Joachim von Braun, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute
Marc Cohen, Research Fellow, Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, IFPRI
As World Food Day approaches, conflicts in many countries--from Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo--are fueling increases in hunger. In February 2004, UN agencies calculated that over 45 million people in developing countries affected by conflict were in need of food or other emergency aid, more than 80 percent of them in Africa. Armed conflicts often lead to the destruction of food systems, causing hunger and depressing production and income from cash and livestock. This further reduces food security and the coping capacity of those dependent on such resources for their livelihoods. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, conflict cost Africa over $120 billion worth of agricultural production during the last third of the 20th century.
Food insecurity is not just an effect of conflict; it also breeds it. Competition between groups for scarce resources such as land and water--one of the underlying causes of the crisis in Darfur--has long been recognized as a source of violence. According to a new issue brief by IFPRI, Breaking the Links Between Conflict and Hunger in Africa, recent studies show that conflict is more likely to be triggered by competition for high-value commodities, such as oil or diamonds, particularly in politically volatile settings characterized by poverty and inequality.
Trade in important agricultural exports, such as coffee and cotton, can also increase the likelihood of conflict as competing groups fight over access to the land and water needed for production. If cash crops are overproduced, prices plunge, and with them fall the livelihoods, living standards, and hopes of small farmers, who may turn to violent military or illicit trade activities to earn an income and stave off hunger.
Such outcomes, however, are not inevitable. High-value agricultural exports can provide small farmers with opportunities to earn income, enhance food security, and improve household nutrition, but only if policies ensure equitable access to land, markets, and infrastructure and assist the "losers" from globalization. Elimination of developed-country subsidies and tariffs could also help reduce economic shocks, conflict potential, and the need for humanitarian assistance. When donors do provide aid, they must do so in an inclusive manner that does not reinforce local and regional power structures.
Breaking the links between conflict and hunger will not be easy, but the millions of people in developing countries who are without adequate food because of international or civil wars, make it necessary. One of the key steps to ending the cycle of hunger and conflict is supporting a rights-based approach to agriculture and rural development that promotes greater equity for all.
For more information, contact:
m.pietrowski@cgiar.org
m.rubinstein@cgiar.org
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15 Future Harvest Centers and receives its principal funding from 63 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.