Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
as land holdings and access to education. Furthermore, by protecting people from
discrimination, the state can be ensuring access to the income necessary to have
better food security.
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Governments interested in ensuring access to food for the food insecure have a range
of policy options at their disposal from direct transfers of cash or food to indirect
measures, such as subsidized food shops or agricultural policies that favor consum-
ers. In the long run, the best option to improve food security and ensure adequate
food for all is to pursue policies that allow for the growth of incomes, particularly for
the poorest. However, in the short term targeted food and nutrition programs, includ-
ing income support programs, play a significant role in reducing food insecurity and
preventing malnutrition.
What sort of programs work in the short term? In cases of severe and widespread
food shortages and food distribution channel disruptions, such as in the case of the
Asian tsunami in 2006 or in a conflict situation or refugee situation, direct food
aid is effective in addressing hunger. The cost of direct food aid is increasing as
world prices for grains and other foods common to food aid programs increase.
Hence, advocates and aid administrators have focused attention on the design and
implementation of food aid programs. In the United States, the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) is seeking flexibility to purchase some foods
in regional markets (neighboring and nearby states) to avoid the costly shipping fees
associated with U.S. sourced foods and to strengthen developing country agricul-
tural markets (Barrett and Maxwell, 2005).
When the food distribution system is not broken but poverty makes some people
vulnerable and food insecure, governments have turned to conditional cash transfers
to provide small amounts of cash to support the poor and help facilitate desired
behaviors. In developing countries, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs give
small amounts of cash to families meeting income and program targeting criteria
(often, whether the household meets criteria for vulnerability, such as single mother,
young children present, low asset level, low levels of parental education) if the family
meets certain program requirements. The requirements usually include attendance
at school for the children and regular attendance at a local primary health clinic for
maternal and child health assessments and health education lessons. Conditional on
these program requirements being met, the family then receives the cash payment,
usually on the order of $10 to $30 per month.
Mexico's poverty reduction program PROGRESA (Programa de Educacion, Salud
y Alimentacion) began in 1997. It is now called Oportunidades and is the centerpiece
of Mexico's efforts to reduce poverty and improve the lives of its most vulnerable cit-
izens. The program includes a cash transfer component linked to school enrollment
and attendance as well as to clinic attendance. The program also provides health
education lessons and in-kind benefits, such as nutritional supplements for a child up
to the age of 5 and for pregnant and lactating mothers. In 2000, this program reached
2.6 million Mexican families, including approximately 40% of all families in rural
areas. The amount of the cash transfers the households received were a function of
