The Global Food Policy Report 2019 released by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stresses on the urgent need for rural revitalization to address persistent crises in rural areas.
IFPRI Director-General Shenggen Fan stated that the report shows limited rural employment opportunities, poor access to basic services, and worsening environmental degradation continue to contribute to persistent poverty, hunger and malnutrition in many developing countries.
Therefore, “a system wide transformation is needed to revitalize rural areas not only to achieve sustainable development goals but more broadly to make rural areas vibrant and healthy place to live and work,” he added.
According to the report, revitalizing the world’s rural areas through rurbanomics, an approach that emphasizes the linkages between rural and urban economies, is a key in achieving sustainable development goals. Rural revitalization requires a transformative approach that considers all aspects of making rural areas a good place to live and work for present and future generations.
Rurbanomics is a development approach premised on the potential of symbiotic rural and urban systems to transform rural areas. Rural urban links can spur growth and diversification in the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors, increase incomes, support value chain development, and improve well-being.
Scaling up rural non-farm economic opportunities, building capacity for employment, developing markets, and creating clusters and special economic zones in rural areas can leverage economic scale and increase non-farm employment, according to the report. It also stated that improving primary and secondary education as well as vocational training can support productive rural labor force.
UNDP Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Program Adviser, Alessandra Casazza, for her part said that there are opportunities to overcome food insecurity in African countries through investing on rural utilization, linking industry and agriculture, enhancing small-scale manufacturing activities and expanding industrial parks.
Revitalizing the world’s rural areas through a rurbanomics approach holds the key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that everyone can contribute to and benefit from economic growth and development.
The first two SDGs call to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” SDG1 and to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” SDG2 by 2030. These goals seem distant, especially as political attention has shifted away from rural areas, where most of the world’s poor live. The global rural poverty rate is currently 17 percent, in contrast to an urban poverty rate of 7 percent.
Rural areas lag behind in reducing the prevalence of child stunting and underweight among children. Rural environments are also under threat: climate change, deforestation, soil degradation, and pollution increasingly challenge rural production, sustainability and well-being.
Lack of rural infrastructure, services, and economic opportunities compound these obstacles to realizing the potential of rural areas. A system wide transformation is needed to raise rural incomes, improve rural food security and nutrition, safeguard environmental resources, and lift living conditions in rural areas.
Rural revitalization is a way of positively transforming rural areas for present and future generations. It considers all aspects of life that can make rural areas good places for people to live, work, and raise families. These considerations include creating opportunities for employment and forging links between rural and urban economies, not only with megacities but also with smaller towns and cities.
Rurbanomics is an approach that frames rural economies as equal partners with urban economies, emphasizing the vitality of rural economies as drivers of food security and rural well-being; as springboards for value chains; and as providers of quality environmental services. The economic integration and trade agreements among African countries create opportunities to achieve sustainable development goals of the continent.
According to the report, global economic growth is projected to slow over the next two years, decreasing to 2.9 percent annually in 2019 and 2020. The 2019 Global Food Policy Report reviews the major policy development of 2018 focuses on rural revitalization as a promising way to achieve the 2030 development agenda and improve rural lives.
2018 was a somber and unpredictable year not only for food and nutrition security but also for global political stability and international development. Policies, institutions, and investments that take advantage of new opportunities and technologies, increase access to basic service, create more and better rural jobs, foster gender equality and restore the environment can make rural areas vibrant and healthy places to live.
Tom Bundervoet Chief Party World Bank told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia has made significant progress on food security and nutrition although challenges remain. Despite Ethiopia’s great progress and improvement in health and nutrition over the past 30 years, poor nutrition remains a persistent challenge.
Ethiopia has made important development gains over the past decades, reducing poverty and expanding investments in basic social services. However, food insecurity and under-nutrition still hinder economic growth.
The primary direct and indirect causes of malnutrition in Ethiopia include persistent food insecurity, poor dietary diversity, poor food quality or safety, poor maternal and child feeding practices, suboptimal hygiene and sanitation, cultural practices, and limited access to quality nutrition services.
Speaking to The Ethiopian Herald Alemayehu Seyoum, Senior Research Fellow International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that Ethiopia’s economy is dependent on agriculture, which contributes over half of country’s domestic GDP. However, little percent of land is irrigated, and crop yields from small farms are below regional averages.
Market linkages are weak, and the use of improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides remains limited. Despite these challenges, agriculture led economic growth that is linked to improved livelihoods and nutrition can become a long-lasting solution to Ethiopia’s situation.
The growing network of roads linking farms with cities is transforming the corridors between them. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) demonstrated that access to roads or markets improve household welfare and diets. Ethiopian households in remote areas spend less on food and other goods than households nearer to markets. Their diets are less diverse.
Ethiopia’s policies towards the private sector are on the threshold of change. Although Ethiopia’s private sector has grown in the last two decades, Ethiopia’s rank in the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicator ranking 159 out of 190 countries. Of course, the initiative started by Prime Minister to ease doing business is expected to avoid the problems.
The country is home to the second largest refugee population on the continent, hosting 928,600 registered refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Kenya. Unrest in parts of the country has also led to a surge in the number of internally displaced people.
Recurrent drought and failed harvests have left a negative legacy on many families, who have lost livestock and other productive assets. The Somali Region remains the epicenter of drought and has also been prone to flash floods, with an estimated 1.8 million people in need of life-saving food assistance.
Alemayehu stated that agricultural investments improve the competitiveness of value chains. These activities bring jobs and income opportunities for rural households. It is better to strengthen small and medium sized enterprises by providing access to credit and technical support.
Herald May 7/2019
BY HAILE DEMEKE
