The challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and particularly the halving of poverty and hunger by 2015, is immense; and particularly so in rural areas where nearly half of the population lives on less than one dollar a day and one-third are undernourished. More than two-thirds of the poor in rural areas are smallholder farmers, whose resources, livelihood patterns and income sources are quite heterogeneous. Smallholders as a group, including the non-poor, still dominate most farming systems of developing countries and, on the positive side, account for a majority of rural employment, most food production and significant export earnings.

Food safety is receiving more attention worldwide with the rising incidence of foodborne disease, concern over new potential hazards, and growth in agricultural trade. Investments to improve food safety in developing countries can reduce the burden of disease and remove the barriers to fresh food product exports, providing another source of income for the rural sector. International disputes over sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures influence the ability of developing countries to compete in export markets. These countries need to evaluate their interest in the SPS agreement under the World Trade Organisation (WTO); participate more fully in international agencies responsible for harmonisation; develop the capacity to assess equivalence for process standards, which are increasingly used for fresh food products; and resist the imposition of inappropriate standards.

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN GLOBALIZATION The world is becoming more globalized, there is no doubt about that. While that sounds promising, the current form of globalization, neoliberalism, free trade and open markets are coming under much criticism. The interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade. In democratic countries, they are shaping and affecting the ability of elected leaders to make decisions in the interests of their people. Elsewhere they are promoting narrow political discourse and even supporting dictatorships and the “stability” that it brings for their interests. This is to the detriment of most people in the world, while increasingly fewer people in proportion are prospering. The modern system of free trade, free enterprise and market-based economies, actually emerged around 200 years ago, as one of the main engines of development for the Industrial Revolution. In 1776, British economist Adam Smith in his book, the Wealth of Nations. Suggested that for maximum efficiency, all forms of government interventions in economic issues should be removed and that there should be no restrictions or tariffs on manufacturing and commerce within a nation for it to develop. The book provides readers with of some of the basic principles of this subject. Contents: • Introduction • Globalization: Effects in Asia and Beyond • Globalization and Local Cultures • Globalization and its Fall Out • The WTO, Globalization and a New World Order • Globalization: Myth or Reality • Globalization and Anti-Globalization • Globalization: A Critical Framework for Understanding Contemporary Social Processes • The Impact of Globalization and Liberalisation on Agriculture and Small Farmers • Smallholders, Globalization and Policy Analysis • Globalization in the Fifth Schedule Areas

Governments, nongovernmental organizations, donors, and the private sector have increasingly embraced value-chain development (VCD) for stimulating economic growth and combating rural poverty. Innovation for Inclusive Value-Chain Development: Successes and Challenges helps to fill the current gap in systematic knowledge about how well VCD has performed, related trade-offs or undesired effects, and which combinations of VCD elements are most likely to reduce poverty and deliver on overall development goals. This book uses case studies to examine a range of VCD experiences. Approaching the subject from various angles, it looks at new linkages to markets and the role of farmer organizations and contract farming in raising productivity and access to markets, the minimum assets requirement to participate in VCD, the role of multi-stakeholder platforms in VCD, and how to measure and identify successful VCD interventions. The book also explores the challenges livestock-dependent people face; how urbanization and advancing technologies affect linkages; ways to increase gender inclusion and economic growth; and the different roles various types of platforms play in VCD.

Includes papers and case studies presented at a FAO workshop held in Rome, Italy from 8 to 10 October 2003

The International Development Committee calls for concerted action to curb food wastage in the UK and for expansion of DFID's bilateral nutrition programmes with a particular focus on pregnancy and early years, as part of wider efforts to improve global food security. There is scope for the Government to launch a national consumer campaign to reduce domestic food waste, also setting national targets to curb food waste within the UK food production and retail sectors. Agriculturally-produced biofuels are having a major detrimental impact on global food security by driving higher and more volatile food prices. EU targets requiring 10 per cent of transport energy to be drawn from renewable sources by 2020 are likely to cause dramatic food price increases, and the Government should revise its domestic Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to specifically exclude agriculturally-produced biofuels. Looking at the impact of rising world population, the Committee praises DFID's significant efforts to meet the considerable unmet need for contraception in many developing nations and urges the UK government to maintain a keen focus on women's reproductive rights within its development assistance programmes. MPs also flag the longer term barriers to development posed by systematic undernutrition. The Committee expresses concern that large corporations are buying up large areas of land in many developing countries previously farmed by smallholders. UK-domiciled corporations should be required to be transparent about land deals. Lastly, MPs focus on the key role that smallholder farmers will play in feeding a growing global population and in reducing rural poverty.