2014-2015 Global food policy report

This 2014–2015 Global Food Policy Report is the fourth in an annual series that provides a comprehensive overview of major food policy developments and events. In this report, distinguished researchers, policymakers, and practitioners review what happened in food policy in 2014 at the global, regional, and national levels, and—supported by the latest knowledge and research—explain why. This year’s report is the first to also look forward a year, offering analysis of the potential opportunities and challenges that we will face in achieving food and nutrition security in 2015. The year 2014 was marked by advances and setbacks in agriculture, food security, and nutrition. The Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015 was achieved. World food prices fell to their lowest level since 2010. Nutrition remained prominent: the Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome proposed actions to end malnutrition, membership in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement expanded, and new research highlighted the importance of factors such as water and sanitation and the role of women in battling malnutrition. Debate began on the draft post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, sharpening the world’s focus on the building blocks of food and nutrition security. Significant commitments to combating climate change were made, particularly by China and the United States. Middle income countries, home to the majority of the world’s hungry and malnourished people, continued their efforts to improve food security and nutrition at home, with Brazil and China, for example, expanding investments in agriculture and knowledge and technology transfers with the global South.Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Food Policy in 2014–2015: Strong Advances and Stubborn Setbacks, Shenggen Fan 1 Chapter 2 Reaching the Missing Middle: Overcoming Hunger and Malnutrition in Middle Income Countries, Shenggen Fan and Ertharin Cousin 13 Chapter 3 The Power of WASH: Why Sanitation Matters for Nutrition, Dean Spears and Lawrence Haddad 19 Chapter 4 The Business Imperative: Helping Small Family Farmers to Move Up or Move Out, Shenggen Fan, Joanna Brzeska, and Tolulope Olofinbiyi 25 Chapter 5 Mitigating Risk: Social Protection and the Rural Poor, Ravi Kanbur 33 Chapter 6 Food Safety: Reducing and Managing Food Scares, Delia Grace and John McDermott 41 Chapter 7 Conflict and Food Insecurity: How Do We Break the Links? Clemens Breisinger, Olivier Ecker, and Jean Francois Trinh Tan 51 Chapter 8 The Rise of Aquaculture: The Role of Fish in Global Food Security, Siwa Msangi and Miroslav Batka 61 Chapter 9 Regional Developments 73 Africa Ousmane Badiane, Julia Collins, and Tsitsi Makombe 74 Middle East and North Africa, Clemens Breisinger, Perrihan Al-Riffai, Olivier Ecker, and Danielle Resnick 78 Central Asia, Kamiljon Akramov and Allen Park 82 South Asia, P. K. Joshi 85 East Asia, Kevin Chen and Peter Timmer 88 Latin America and the Caribbean, Maximo Torero 91 Food Policy Indicators: Tracking Change 95 Notes 114PRIFPRI1; A Ensuring Sustainable food production; B Promoting healthy food systems; C Improving markets and trade; D Transforming Agriculture; E Building Resilience; F Strengthening institutions and governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; CRP2DGO; DSGD; EPTD; MTID; CKM; PHND; PIM; WCAO; ESAOCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM