Lessons Learnt and New Opportunities

Message from Dr. John J. Otim, Senior Advisor to President Museveni of Uganda
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A global conference on “ Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People” organized jointly by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Government of China has just ended in Beijing with a call on new types of action that must be taken to reduce poverty fast and end hunger soon. Poverty was defined as deficiencies of wealth, physical well-being and social inclusion. Hunger was understood as deficiencies in access to food and healthy nutrition.

The conference brought together more than 400 leading international and Chinese policy-makers and thinkers, 25 ministerial, / vice ministerial participants, globally renowned researchers, practitioners from NGOs, international agencies and the private sector from 40 countries. Over 100 scientific and policy presentations were made and over 60 policy briefs and research papers were made available. These presentations and policy briefs highlighted what it will take to move out of poverty and eliminate hunger. But they also noted with great concern that progress was slowest in Africa and South Asia in addressing the plight of the poorest of the poor and that ultra-poor are mostly left behind. Regarding poverty reduction, it was noted that the world has made considerable progress but regional progress is uneven with poverty reduction minimal or stagnating in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Looking at the World’s Most Deprived

At the turn of the millennium seven years ago, the international community made a commitment to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger between 1990 and 2015. Now, at the halfway point between the millennium declaration and the deadline, it is clear the world has achieved considerable progress. However, though poverty and malnutrition rates are declining, it is less clear who is actually being helped. Are development programs reaching those most in need, or are they primarily benefiting those who are easier to reach, leaving the very poorest behind?

The World’s Most Deprived: Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger. Akhter U. Ahmed, Ruth Vargas Hill, Lisa C. Smith, Doris M. Wiesmann, and Tim Frankenberger.
2007 / 148 pages / Order Code VP43
(PDF 3.1M)

Participant Reactions: Bernard Njonga

Bernard Njonga, Secretary General, Service d’Appui aux Initiatives
Locales de Developpement (SAILD), Cameroon
Mr. Njonga gives a brief overview of lessons learned from the last day of the conference and directions for future efforts.

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Participant Reactions: Roy Steiner

Roy Steiner, Senior Program Officer for Agricultural Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
“There really is momentum gathering around agricultural development in particular…In an area that’s really been neglected for two decades, I think the world is recognizing that agriculture is critical to poverty and there’s going to be real sustained, serious investment and thought into making a difference.”

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Participant Reactions: Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold, Chief Executive Officer, Concern Worldwide

“The ultra poor are a category that need particular policy interventions…and building on that insight and working out the policy implications of that is of crucial importance.”
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Participant Reactions: Kamal Hyat

Kamal Hyat, Chief Executive, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
Mr. Hyat reflects on several lessons learned from the conference, stressing the importance of the “human side” (of development), reminding us that “people only respond to good initiatives.”

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Participant Reactions: John Joseph Otim

John Joseph Otim, president, Agricultural Council of Uganda

“In the context of Africa, issues are coming out very clearly that there is need to focus more closely to help Africa come out of poverty and hunger because that is where at the moment the highest level of ultra poor and medial poor populations exist. It is in this context that support form donors, support from China, to the African governments, civil societies, farmers’ organizations, private sector will make a difference.”
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Participant Reactions: Yin Yin Nwe

Yin Yin Nwe, Representative, UNICEF China
Ms. Nwe discusses the challenges ahead for alleviating the suffering of children in China, even while acknowledging that China has made “remarkable progress in reducing child poverty.”

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Participant Reactions: Diana Rivington

Diana Rivington, Director, Equality between Men and Women, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Ms. Rivington uses a case study illustrating the importance of gender analysis in development work. “For successful action for the poor,” she says, “you don’t just need good intention. You really need to understand the communities in which they work…”
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Participant Reactions: Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere

Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Director, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)
Mr. Asenso-Okyere discusses the importance of innovation systems not only for sharing information with poor farmers in developing countries but also for empowering them to be able to apply this knowledge on their own farms in order to increase productivity and income.

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Participant Reactions: Vijay Kumar

Vijay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Society for the Elimination of
Rural Poverty
Mr. Kumar discusses his impressions of the conference following the first day of presentations, citing the value of having the “large participation of all the countries of the world.”
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IFPRI Issues Call for A Way Forward

Concerned that millions of the world’s poorest and hungry people remain in poverty and hunger, we at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) facilitated a consultation process, which includes the conference “Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People” on October 17–19 in Beijing, to examine what new and different action is required to improve their welfare. This statement is a synthesis of our conclusions to stimulate debate on the way forward and action. It is understood as a “living document” subject to further debate and change in the coming months.

