A broader role for rural finance for food security. The saving and borrowing behavior of the food-insecure poor. Innovative rural finance for the poor: a food security perspective. Conclusions for research and policy.

Based on a survey of villages and rural households carried out from 1990 to 1992. Comprises an analysis of formal and informal financial institutions providing credit.

The persistence of an unacceptably high level of hunger and malnutrition worldwide presents a serious challenge to the world on the threshold of the third millenium. Although enough food is produced to feed mankind, about 840 million people go hungry; among them are 185 million pre-school children that are severely underweight for their age. Since an additional 80 million people have to be fed each year, achieving food security is a central global challenge, if not the most important development issue. The aim of the reader is to analyze actual problems in the field of food security and nutrition and to discuss present and future strategies to overcome hunger. Food security is a complex subject. In order to master this complexity, we distinguish between four dimensions of analyses: Theoretical-analytical, empirical-descriptive, normative-political, institutional. (Series: Spektrum. Berliner Reihe zu Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Politik in Entwicklungsländern/Berlin Series on Society, Economy and Politics in Developing Countries - Vol. 50)

"This study addresses the role the food bank plays in food security, sustainable livelihoods and building resilience to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda, and in particular, eastern Uganda. Currently, it is difficult to measure the socioeconomic impact of the food bank on smallholder farmers in eastern Uganda due to the difficulty of isolating its contribution from that of interrelated programmes and farming activities. It is, however, evident that the food bank plays a significant role in improving the smallholder farmers' food production incomes. The food bank is actively engaged in training smallholder farmers in modern farming methods, providing improved seeds and safe storage for farmers' produce, helping farmers to diversify their livelihood sources and providing climate-related information. ..." -- Abstract.

In a timely contribution to the international discussion of the post-Kyoto climate regime this study hypothesizes that Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the land use and forestry sector are an efficient instrument for climate change mitigation that contributes to rural development and poverty alleviation at the same time. To this end, the study analyzes socio-economic aspects of a forestry project established under the CDM rules considering an East African case study exemplarily. An agricultural household survey in Tanzania delivered the empirical data for the structural equation model at the center of the analysis. Looking at different farm assets it is shown that the benefits of land use-related climate projects go way beyond pure mitigation. They also have a positive impact on a very broad asset base on which poor farm households depend. Hence, the current CDM only allowing for afforestation and reforestation projects is far too restricted to deliver on its twin objective.

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.

This study examines the contributions of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) between 1993 and 2001 to analysis, outreach, capacity building, and training related to the role of rural finance in poverty reduction. The IFPRI multicountry research project on Rural Finance Policies for Food Security for the Poor involved data-intensive research by more than 14 research fellows on the impacts of access to rural financial services in countries. This report examines the contribution of the program within four countries where microfinance research and outreach activities were conducted and its contribution to global knowledge about rural finance and food security....It addresses issues of critical importance: (1) does microfinance have an impact on the poor, and is this impact achieved through better risk management as well as increased income generation?, (2) does the structure of financial service providers matter in supporting this impact?, and (3) how can the microfinance industry be made more sustainable?.... Malawi, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nepal were selected for analysis of research impacts." -- taken from Authors' Abstract.