The answers are in, over at the World Bank’s discussion of its 2008 report Agriculture for Development. There’s a lot of good sense in the report author’s comments, such as the need for country (and region) specific approaches and the care that needs to be taken over commercialization, subsidies and the private sector. There are also some things one might take issue with. For example:
Vitamin A enhanced rice is an example of propoor technology under development which could save millions of lives. This will entail increasing support to public national and international research for crops grown and consumed largely by the poor, as well as strengthening capacity in biosafety evaluation and regulation.
I confess I am really, really amazed to find official World Bank support for this point of view. It is so much easier to boost vitamin A intake by broadening the diet to include orange fruits and vegetables and dark green leafy vegetables. One has to wonder why the World Bank continues to push this particular example of genetic modification when there are others that would be much more defensible if one really wanted to go down that route.
The response to a question about climate change had this to say:
The most urgent investments are in crop varieties tolerant to drought and heat, and irrigation systems. Also countries need to strengthen responses to increase volnerability through crop insurance schemes and safety nets.
New varieties may be part of the solution, but it may be considerably more effective to give farmers the access to a wider range of genetic variability and the capacity to make their own selections of widely adapted, and adaptable, populations in order to be able to cope with climate change. At least that should be tried. Properly.
I confess I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the pretty vague answer to my own question, about quick wins. But Luigi, who asked whether the Bank undervalues diversity in agricultural systems, will presumably be happy with part of the answer:
International support to the Global Crop Diversity Trust should be increased.
I wonder what made Byerlee think of that? The fact that the rest of his answer focuses on the conservation of genetic resources and the use of carbon financing to avoid deforestation? This the party line on the value of agricultural biodiversity: it is a source of traits for those clever breeders to use. True, but there is so much more that agrobiodiversity could deliver, given half a chance.
As we keep saying.
Good post….. I would like to see more evidence that suggests that people would change their diets to eat more foods rich in Vitamin A. Are there any studies out there that show successful diet diversification programs among the poor? Can they afford these nutritious fruits and vegetables?
There is a new paper out in World Development that suggests that golden rice would be great in India: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X
But I don’t believe this article either. I just don’t see people changing the color of their rice for a benefit that they cannot actually see.
Re climate change, agreed. Not only can farmers take advantage of existing diversity, they may need to change crops, say from maize to cassava. Diversity within the species, but also adopt other species.
Thanks Glenn. I’ll take a look at that golden rice paper. Thanks for the link.
The question “can they afford” is an interesting one. For urban dwellers, maybe not. But for those who are growing, then the answer must be yes. All those people “living” on less than a dollar a day are surviving on what they can grow, mostly. They aren’t part of the cash economy anyway. So the best bet is to somehow (I know that’s vague) encourage them to grow and eat a better diet. It can be done.
There is also some evidence of diet-change. Here are two papers:
Low, J. W., Arimond, M., Osman, N., Cunguara, B., Zano, F., & Tschirley, D. (2007). A Food-Based Approach Introducing Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Increased Vitamin A Intake and Serum Retinol Concentrations in Young Children in Rural Mozambique. Journal of Nutrition, 137, no. 5, 1320-1327.
Van Jaarsveld, P. J., Faber, M., Tanumihardjo, S. A., Nestel, P., Lombard, C. J., & Benade, A. J. S. (2005). ?(Sb?(B-Carotene-rich orange-fleshed sweet potato improves the vitamin A status of primary school children assessed with the modified-relative-dose-response test. American journal of clinical nutrition, 81, no. 5, 1080-1087.
Sorry, but I don’t have DOIs easily to hand.