Current food systems also threaten the health of people and the planet and generate unsustainable levels of pollution and waste. One third of food produced globally is either lost or wasted.
Addressing food loss and waste is critical to improving food and nutrition security, as well as helping to meet climate goals and reduce stress on the environment. Risks associated with poor diets are also the leading cause of death worldwide. Millions of people are either not eating enough or eating the wrong types of food, resulting in a double burden of malnutrition that can lead to illnesses and health crises.
Food insecurity can worsen diet quality and increase the risk of various forms of malnutrition, potentially leading to undernutrition as well as people being overweight and obese. The cost of healthy diets is unaffordable for more than 3 billion people in the world. The World Bank Group provides knowledge, advice, and financial resources in low- and middle-income countries to transform food systems to reduce poverty and achieve green, resilient, and inclusive development.
Improving livelihoods and creating more and better jobs , including for women and youth;. Improving food security for all, including access to safe and nutritious food;.
Making agriculture and food more sustainable and more climate-smart: more productive and resilient in the face of climate change, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions;.
Boosting agribusiness by building inclusive and efficient food value chains. IFC financing goes to agribusiness, food companies, and banks. IFC also helps clients improve productivity, climate-smart practices, and food safety. Increasingly, the Bank supports country efforts to transform their food systems by taking a holistic look at public policies and spending for agriculture and food.
In Armenia since , the Bank has supported , people in livestock farming and pasture management improvement. More than 90, people are expected to benefit from this program over the next five years. In Bhutan, a Bank-supported project supports the government's efforts to reduce rural poverty and high levels of malnutrition through climate-smart agriculture.
Irrigation technology and greenhouses introduced through the project have helped farmers to increase their access to local and export markets. More than 6, people have increased the quality and quantity of produce like rice, maize, potato, vegetables, quinoa, citrus, apples, and potatoes, as well as high-value spices such as cardamom and ginger. In Bolivia, since Bank funding began in , community investments have helped fight extreme rural poverty for over , direct beneficiaries, leading to increased productive investments for more than , people, expanded or improved irrigation for nearly 74, people, and improved road access for nearly 30, people.
In Burkina Faso, from , the Bank supported the Programme National de Gestion des Terroirs which decentralized rural development and built local capacity to deliver basic services. The program also invested in water and soil conservation, agroforestry, and energy-saving stoves and other environmental technologies, helping to protect more than , hectares.
In China, since , a Bank-supported project has helped expand climate-smart agriculture. In Colombia, since , the adoption of environmentally friendly Silvopastoral Production Systems for over 4, cattle ranches has converted , hectares of degraded pastures into more productive landscapes and captured 1,, tons of CO2.
To aid the cashew industry, the Bank also supported a research program that helped disseminate genotypes of high-performing trees and establish 18 nurseries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo , between and , , people benefited from better access to agricultural services and rural infrastructure. Their cassava yields rose to 19 tons per hectare from 7. In Djibouti , the Bank supported the construction of water mobilization units, which improved water access for 9, households.
Modernization also helps achieve humanitarian goals by raising incomes and productivity of poor farmers, lowering food prices, and improving nutrition. Indeed, modernizing agriculture can improve human capital by better nourishing the population and avoiding far-reaching debilitative outcomes of malnutrition such as child stunting. Overall, a well-nourished child develops better and becomes more productive and receives higher wages later in life than a child who grew up malnourished: A nutrition intervention in Guatemala led to a 46 percent increase in wages for these children as adults above those who did not receive the intervention.
As agriculture becomes more productive, excess labor moves from rural farm jobs to urban manufacturing jobs. While the result of this stage is a decreased share of agriculture to GDP and the labor force, the process of agricultural modernization is critical for economic transformation and achieving food security and improved nutrition.
There are two key areas to make agricultural transformation a reality. First, it is critical to make modern technologies available. This is due to the difficulty for a private enterprise to fully capture the benefits of developing such technologies. National agricultural research systems must work at provincial levels to find new technologies suitable for local conditions, and the state needs to have extension systems to disseminate these technologies.
The next key area for agricultural transformation is adoption of modern technologies, as farmers may not use such technologies even if they are available.
Many technologies such as high-yielding seeds require stringent conditions for water, inputs, and knowhow. Therefore, governments must prepare conditions including irrigation and improved market infrastructure for farmers to access these inputs and sell their agricultural produce.
By clicking the "I accept" button, you consent to the use of these cookies. Countries that have developed successfully have shifted resources from agriculture to manufacturing. The Green Revolution benefited most regions of the world, particularly East Asia and the Pacific, where cereal yields quadrupled between and So what can be done to boost African agricultural productivity?
Develop high-yield crops Increased research into plant breeding, which takes into account the unique soil types of Africa, is a major requirement. A dollar invested in such research by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural research centres is estimated to yield six dollars in benefits. Boost irrigation With the growing effects of climate change on weather patterns, more irrigation will be needed.
Increase the use of fertilizers As soil fertility deteriorates, fertilizer use must increase. Governments need to ensure the right type of fertilizers are available at the right price, and at the right times. Improve market access, regulations, and governance Improving rural infrastructure such as roads is crucial to raising productivity through reductions in shipping costs and the loss of perishable produce.
Make better use of information technology Information technology can support better crop, fertilizer and pesticide selection. It also improves land and water management, provides access to weather information, and connects farmers to sources of credit.
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