Interventions for Improving Livelihoods in SSA

An example of a highly selective intervention that works! Also see intervention diagnostic.

From PovertNet:

FAO and IFAD have recently produced a report entitled Water and the Rural Poor, in which they make the case for well-targeted, local interventions in water that can contribute to the rapid improvement in the livelihoods of the rural poor in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These interventions can help attain the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

There are important opportunities for new investments in water but their success depends on the development of new models of interventions, centered on enhancing the diversity of livelihood conditions of rural populations. There is no “one size fits all” approach for improving livelihoods. Different contexts and needs require different types of investments to guide the choice for specific interventions.

The types of interventions required rarely involve large-scale irrigation schemes, although there is a need to improve those already existing, when these systems are used below capacity and are poorly maintained. In all cases, clear policies need to be put in place to allow equitable access to the water by poor farmers, who also require favorable market linkages and conditions.

The report’s main focus is on small-scale on-farm improvements, structures that are easy to operate and maintain locally and that target mainly female and male smallholders. Such interventions will focus in particular on improving water management in rainfed agriculture.

Investments in water infrastructure alone cannot suffice to improve agricultural productivity in SSA. Farmers need secure access to inputs including fertilizer, better seeds, and credit. They need to be better educated and informed on the use of inputs and the latest techniques.

The report contends that investments in water control need to be planned and implemented in the much broader framework of agricultural and rural development, where production, markets, finance and infrastructure are conceived in an integrated way and are mutually supporting. Furthermore, the policy and institutional framework has to ensure fair and equitable access to water resources and effective access to markets for agricultural products.

Climate change represents an additional challenge to rural people in SSA, and a further reason for investment in water control. In view of their limited adaptive capacity, smallholder farmers, pastoralists and artisanal fishers in SSA are among the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. While projections on possible changes in annual rainfall vary across Africa, these populations will experience the negative effects of increased temperature on yields, combined with a high vulnerability to extreme events. For them, enhanced control of water will become critical in building resilience to increased climate variability.

The report is available here:
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/news/ruralpoor.html

Outdated foreign Assistance model of the US

More here

Links of Interest

How Countries Get Rich (interview with Michael Spence)

Why Do Economists Make Such Dismal Argument About Trade?

Six principles of a new regulatory order

Why free markets have little to do with inequality

A return of that 70s show?

The world is upside down

More Koreans go abroad for medical treatment

Fingers Crossed at Nepal's Republican Utopia

Learn from monkeys, ex-MP tells ousted Nepal king

The problem of African cities is rooted in their history

Stagflation in Nepal

The Kathmandu Post reports that sustained low growth, rising food prices, and high unemployment in the Nepali economy might be a case of stagflation.

Leading experts view the current inflationary pressures combined with low growth rate of around 3.5 present represents initial indications of stagflation, an economic condition of rising prices, high unemployment and slow growth.

“There has been sustained price rise, albeit with declining output which means growth will shrink in the coming days. Since investments are shrinking, the unemployment situation will deteriorate,” Professor Bishwambher Pyakuryal told the Post explaining how the economy portraits a gloomy outlook.

Inflation in the country in the first quarter was around 8.9%. Inflation rate has been hovering around on average of 7% for the past three years. Meanwhile, GDP growth rate is around 2.5-3%. Well, I am not sure whether this is stagflation or an indication of this, especially when the price rise is caused chiefly due to rising food prices and fuel prices (both of them are technically temporary). The inflation rate would have been much more higher had the government not subsidized petroleum fuel products for more than three decades. Consumer demand has been pretty much static for the past couple of years. So, the upward pressure is coming from producers trying to refill depleting stock. People are unnecessarily raising the alarm!

Zoellick offers 10-point plan for tackling food crisis

The World Bank President Robert Zoellick writes in the FT today and offers ten point plan for tackling food crisis:

First, we should agree in Rome to fund fully the World Food Programme’s emergency needs, support its drive to purchase food aid locally and ensure the unhampered movement of humanitarian assistance.

Second, we need support for safety nets, such as distributing food in schools or offering food in return for work, so that we can quickly help those in severe distress. The World Bank, working with the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, has already made rapid needs assessments for more than 25 countries. In Rome we should agree on co-ordinated action.

Third, we need seeds and fertiliser for the planting season, especially for smallholders in poor countries. Together, the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, regional development banks and the World Bank can expand this effort by working with civil society groups and bilateral donors. The key is not just financing, but fast delivery systems.

Fourth, we need to boost agricultural supply and increase research spending, reversing years of agricultural underinvestment. We must be neither Luddite nor advocates of a single scientific fix. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research has been receiving about $450m a year. We should double this investment in research and development over the next five years.

Fifth, there needs to be more investment in agribusiness so that we can tap the private sector’s ability to work across the value chain: developing sustainable lands and water; supply chains; cutting wastage; infrastructure and logistics; helping developing country producers meet food safety standards; connecting retailers with farmers in developing countries; and supporting agricultural trade finance.

Sixth, we need to develop innovative instruments for risk management and crop insurance for small farmers. Next week the World Bank’s board will consider weather derivatives for developing countries, with Malawi being identified as a likely first client. Should Malawi suffer a drought it would receive a payout to offset the price of imported maize.

Seventh, we need action in the US and Europe to ease subsidies, mandates and tariffs on biofuels that are derived from corn and oilseeds. The US’s use of corn for ethanol has consumed more than 75 per cent of the increase in global corn production over the past three years. Policymakers should consider “safety valves” that ease these policies when prices are high. The choice does not have to be food or fuel. Cutting tariffs on ethanol imported into the US and European Union markets would encourage the output of more efficient sugarcane biofuels that do not compete directly with food production and expand opportunities for poorer countries, including in Africa. We need to find ways to advance to second-generation cellulosic products.

Eighth, we should remove export bans that have led to even higher world prices. India has recently relaxed its restrictions. But 28 countries have imposed such controls. Removing these could have a dramatic effect. With only 7 per cent of global rice production traded on markets, if Japan released some of its stocks for humanitarian purposes and China sold 1m tons of its rice, we could damp the price immediately.

Ninth, we should conclude a Doha World Trade Organisation deal in order to remove the distortions of ag­ricultural subsidies and create a more adaptable, efficient and fair global food trade. The need for rules that are agreed multilaterally has never been stronger.

Tenth, there should be greater collective action to counter global risks. The interconnected challenges of energy, food and water will be drivers of the world economy and security. We might explore an agreement among the G8 and key developing countries to hold “global goods” stocks, modelled on the International Energy Agency, governed by transparent and clear rules. This would act as insurance for the poorest people, offering affordable food.

Paul Collier offers "4 ways to improve the lives of the bottom billion"

Around the world right now, one billion people are trapped in poor or failing countries. How can we help them? Economist Paul Collier lays out a bold, compassionate plan for closing the gap between rich and poor. (Source: TED)

Lake from quake!

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, partially submerged Yuli Town of worst-hit Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province is seen Wednesday, May 28, 2008. More and more buildings and roads of Yuli Town were submerged because of the swollen Tangjiashan quake lake, Xinhua said. (Source: AP)


An aerial view shows the landslide mud that formed the Tangjiashan quake lake near Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 26, 2008, in this picture distributed by China's official Xinhua News Agency.

This combination picture of satellite images taken by Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO) shows a lake being formed by landslides caused by the recent earthquake in Beichuan county, Sichuan province, China. The top picture shows the river in 2006. The second and third image show the lake after the quake. (Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan/Reuters)