In the wake of the financial crisis, the number of people worldwide who do not have enough to eat has topped a billion. However, a new report, Pathways to Success (pdf), by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that there is positive news in the battle against hunger.

In 31 of the 79 countries that the FAO monitors, there has been a "notable decline" in the number of undernourished people between 1991 and 2005. How? The report notes four trends:

• creating an enabling environment for economic growth and human wellbeing,
• reaching out to the most vulnerable and investing in the rural poor,
• protecting gains, and
• planning for a sustainable future.

Yes, a little vague, but it delves into four case studies (Armenia, Brazil, Nigeria, and Vietnam) that shed a little more light on the subject.

1. Economic Growth - I guess a rising tide does lift all boats. Open markets and free trade = fewer hungry.  In Armenia there was a two-decade transition to an open market economy; in Nigeria there were de-regulation and privitization reforms as well as significant growth in the non-oil economy; in Vietnam there was integration of their textile industry into the world economy and strengthening of the "investment climate"; and in Brazil, well Brazil became a major regional economic force.
2. Investing in the Poor - Armenia, with the help of the EU's Food Security Program, provided financing for rural economic activity and a social safety net for the poor. Brazil did the same through Lula's "Zero Hungry" strategy.  Nigeria provided technology and better economic integration to farmers and rural communities. And, Vietnam, created a social security system.
3. Protecting Gains - Stimulus, stimulus, stimulus, as well as the release of food reserves during the financial crisis.
4. Sustainable Future - This basically means a continuation of the above plus some cool localized stuff.  In Brazil, there are measures for protecting biodiversity; and, in Nigeria, the "Desert-to-Food Programme" is aiming to prevent the encroachment of the Sahara on arable land.

The report analyzes these and other cases in greater depth.

The AP is reporting that President Obama will nominate Rajiv Shah, a medical doctor and former official at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who currently serves as Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics at the US Department of Agriculture, to be USAID Administrator.  The pick is somewhat of a surprise. I'll spend the next few hours gauging the reaction from the aid advocacy community, but suffice it to say that Shah was not among many outsiders' shortlists.   More soon. 

UPDATE: Obviously, the intrepid Laura Rozen has more details: 

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and described as a "whiz kid" by officials how have worked with him, Shah served before coming into the Obama administration in the spring as the director of agriculture development, director of financial services, and as manager of a $1.5 billion vaccine fund at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also has political credentials, having campaigned for Obama, served as the former health care policy advisor to Al Gore's presidential campaign, and as a member of Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell's health transition committee. He was confirmed in April just a month after being announced without a hitch, and has been involved in numerous philanthropic efforts to combat poverty and hunger around the world. He also previously worked at the World Health Organization.

OXFAM USA:

Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, offered the following statement regarding today’s nomination of Dr. Rajiv Shah to be Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID):

“Oxfam America welcomes the Obama administration’s announcement of Dr. Rajiv Shah as USAID Administrator. With solid experience in international agriculture and health, Shah is well positioned to lead this crucial US agency.

“We look forward to working with Shah and USAID to reinvigorate and restore the agency’s capacity to lead US development efforts around the world. Oxfam America believes that a commitment to modernizing US government development assistance can have a lasting impact on global poverty and that, over time, smart development will enhance US moral standing and national interests and ultimately build a safer world for all.

“Shah assumes responsibility over USAID at a crucial moment in history. For many years, USAID has been under-resourced and politically marginalized. But today’s international challenges – from the financial crisis to climate change -- make it more important than ever to rebuild USAID from a compliance agency for NGOs and contractors to what it once was: the world's most prestigious development agency.

“Shah’s challenges are great. He must work within a legal framework that is almost half a century old. US development efforts have become diffuse and USAID’s development objectives unclear, with the Pentagon and more than 20 other federal agencies increasingly engaged in development activities. There is a need to reassert the leadership role of USAID in managing US overseas development assistance, and strengthen its ability to deliver concrete results that will enhance USAID’s standing and credibility. Most importantly, there is a need for a national global development strategy to guide the US government's efforts to fight global poverty.

“But there’s also growing momentum for a new era in US foreign aid, with a number of processes already underway that will reshape US global development policy. Additionally, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to initiate foreign aid reform, as well as strengthen and elevate USAID.”

“Oxfam America is eager to work with Shah as he contributes to this effort to make US development programs more effective.”

INTERACTION:

“InterAction congratulates Dr. Rajiv Shah on his nomination to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). His nomination is definitely a step in the right direction. The alliance of 187 InterAction member organizations looks forward to working with him on the historic opportunities and challenges facing the U.S. on the humanitarian and global development fronts.

The challenges are many, but USAID administrator-nominee Shah has a historic opportunity to shape the way U.S. foreign assistance is done for at least the next 50 years. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) and other congressional leaders are looking to the new administrator to help guide discussions around climate change, food security, a rewrite of the outdated 1961 Foreign Assistance Act and countless other issues.”

Rush Holt, the New Jersey democrat and arguably the smartest member of congress, is passing around a "Dear Colleague" letter in support of a resolution to award Grameen Bank founder (and UN Foundation board member) Muhammad Yunus a Congressional Gold Medal:

Dear Colleague:

 

Please join the bipartisan effort to recognize Dr. Yunus for his monumental accomplishments by cosponsoring the Muhammad Yunus Congressional Gold Medal Act. Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Yunus will send a powerful signal of support to the many groups following in his footsteps who are dedicated to helping the poor help themselves.

 

Through the Grameen Bank, Dr. Yunus created an economically feasible model of extending small loans to the very poor. The microcredit movement he pioneered has changed literally millions of lives around the world, increasing hope and opportunity, and enabling people to use their own entrepreneurial energy to improve their own lives. Dr. Yunus’s work has had a particularly strong impact in improving the economic prospects of women, who disproportionately shoulder the burden of poverty and who comprise 95 percent of microcredit borrowers.

 

Dr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. President Obama awarded Dr. Yunus the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 12, 2009. The U.S. Senate has already passed a companion bill to award Dr. Yunus a Gold Medal. It is time for the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize Dr. Yunus’s important contributions to peace and opportunity around the world.

 

For more information or to cosponsor this bill, please contact XXX

 

Sincerely,

 

RUSH HOLT

A Hill source says: "Looks like it has a lot of support…. 100+ cosponsors. That’s generally the level needed to bring a bill to the floor."

I was intrigued by this article on Reuters, reporting that Chinese farmers have planted too many citrus trees. As a result, fruit prices have plummeted and farmers are having trouble finding markets for their citrus at all. That alone is rough on fruit farmers, but the market glitch should work itself out in a couple of years as farmers find new ways to sell and use their fruit. In the meantime, rural China may find itself better nourished on cheap fruit.

However, the larger Chinese economy may face the same issues on a macro scale. The Chinese government’s focus on economic growth as it shifted to capitalism had a bias toward overcapacity; private investors flooded whole sectors with money to gain competitive advantage as fast as possible. Now the government is worried about over capacity in the steel, cement, flat glass, chemically processed coal, polysilicon and wind turbine sectors. The kind of investment needed for that kind of production is also the kind of investment that leads to bankruptcies if demand is flat. And a wave of bankruptcies would be extremely rough on the Chinese economy.

(photo credit: Jram23)