The Hindu Business Line : ‘Poverty, hunger are still unresolved issues’

The poorest of the poor are hard to reach. Including them in the mainstream life requires more resources and investment per capita; and additional and more effective action.

G. Chandrashekar

Recently in Beijing Although policy initiatives and intervention in the form of concrete action through investment and assistance have been part of global fight against hunger and poverty, it is disappointing that globally about 100 crore people are living on less than $1 a day, while about 80 crore are hungry.

This picture turns more poignant considering that while the world has been making rapid economic and technological progress, poverty and hunger are still unresolved issues.

Evidently, economic growth and social development seem to be moving divergently. The poorest of the poor are hard to reach. Including them in the mainstream life requires more resources and investment per capita; and additional and more effective action.

More than 400 international and Chinese policymakers, about 25 ministerial/vice ministerial participants, globally-renowned researchers and practitioners from NGOs, international agencies, and the private-sector from 40 countries congregated in Beijing last week (October 17-19) to study the current situation, assess the reason of poverty prevalence, analyse successes and failure, explore appropriate strategies and implementation, and share on-the-ground experiences in different countries.

At the end of three days, which involved in-depth discussion, experience sharing and brainstorming, 13 plenary sessions and 11 parallel sessions, over 100 scientific and policy presentations, and about 60 policy briefs and research papers, selective conclusions for action that emerged were presented by Mr Joachim von Braun, Director General of Washington-headquartered International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Facts about poverty

Some of the facts about poverty and hunger that emerged included — the poorest are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries with conflict and stagnant growth; twin problem of the poor being rural, while the number of urban poor increasing; poverty and hunger reduction being the slowest among the poorest; minorities being the majority among the poorest; and substantial movements in and out of poverty.

There was common view that a comprehensive approach for the disabled was needed. The need for data for visibility and research was emphasised. Importantly, the message was to view people as having potential, not problems.

New risks

As if inadequate investment and ineffective delivery of benefits to the really needy were not enough, new risks for poverty reduction have appeared in the form of rising food prices and resource scarcity, macro-economic imbalances, climate change and sustainability.

Health crises including HIV/AIDS and animal diseases such as Avian Influenza have worsened the plight of the poor. Multi-ethnic world with increased discrimination and ethnic conflicts too pose newer risks.

Key actions

According to IFPRI, key actions that need to be taken include promotion of inclusive growth with emphasis on rural growth; enhanced access to assets, infrastructure and markets; strengthening social protection; and accelerating investment in health, nutrition, education, particularly for children and women. Simply put, the message is include the excluded.

As for Asia, the priority is to overcome exclusion, reduce child under-nutrition and connect small farmers to value chains. Africa needs to increase agricultural growth, overcome conflicts and improve the policy environment. The recommendation for Latin America is to improve education quality, better target social expenditure and enhance local capability.