FOOD SECURITY - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 52

Psychology of consumer's change in preferences
Other negative consequences of higher animal production include higher transport
costs and export of animal diseases (e.g., avian influenza). Higher energy costs in
combination with occurrence/out-breaks of animal diseases, and consumer influence
and changed risk perception could stimulate transition of agriculture towards more
risk-avoiding practices: more emphasis on quality, transport cost and energy-saving
regional production, re-emphasizing regional marketing. These interrelations and the
influence of consumer's preferences on changes in/design of new farming systems
and production methods require further investigation.
Development and adoption of new technologies
Further development and adoption of modern crop varieties and knowledge-intensive
management techniques has continued its important role in sustaining productivity
growth in the post-Green Revolution (1990s onwards) areas, i.e., the intensive irrigated
systems of Asia. The contribution of resource- and input conserving practices (such
as conservation tillage, site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) and Integrated
Pest Management (IPM), including the impact of participatory technology generation,
to productivity growth (especially, when expressed on a per day basis) has increased
over time (Gollin et al. 2005). This was associated with increasing intensification,
made possible by shorter duration crop varieties, and labour-saving mechanization.
Furthermore, scenario studies and empirical evidence show that in post-Green Revolu-
tion areas farm consolidation and further mechanization offer substantial scope for
increased food security and maintenance of sustainable rural structures, as they not
only raise incomes through diversification into high value products (Hengsdijk et al.
2005), but also create rural employment based on the associated processing and
marketing of these products. In less-endowed and/or less connected regions, more
research on constraints for adoption of ecologically sound, knowledge-intensive
technologies is needed.
Integrated analysis of rural development options
An example: Vitamin A, iron and zinc deficiencies cause early death of children and
women and seriously limit economic growth in many poor rural areas. Better linkages
between agricultural research and research dealing with nutrition and health, combined
with better education, a focus on gender issues and higher investments in rural deve-
lopment may help in overcoming the wide-spread phenomenon of 'hidden hunger'.
Furthermore, it is obvious that any attempt to properly deal with the complex problem
of alleviating hunger and food insecurity requires more than boosting yields and
improving water and fertilizer use efficiencies: food security can only be achieved by
paying due attention to its interdependencies with other Millennium Development
goals, such as poverty reduction and sustainable environmental management. We,
therefore, conclude that more integrated approaches to the design and analysis of
rural development options are necessary, as a basis for informed decision-making,
formulation of supportive policies and implementation.