent conflict and natural disorders also contribute to food insecurity.
Unless developed countries reduce their agricultural subsidies and open their markets to developing countries' exports, the potential of globalization to contribute to food security will remain mostly unrealised.
Our aim should be to co-ordinate and promote multi-disciplinary food security and vulnerability analysis activities to improve the ability to respond to shocks, manage food security programme and strengthen government capacity to manage food-based programme.
Today, 850 million people go hungry or suffer from malnutrition. In order to meet the minimum requirement of a growing population, food production will be needed to doubled over the next 30 years. The natural resources like soil, water and biodiversity are required to produce this additional food.
Low income food-deficit countries (LIFDCS) are always concerned over the environment as well as the degradation and dwindling of natural resources in the context of food security policy. Food security embraces food production, stability of supply and access to food.
Role of livestock in food security also counts. Trade-offs between livestock production and environmental objectives, such as high value protein-rich animal products, indirectly support crop production and the same may help stabilise the sources of income and store of wealth for small holders. Thus, they provide the access of food to the people.
Livestock strengthens food security. Meat and milk can be produced year round, being less seasonal than cereals, fruits and vegetables. Animals, in particular the smaller species, can be slaughtered as the need arises, either for food or income and butter, milk and meat can be preserved to cover periods of food shortage. Mixed farming system can cover the gaps of the resources.
Market failures in the input supply system are key seasons of vulnerability. So, well-groomed marketing network is a prerequisite for distributive justice relating to food stock.
There is a need to distinguish more carefully between vulnerability and risk. As food access is not a risk itself, it can be put at risk by other factors.
The relationships between demographic changes and vulnerability should be analysed and better understood, especially in the context of HIV/AIDS. The relative impacts of HIV/AIDS on mortality and morbidity are different in different contexts, depending on infection rates and cumulative deaths.
There is a broad agreement that urban poverty and vulnerability are not receiving enough attention in the country, as in many other economies, especially in the context of assessments. Some evidence is there about how assessment methodology might be adopted to deal with the urban situations. For example, household expenditure rather than wealth groups can be used for the purpose (Since wealth groups are more difficult to define in urban areas with heterogeneity of activities and sources of income).
Measurement and assessment issues are there in the field of casual-wage-labour rates that show fluctuations. Assessments also need to appreciate the seasonal nature of vulnerability: specially off-season requires flow of income to buy food. Here, the importance of promoting small-scale rural industry for dry-season labour may be noted.
Rural-urban linkage is necessary to combat vulnerability and conducive economic relation is needed in between the two situations to cut down the spatial divide.
There is also a need to differentiate between social protection policies and policies that have social protection elements.
Social protection of people of a country with limited resources needs a long term strategy. But is there political will among the countries across the globe?
Equitable agricultural and rural development are essential to achieve food security. Public policies are also essential to ensure that rural-urban poor people have access to resources and services.
Pro-poor agricultural research, by engaging all relevant scientific tools, including, where appropriate, bio-technology, has a critical role to play in supporting efforts to attain food security. Efforts to achieve food security demand sustainable natural resource management including the role of property rights and collective action.
Public investments in agricultural and rural development in less-favoured areas often lead to high returns in terms of both economic growth and poverty reduction.
Policies must ensure that soil fertility is maintained and the same should promote efficient agricultural water use and integrated pest management strategies, to ensure sustainability.
To minimise leakage under the food distribution system in our context, attention should be focused on price stabilisation mechanisms, the impact of India's food policy and cross-border trade, rice procurement system, public stock policy and food aid.