Putting a Spotlight on “Invisible” Groups

Marginalized people—disabled people, women, minorities, and indigenous peoples—are among those who are most entrenched in poverty, but they often don’t show up in poverty statistics and analysis. Frances Stewart pointed out that discrimination based on group identity reduces people’s well-being (it has been associated with depression, for instance), leads to inefficiency, is highly associated with poverty, and contributes to conflict. So how can this discrimination be addressed? She described three sets of policies: direct policies like affirmative action, indirect policies like fiscal and macroeconomic policies that favor certain activities, and integrationist policies like school integration. “We won’t succeed in tackling poverty until we tackle these inequalities,” she said.

Ban Ki-Moon: “The proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day has fallen”

Message from UN Secretary-General delivered by Mr. Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator in China

I am delighted to send warm greetings to all participants in this conference on “Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People”. I commend the organizers for addressing this theme as we work to step up our efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

At the dawn of the Millennium, world leaders made bold pledges to the world’s poor. They pledged a world where all children complete their elementary education; a world where people have access to safe drinking water, and families are protected from deadly diseases like malaria; a world where nations work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Above all, our leaders promised a world where people are no longer condemned to a life of extreme and egregious poverty.

Microfinance Programs Help Poorest of the Poor

At the parallel session, “Creating and Enhancing Assets of the Rural Poor,” Fazle Abed, founder and chairperson, BRAC, Bangladesh highlighted his 30 years of experience with microfinance programs. BRAC was started with a $30,000 USD grant, and funding has expanded as the programs have had great success. As the conference is about the poorest of the poor, he highlighted recent work with who he called the ultra poor (those who make less than $.35 USD a day). The ultra poor program is a two year program in which to stabilize credit for poor families. The cost for the program is $300, with $150 for asset transfer, and $150 for time with BRAC staff for assistance for the family. Families are provided with a portfolio of options in which to choose.

Participant Reactions: Fezile Makiwane

Fezile Makiwane, Chief Executive Officer, South African Social Security Agency, South Africa
Mr. Makiwane shares a brief answer to the question he posed during his presentation: How can social security schemes be designed for low income countries to effectively provide for the poorest?

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Participant Reactions: Peter McPherson

Peter McPherson, President, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges; and Chairman of the Board, Dow Jones, USA
“The need to focus on rural people and agriculture increases. The need to focus on Africa…has refined for me the issues we need to look at.”

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Opening Ceremony Panel Takes Stock of Progress, Challenges for Reducing Poverty and Hunger

Khalid Malik, reading a statement on behalf of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, declared “(o)ur global scorecard is mixed. The proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day has fallen, and we remain on track to meet the MDG target of halving extreme poverty. But progress has been uneven, and some regions — particularly sub-Saharan Africa — are not on track to redeem even a single one of our grand promises.”

Conference Welcomes Doctoral Students Competition Winners

An international competition was held by IFPRI’s 2020 Vision Initiative from June to September 2007 to identify and invite leading doctoral students working on poverty and hunger to participate in the conference “Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People”. Ten doctoral students were selected and will be presenting their research in a workshop hosted by Beijing Normal University on October 16. Further information on the competition, the selected students and their research can be found at http://www.ifpri.org/2020chinaconference/chconfdoctoral.asp.

2020 Focus Briefs on the World’s Poor and Hungry People

The conference organizers have commissioned 36 policy briefs on key issues concerning Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People. Together, these briefs address who the poorest and hungry are, what the pathways out of extreme poverty and hunger are, and how to implement and scale up action for the poor and hungry.

The first set of these briefs (9) were published on the conference website this week and are available for download. You also can download the full list of briefs.

Building a collaborative bibliography on global poverty and hunger

In anticipation of the upcoming conference, the IFPRI Library and Knowledge Management Team has set up a new platform for assembling a reading list of the leading research articles, working papers, books and other Web-based content related to reducing poverty and hunger throughout the developing world. You can view recently suggested resources by visiting the collaborative bibliography page on the conference website and the full list in del.icio.us, a popular social bookmarking service. Launched a little more than a month ago with 60 resources, the list has swelled to include more than 160 resources and continues to grow. To contribute to this list, please do one of the following:

1. Use our online submission form;
2. Tag any resource as “food4all” from your own del.icio.us account; or
3. Email your suggestions to ifpri-library@cgiar.org

Looking beyond the Millennium Development Goals

Even if the poverty and hunger Millennium Development Goal is achieved, millions of the world’s poorest and hungry people will be left behind. New and different action is required to improve the welfare of these people.

When the Millennium Development Goals were adopted in 2000, 1.3 billion people were living in poverty and 800 million were food insecure. In the first of the eight MDGs, nearly 200 nations committed themselves to halve the proportion of poor and hungry people by 2015.

Although the world may meet this goal at the global level, many countries will not reach the goal and people are certain to be left behind. If we continue with “business as usual,” 700 million people worldwide are projected to remain poor, many of them extremely poor, in 2015, and 600 million to go hungry. There are indications that the people who are poorest and most afflicted by hunger may have different social and economic characteristics from those who have successfully emerged from poverty in recent decades. Reaching them will require new and different action.