POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF PRICE DYNAMICS AND THE WAY FORWARD - Food Security, Food Prices and Climate Variability - page 177

research to generate new agricultural productivity, clean water, electric power and rural trans-
port infrastructure. In developing countries where large numbers of people are food insecure,
governments and civil society have only weak influence on local and national markets and
food governance institutions (Paarlberg, 2002). Addressing these issues are critical for improv-
ing the functioning of local markets, since farmers need to be able to sell their surplus without
their profits being consumed by transport costs, market expenses, bribes to officials and other
expenses. Improving both governmental and non-governmental organization's ability to
reduce marketing expenses is critical to the goal of greatly increasing the ability of farmers in
food deficit areas to expand production to meet the needs of a growing population (Ihle et al .,
2011).
Political marginalization of poor and rural populations deepens food insecurity by delaying
rural transport infrastructure and isolating farmers and consumers (Harding and Wantchekon,
2012). Better rural infrastructure would link farmers to local, national and international
markets so that they can sell the goods they produce and have access to the lowest cost food
available. Rural infrastructure is undeveloped in most of Africa; in some regions roads and rail
infrastructure have remained unchanged for four decades. Greater leveraging regional integ-
ration and trade could generate economies of scale in production, expand markets for farmers
and increase the variety of foods available for consumers. Increased integration in the inter-
national economy will mean that African producers will find a larger market for their goods
and will be able to invest in producing new food products that urban consumers want (UNDP,
2012). Integration also poses risks for local communities, but the benefits are likely to out-
weigh risks if lower food prices result (Barrett and Bellemare, 2011; Moseley et al ., 2010).
Governments and policy makers can mitigate the impact of high food prices using the
policy instruments mentioned above, but there are other approaches that can be taken to
reduce the impact of climate variability and high food prices directly on the poor. These
include policies that:
• increasefoodavailabilityandfoodproductionthroughinvestmentinagriculturalexten-
sion, research and development for increased food production (Nin-Pratt et al ., 2011),
irrigation systems and water availability for agriculture (You et al ., 2010), improved prop-
erty rights and land tenure (Kepe and Tessaro, 2012), improved rural transportation
infrastructure and new efficient ways to store food and transform it for improved shelf life
(Sharma, 2013);
• improvefoodaccesswithbroad-basedeconomicgrowththatincreaseincomesinboth
rural and urban areas (Headey, 2013), increase labor productivity with technology and
new approaches to food production and other wage labor, provide reliable social protec-
tion and safety net programs that include food assistance for the poorest parts of the
population (MacLean, 2002; Garg et al ., 2013);
• improvefoodutilizationthroughinvestmentinpotablewater,immunizationprograms
and improved child care through breastfeeding and other health programs focused on
reducing infectious disease (Dangour et al ., 2012), improved nutrition education and
other interventions such as hand washing and sanitation facilities (Casanovas et al ., 2013);
and
• accelerateconlictresolutionandimprovetradelows(WuandGuclu,2013),reduce
transaction costs and improve farmer connectivity to regional and international markets
to ensure stable access, availability and utilization to food (Nelson et al ., 2010).