Policy Options to Achieve Food Security in South Asia


Book Description

Policy Options to Achieve Food Security in South Asia pulls together all South Asian countries and identifies major issues of food security in the individual country. The chapters highlight issues such as initiatives and policies taken up in these countries to achieve the goal of food security and also critically evaluate the effectiveness of these policies. It suggests measures to overcome the identified constraints and make the policies more effective. It also talks about the SAARC food bank to ensure food security in the region. The question of food security has a number of dimensions that go beyond production, availability and demand for food. Food availability does not ensure food security, thus distribution and access of population to food is equally important for food security. Food availability through better distribution mechanisms and alternatively through imports can ensure food security.




Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia


Book Description

This volume foregrounds the importance of regional cooperation in the context of food security challenges in South Asia. South Asia holds the key to global achievement of SDG targets of ending hunger and malnutrition – it accounts for nearly one-third of food-insecure people on the planet, with every third child suffering from stunting due to malnutrition. Similar food preferences, production systems, and the transboundary nature of agrarian ecosystems call for coordinated action by South Asian countries, complementing national actions dealing with food security challenges. In this volume, leading experts discuss the perspectives of key South Asian countries in leveraging regional cooperation for addressing food security challenges and reflect on the potential of cooperative actions in different areas. The book proposes a ten-point regional policy agenda covering cooperation for combatting climate change, regional trade liberalization, operationalization of regional food reserves, leveraging technology, sharing of good practices, regional institution building, coordinated positions in multilateral trade negotiations, addressing trans-boundary outbreak of livestock diseases, strengthening food safety standards, and the management of shared natural resources. A key volume on accomplishing SDGs in the South Asian context, this book will be of immense interest to policy makers, researchers, and development practitioners. It is also essential reading for scholars and researchers in the areas of development studies, South Asia studies, food security, environment and sustainability.




Economic Reforms and Food Security


Book Description

Gain new insight on alleviating food insecurity in one of the poorest areas of the world! This book analyzes various facets of economic reforms in South Asia and their implications for attaining food security. It illuminates relevant issues regarding the constraints and challenges in achieving food security, focusing on South Asian countries where a large percentage of the world’s poor reside. This timely resource examines possible future courses of action involving trade and new technological advances to improve agriculture-led development in the region. Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia focuses its attention on the economic reforms and experiences of six nations: Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia includes the most relevant presentations made at the South Asia Regional Conference held in New Delhi in April of 2002. The book features experts who present lively, important debate on such significant issues as: current economic reforms—have they really enhanced food security? trade liberalization—can the WTO and new trade opportunities handle food security concerns? new technological options—how they contribute to agricultural production and food security the challenges of water—pricing, subsidies, and other issues in irrigation agricultural diversification and market reforms-how they increase food availability interventions in food and nutrition security—short-term solutions to reduce food insecurity and more! Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia contains numerous tables and figures to demonstrate the current food situation in this area of the world and offers projections of where improvements can be made. Students and faculty of economics or South Asia will find this book extremely useful; it will also benefit development researchers, policymakers, and governmental officials who are searching for answers to poverty and starvation in developing countries. This text shows you how a concerted effort by governments, agencies, organizations, industries, and individuals—backed by adequate resources and changes in policies—can accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable food security for all.




Food Security and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific


Book Description

Ensuring a secure supply of food is essential, given the world's (and especially Asia's) growing population, high and volatile food prices, increasingly scarce resources, and changing environment. This publication discusses the drivers behind food insecurity in Asia and points to ways to mitigate it.




Agricultural Trade in South Asia


Book Description




Food Security in South Asia


Book Description

Contributed articles discussed at national consultations during 2001.




Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia


Book Description

This book addresses an important topic of food security in South Asia with specific reference to climate change. Of the 1 billion food insecure people in the world, more than 30% are in South Asia. The problem of food insecurity may be exacerbated by the projected climate change especially because of the water scarcity caused by rapid melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and increase in variability in monsoonal rains and frequency of extreme events. Furthermore, large populations of Bangladesh and other coastal regions may be displaced by sea level rise. Thus, this volume addresses recommended land use and soil/water/crop/vegetation management practices which would enable land managers to adapt to climate disruption by enhancing soil/ecosystem/social resilience. In addition to biophysical factors, this book also addresses the issues related to human dimensions including social, ethnical and political considerations.




Food Security Strategies


Book Description

This publication reviews the recent literature on food systems and economic development and underlines their limitations. Simultaneously, it analyzes the Asian approach to food security and concludes that the lesson from East and Southeast Asia for achieving and maintaining food security can be summed up as a growth process stimulated by a dynamic rural economy leads to rapid poverty alleviation, which, in the context of public action to stabilize food prices, ensures food security.--Publisher's description.




Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems


Book Description

Due to such factors as poor economic conditions, climate change, and conflict, food security remains an issue around the world and especially in developing nations. Rapid changes in technology over the last decade has brought a renewed focus on how information and communication technologies (ICTs) and application systems are deployed to improve rural competitiveness. Unfortunately, agricultural stakeholders in developing countries, particularly in Africa, have not been able to reap comparable benefits from adopting agricultural information systems as compared to their counterparts in the developed economies. Understanding the challenges that hinder the effective adoption of agricultural information systems and identifying opportunities or innovations is imperative to improve the agricultural sectors and overcome the problems in these developing economies. Opportunities and Strategic Use of Agribusiness Information Systems is an essential reference book that examines the key challenges that hinder the effective adoption of agricultural information systems. Moreover, it identifies and evaluates opportunities for the strategic deployment of ICTs and information systems to drive agricultural development for the benefit of agricultural sector stakeholders in emerging countries. While highlighting such topics as agricultural entrepreneurship, food value chain, and innovation systems, it is intended to provide sound and relevant frameworks and tools that will aid agricultural industry practitioners, smallholder farmers, and managers of agricultural extension systems looking to make more effective and responsible decisions when selecting, planning, deploying, and managing agribusiness information systems. It is additionally targeted for agricultural funding organizations, government policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students concerned with exploiting the potential of a variety of ICTs and information systems in the quest to achieve food security and poverty reduction in emerging economies.




Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia


Book Description

Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia: Status, Challenges, and Policy Options is based on agricultural extension reforms across five South Asian countries, reflecting past experiences, case studies and experiments. Beginning with an overview of historical trends and recent developments, the book then delves into country-wise reform trajectories and presents several cases testing the effectiveness of different types (public and private) and forms (nutrition extension, livestock extension) of extension systems. Further, the book provides a comprehensive overview of challenges and constraints faced in formulating and implementing reforms, tying the results into a concrete set of lessons and highlighting areas that require further research. In addition, the book discusses how a major aspect of agricultural development is the productivity increase from the knowledge base of farmers, and how translating research results into a knowledge base for farmers requires designing and implementing well-functioning extension programs. Presents the current challenges and solutions by region, and provides insights for application in global settings Provides key foundational information for the effective and efficient design of future intervention programs Includes workshops and presentations based on real-world research of specific aspects of extension systems and provision of advisory and consultation services to various governments