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	The U.S. administration should aim to target food aid at meeting key nutritional goals by Megan Rowling Reuters Alertnet   15 February 2012   As U.S. Senate hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill get underway, aid groups are calling for Washington to get more bang for its food aid bucks - especially amid today"s tight fiscal climate and high food prices.   Food aid from the United States accounts for about half of the world"s total. But what"s wrong with it?   Quite a lot, say non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Under the longstanding system of "tied" food aid, large amounts of cereals, pulses and vegetable oil are purchased from big American corporations - around 40 percent of it from just three firms.   The food is transported overseas on U.S.-flagged ships, accounting for 60 percent of the aid"s total cost and taking from three to six months to arrive.   Even after reaching its destination, it"s not all handed out to hungry people. A chunk of the food is sold by aid agencies on local markets, generating cash to fund their development programmes on the ground in a process called "monetisation".   "It"s just craziness," says Paul O"Brien, vice-president for policy and campaigns at Oxfam America.   Aid groups argue that regulations on the food aid programme in the Farm Bill, legislation which oversees U.S. food policy, protect special interests - mainly large agricultural corporations - at the expense of the world"s hungry, and mean that more than a third of every dollar the United States spends on food aid goes to waste.   "In this very difficult budget environment, it is absolutely critical that we don"t waste money, and not least because the world is so far off meeting targets on reducing hunger," says O"Brien.   Citing the prospect of a rapidly developing food emergency in border areas of Sudan and South Sudan, where clashes have displaced more than 400,000 people, "there"s just no way we could respond effectively if we wanted to ship food from the United States," he adds.   An analysis of a $60-million pilot project to buy U.S. food aid in the countries and regions where it"s needed showed that, on average, local purchases were at least 60 percent - 14 weeks - faster than shipments from the United States. And for cereals and some pulses, cost savings amounted to 50 percent or more, although little or nothing was saved on processed products and some varieties of beans.   NGOs want to see this test project at the very least maintained, but ideally expanded and allocated regular funding in the Farm Bill.   They also want as much food aid cash as possible to be "untied", so it can be used to fund more effective and innovative ways of tackling hunger, including cash transfers and vouchers for people to buy their own supplies, local procurement, and strengthening sustainable agriculture.   "Our food aid dollars should be flexible enough so that we can choose the best way of delivery".   Other desirable reforms include an end to the practice of monetisation - which floods developing-country markets with imported U.S. food - and the preference for using U.S.-flagged ships, says Oxfam"s O"Brien.   "In this tough economic climate, we do need to think about U.S. interests, but the business case (for the current food aid model) doesn"t hold," he argues.   Asma Lateef, director of the Bread for the World Institute, says the U.S. administration should also aim to target food aid at meeting key nutritional goals, especially for pregnant women and children under the age of two.   Widespread recognition of the long-term ramifications of inadequate food in the first 1,000 days of a child"s existence has pushed Washington to focus on nutrition as part of new agricultural development and health initiatives.   "At a minimum, we should begin to include goals on nutrition as a measure of the impact of U.S. food aid," says Lateef. "It"s really important to have a discussion on how food aid can be better aligned with broader development goals."   Later this week, a coalition of aid groups plan to send a letter to Capitol Hill requesting an additional hearing on the international implications of the Farm Bill, including food aid. Some 80 percent of the annual $2 billion or so spent on food aid by the U.S. falls inside the bill"s remit.   But how likely is it that efforts to reform food aid will be successful? If past attempts are anything to go by, perhaps not very.   A push by the Bush administration, launched in 2005, to persuade Congress to let U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID) purchase a quarter of food aid locally failed, for example.   In 2012, O"Brien admits there is a "significant risk" that the pilot project on local procurement will be dropped from the Farm Bill altogether due to resistance among the agricultural lobby, let alone made part of core funding.   But if Congress does dig in its heels on tied food aid, it will be rowing against the international tide, which is shifting towards cash-based aid and buying from producers in developing countries.   "The whole aid-effectiveness world has converged around the idea that we want local leadership up and running, and anything that stops that is problematic," O"Brien says. "The practice of importing food aid is an anachronism that is increasingly unpopular for all global donors."   * Editors Note: Food Aid should never be delivered with "terminator seeds". Visit the related web page
