In Search for a Sustainable Framework for Food Security and Livelihoods of the Rural Poor

ANGOC Chair Emeritus Fr. Francis Lucas speaking before the International Conference on Agriculture and Food Security 2011, Singapore

In 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that of the 925 million hungry, 578 million are found in Asia. Among these are Asia’s small food producers, majority of who continue to live on less than $1.25 per day. The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) also attests that 70% of the world’s very poor people are rural. They are chronically poor due to lack of assets, limited economic opportunities, poor education and skills, and socio-political inequities (by gender, age or indigenous roots).

Livelihoods in rural areas are mostly derived from smallholder farming, including agricultural labor, livestock production, artisanal fisheries. It is usually the poorest households who depend on farming and agricultural labor. Many farming households tend to diversify their livelihoods since income is seasonal from one type of crop alone. Usually, this involves a mixture of on-farm and off-farm activities by various family members. Thus, there is higher pressure to make a dynamic agriculture sector which can play a major role in reducing poverty and hunger.

With the food crisis of 2008, food security regained top priority for governments and intergovernmental organizations. And as can be expected, investments and development assistance is shifting back to agriculture and food security programs. But how are these truly affecting and improving food security and livelihoods for the rural poor in Asia?

Several key challenges need to be considered:

High vulnerability of the rural poor. FAO’s State of Food Insecurity 2010 noted the insufficient resilience to economic shocks of poor countries and vulnerable households. Such shocks could be death or illness in the family, calamities or even price increase of basic goods or inputs.  To cope with crisis, rural households tend to sell assets that are difficult to recover (such as land and livestock), reduce food intake in quantity or quality, or cut down on health and education expenses. These risks for poor rural households need to be managed or minimized.

Unsustainable food production systems.  Unsustainable methods of agriculture have caused soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, excessive water extraction from irrigation, to name a few.  Around 75% of biodiversity in agriculture was lost in the last 50 years.  Up to 90% of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers’ fields.  Half of the breeds of domestic animals are lost; fishing grounds, overfished.

Limited resources, Limitless demand. Land, water, energy — these are but the most critical elements for life on this planet to survive and yet, are becoming scarcer with the growing population and their competing use.  Deforestation and mining are destroying watersheds, biodiversity and indigenous cultures. The stability in the food production and consumption of the rural poor is being threatened by the increasing competition for land due to agricultural investments and urbanization. Around 15-20 million hectares of land are under negotiation for acquisition or leasing by foreign investors (IFAD Rural Poverty Report, 2011). While the government may have the right intention of encouraging agricultural investments, it should include in their economic equation, the food security of the rural poor.

On the other hand, demand for water used for agriculture could rise by over 30% by 2030. Agriculture currently consumes 70% of water withdrawals from rivers and aquifers (Foresight, 2011).

Climate Change. The changing climate pattern will also have tremendous impact on the rural poor’s food security. Desertification, salinization and sea level rise will further diminish arable land. As agriculture is very specific to location and sensitive to weather, the types of crops and their productivity will be greatly affected. In turn, this will affect food intake as there will be changes in taste, nutrient content and social acceptability. Biofuel requirements for climate change mitigation will also reduce lands for growing food crops.

Rural undernourishment. In the Philippines, the rural population is eating less than those living in the urban areas (XUCA, 2011). Within the food groups, people in the rural areas eat more cereals, starchy tubers and vegetables and very little of milk and milk products, meats, and surprisingly, fruits. The bigger percentage intake of carbohydrates and starchy foods is related to the availability and affordability of these food products in the rural areas.

Can the rural poor achieve food security and sustainable livelihoods from agriculture?
YES, they can, with a more holistic framework to guide programs and interventions.  Sustainability should not only target better food security and livelihoods for increased incomes but the sustainability of resources and the quality of life. Hence, ANGOC has heavily espoused  mainstreaming sustainable agriculture as a key strategy  to achieve these goals.

Sustainable Agriculture as basis for agricultural systems
Organic and agroecological agriculture is part of the larger approach of sustainable agriculture (SA), the more fundamental framework which is essentially principle and value-laden. Today, it is inaccurately branded as an alternative agricultural method perhaps only to differentiate it from the “conventional”, high-yielding agricultural practices propagated by the Green Revolution. Yet, it has been embedded in Asia’s long tradition of food self-sufficiency and community survival.  Sustainable Agriculture is one of the most effective programs for Food Security especially for the underdeveloped rural and agricultural countries.

SA, with its agroecological system, conserves the natural resource base made up of water, soils and biodiversity, and at the same time entails economically-viable activity because of the diversity of animals, plants and microorganisms and crops involved. Emphasis is put on small-scale and medium-sized farms instead of large-scale farms. Community-based and family-based agricultural systems will be more prominent and a closer link between rural and urban populations is envisioned – that is, consumers and producers are much more linked.

The FAO report on the State of Food Insecurity in 2002 also emphasized that farmers who owned their lands tend to invest more on making them productive than those who still leased land or work as farm labourers. Furthermore, small farm owners have more freedom to decide how to diversify their farm activities according to their needs, which helps achieve household food security. Farmers who practice sustainable agriculture are usually those who have no tenure issues and can choose their preferred farming approach freely.

Communities of small food producers have partnered with civil society organizations (CSOs) for half a century to defend and promote the practice of sustainable agriculture that conserve and improve the environment. SA protects the seeds, the genetic resources that could feed the planet, in a sustainable, equitable, ecological and healthy manner. The UN official statistics estimate around 1.5 billion smallholder families that practice traditional and ecological forms of agriculture, pastoralism and fisheries for a living.

Studies attest that growth in agriculture can still generate the best improvements for the poorest people (IFAD Rural Development Report, 2011), especially through sustainable agriculture. SA promotes diversified livelihoods, like crop and farm diversification, to address seasonal harvests, nutritional deficiencies and environmental conservation. SA is labor-intensive, which promotes agricultural employment or family/community integration. There is also a need to balance on- and off-farm activities to reduce risks of rural households that can keep them in the cycle of poverty.