Agriculture Reference
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recently enunciated by the World Bank (2006) in their new strategy to fight hunger and
undernutrition in the developing world. More specifically, there is a need to dispel some
myths that have underscored the inadequate and inappropriate global efforts to reduc-
ing malnutrition. These include, first, the myth that malnutrition is primarily a matter
of inadequate food supply. Second, the myth that improved nutrition is a by-product of
other measures of poverty reduction and economic advance. Instead, the focus is cor-
rectly put on the need to invest in the youngest children who are most likely to become
malnourished and suffer the ravages across their entire life course, including dramatic
losses in cognitive ability and productivity. Food security is indeed an input into achiev-
ing the vision of nutritional improvement. And, a food and agricultural system that is
consistent with both providing employment opportunities and low costs wage goods is a
necessity for economic growth and development. However, a large share of the activities
required to reach the Millennium Development Goals for nutrition are to be found in
realms outside of the food sector.
A final point that I would like to highlight in considering the future prospects for
food-related intervention programs, regardless of whether their espoused or real objec-
tives are to reduce malnutrition, is that the architecture of the world food system is
changing rapidly. The paradigm of food being a resource in search of a cause is rap-
idly receding into the annals of history. Instead, the prospects of food shortages and
increased global demand driven by China, India, and other growing economies is an
emerging challenge. Likewise, the increased emphasis of organizations such as the
World Food Programme on local procurement and combining cash with, or as a sub-
stitute for, direct distribution of food, will undoubtedly change the face of food-related
transfers in the future in developing countries. Although these changes may be posi-
tive in terms of agricultural incentives, in and of themselves, they will not necessarily
contribute to reducing the dual burden of undermalnutrition and the emerging crisis of
overmalnutrition.
Conclusions
As global institutions, including governments, nongovernmental organizations, and
bilateral and multilateral international aid agencies consider how to most effectively
combat the burden of global malnutrition, perhaps the most intractable misperception
is that food insecurity and inadequate access to food are the exclusive, or even primary,
causes of malnutrition. Likewise, national and regional food self-sufficiencies are often
incorrectly viewed as critical to the fight against malnutrition, especially insofar as they
ignore the role of trade and the importance of well-developed food markets.
Instead, it seems quite clear that with the exception of situations such as famines and
acute crises, which contribute to what Amartya Sen (1983) has characterized as dra-
matic entitlement failures, far too little attention has been given to the inappropriate or
insufficient care behaviors during pregnancy and early childhood. More specifically, the
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