	No Water, No Food by Rizwana Naqvi Pakistan   Water is a basic necessity of life, yet it remains inaccessible for a large part of the world’s population. At present, almost one fifth of the global population (about 1.2 billion people) live in areas which are water scarce and a quarter live in developing countries that face water shortages. Globally the situation is getting worse due to the increase in population and the need for more water for agriculture, industry and household use to meet the needs of the increasing population. With the existing climate change scenario, it is predicted that almost half of the world population will be living in water stressed areas by 2030.   Over one billion people live in chronic hunger and with the depleting water resources, food production is likely to suffer.   It needs to be understood that freshwater resources are limited and are fast depleting due to irresponsible use.   Each year, the World Water Day highlights a specific theme and this year’s theme is Water and Food Security. The theme is very relevant as there are growing indications for both water and food scarcity in the years to come.   To feed the burgeoning world population, an increased food growth is required. With over one billion people living in chronic hunger and with the depleting water resources, food production is likely to suffer.   All the food from crop and livestock, fisheries and forest products requires water…a lot of water. Just imagine: it takes about 1,500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of wheat and 10 times more to produce beef. It may come as a surprise for many but the fact is that when combined all the water required for raising a cow (its feed too needs water to grow), slaughtering and processing meat it the water content for beef becomes this high. Even fisheries and aquaculture require a certain quantity and quality of water in rivers, lakes and estuaries and are therefore important water users.   The biggest share of water use is in agriculture. In fact, about 70 per cent of all water usage is in agriculture. But world’s water supply is being impacted by climate change because of changed rainfall patterns, greater droughts, melting glaciers and altered river flows; this will drastically affect agriculture, including feed and fodder for livestock. Erratic rainfall and seasonal differences in water availability can cause temporary food shortages, while floods and droughts can cause intensive food emergencies. Lack of water can be a major cause of famine and result in under-nourishment, as it limits farmers’ ability to produce enough food to eat or earn a living.   With population increase, economic growth and urbanisation, the demand for water in cities and industries is also growing at a fast rate. Attempts to meet this growing demand put pressure on both the current availability and further expansion of the irrigated area. This is besides the water required for non-food crops such as bio-fuels and fodder for livestock.   This increased competition for water further impacts the poor and vulnerable groups. Millions of small farmers, fishers and herders depend on water as one of the most important factors of production — without water they cannot make a living.   With climate change affecting water availability, there is an urgent need to find ways and means to conserve water; it also calls for better water management in agriculture. Techniques must be developed to improve water usage in the fields, so that more crop is produced using less water or crop yield per unit of water is more. This can be achieved by better control and application of irrigation water, as well as combination of rain and irrigation water wherever possible. These, combined with good agricultural practices, will ensure highest possible productivity.   Along with measures to maximise food production, dietary habits must be changed and the consumption of water-intensive food must be lessened. For example, a more vegetarian diet can be helpful as producing meat needs more water. Moreover, emphasis should be on cultivating less water intensive crops so more food is produced with less water.   Treated waste water, drainage water and desalinated water can be used for agriculture, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, after making sure that no toxic substances are present in the water. Similarly, recirculation of water in aquaculture can reduce the use of water to a great extent.   It is important to reduce food wastage. It is either wasted somewhere between farmers’ field and markets due to poor storage or during transportation or ends up in garbage dumps by consumers who are not aware or do not care how important it is for the starving millions. It is not only the food that is wasted but the water used to produce it is also lost.   Conservation of water is vital as not only its resources are dwindling, but food security depends on it.   * Rizwana Naqvi is a reporter for Dawn newspaper in Pakistan. Below is a link to Alertnet blogs - Asia views. 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