Development Asia—A Growing Hunger: April–June 2010

By Asian Development Bank

Perhaps no issue casts a harsher light on social inequities than the growing number of people who go hungry everyday. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more people go hungry in the world today than at any time since 1970. An estimated 1.02 billion people were undernourished worldwide in 2009, 642 million of whom lived in Asia and the Pacific, the FAO reports. Access to food—or food security—has become an issue that no one can ignore; the lives of millions and the stability of governments depend on shrewd management of food supplies. As the riots and hoarding during the food crisis in 2008 have shown, the mere mention of a shortage is enough to destabilize markets and even governments. As usual, the poorest have been hit the hardest: they have faced rising food prices while the global economic crisis has battered their incomes. Declining crop yields, land degradation, urbanization, and the effects of climate change are putting additional pressure on efforts to produce more food. Market speculation makes the situation even more precarious. This edition of Development Asia tackles this critical issue from varied perspectives—from the points of view of science, civil society, and business. As its cover story, "A Growing Hunger", puts it, there is no quick, one-size-fits-all solution, especially for a region as geographically diverse as Asia and the Pacific. Building consensus is a huge, ongoing challenge for leaders, decision makers, and stakeholders in the region as they wrestle with conflicting priorities. In "The Hunger Monger", renowned financier Jim Rogers, an outspoken advocate of agricultural investments, acknowledges that food security is a highly emotional and political issue. He gives a candid interview on the perceived tension between business interests and social needs, and domestic and international concerns.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Jun 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9789292574307

Book preview

A GROWING HUNGER

Looming food security issues threaten Asian and Pacific nations, already home to two-thirds of the world’s hungry

WWW.DEVELOPMENT.ASIA

© 2010 Asian Development Bank

ISSN 1998-7528

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

PUBLISHER

Ann Quon

EDITORIAL AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Carolyn Dedoiph Cabrera

MANAGING EDITOR

Eric Healy

SENIOR EDITOR

Floyd Whaley

EDITORIAL ADVISOR

Katsuji Matsunami

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Maria Liza Solano

COPY EDITORS

Ma. Priscila del Rosario

Caroline Ahmad

ART DIRECTOR

Andy Martin

Development Asia features development issues important to Asia and the Pacific. It is published four times a year by the Asian Development Bank and Haymarket Media Ltd. The views expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and do not reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank and Haymarket Media Ltd. Use of the term country does not imply any judgment by the authors or the Asian Development Bank and Haymarket Media Ltd. as to the legal or other status of any territorial entity.

Advertising of any specific commercial product, process, service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, in this publication does not constitute or imply ADB’s endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of any of the product or the entity thereof.

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Cover photo: AFP

Note: In this publication, $ refers to US dollars

A publication of the Asian Development Bank, designed and distributed by Haymarket Media Limited

CONTENTS

YEARIII, NUMBERVII, APRIL-JUNE2010

8 UP IN ARMS OVER HIGH PRICES

36 DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CROPS

18 FOOD MORE EMOTIONAL THAN OIL — ROGERS

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Bringing Food Security to the Table

Perhaps no issue casts a harsher light on social inequities than the growing number of people who go hungry everyday. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more people go hungry in the world today than at any time since 1970. An estimated 1.02 billion people were undernourished worldwide in 2009, 642 million of whom lived in Asia and the Pacific, the FAO reports.

Access to food—or food security—has become an issue that no one can ignore; the lives of millions and the stability of governments depend on shrewd management of food supplies. As the riots and hoarding during the food crisis in 2008 have shown, the mere mention of a shortage is enough to destabilize markets and even governments.

As usual, the poorest have been hit the hardest: they have faced rising food prices while the global economic crisis has battered their incomes. Declining crop yields, land degradation, urbanization, and the effects of climate change are putting additional pressure on efforts to produce more food. Market speculation makes the situation even more precarious.

This edition of Development Asia tackles this critical issue from varied perspectives—from the points of view of science, civil society, and business. As our cover story, A Growing Hunger, puts it, there is no quick, one-size-fits-all solution, especially for a region as geographically diverse as Asia and the Pacific. Building consensus is a huge, ongoing challenge for leaders, decision makers, and stakeholders in the region as they wrestle with conflicting priorities.

In The Hunger Monger, renowned financier Jim Rogers, an outspoken advocate of agricultural investments, acknowledges that food security is a highly emotional and political issue. He gives a candid interview on the perceived tension between business interests and social needs, and domestic and international concerns.

In other stories, we write about how some development professionals risk life and limb to deliver assistance in conflict zones while others commit abuses in the name of aid. We talk about the need for a new debt arbitration system and the rationale behind unconditional dole-outs.

This edition of Development Asia features an updated design with a more diverse selection of articles and features, all geared toward making the magazine more reader-friendly and the issues more understandable. As always, we encourage your feedback.

Ann Quon

Publisher

COVER PHOTO

CLEAN PLATES IMPOVERISHED PAKISTANIS EAT FOOD PROVIDED BY AN AID ORGANIZATION ON A STREET IN KARACHI ON 16 APRIL 2010. SEVENTEEN MILLION ASIANS HAVE FALLEN INTO EXTREME POVERTY DUE TO THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS, THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AND THE UNITED NATIONS SAID IN FEBRUARY. ANOTHER 4 MILLION THIS YEAR COULD SLIP INTO THE SAME SITUATION DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF THE DOWNTURN, OFFICIALS FROM THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS SAID AT THE LAUNCH OF A JOINT REPORT ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN MANILA. THESE FIGURES ARE IN ADDITION TO THE 900 MILLION PEOPLE IN ASIA ALREADY LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY, DEFINED AS LIVING ON LESS THAN $1.25 A DAY.

Contributors

John Berthelsen is editor of the Hong Kong, China-based Asia Sentinel, a regional internet magazine. He came to Asia to cover the Viet Nam conflict for Newsweek.

Mark Blackwell has more than 20 years of experience covering issues ranging from science and economics to politics and cross-border issues in Latin America for news organizations, including the Hearst Corporation and Capital Cities/ABC. He specializes in informational graphics.

William Branigin served as Southeast Asia bureau chief of The Washington Post for 10 years, reporting from more than a dozen countries in the region. He was based in Bangkok from 1981 to 1986 and in Manila from 1990 to 1995.

Joe Cochrane is deputy editorial adviser at the Jakarta Globe newspaper. He is a former Southeast Asia correspondent for Newswee magazine and bureau chief for Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Mark Bryant is a journalist with more than 15 years experience as a reporter and editor for online media and newspapers, including The Seattle Times, the Associated Press, and ABCNEWS.com.

Bronwyn Curran is an Islamabad-based journalist who worked as a Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for the news service Agence France Presse. She is also the author of Into the Mirror, a biography of Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani woman who became an international symbol of female oppression after suviving a gang-rape in 2002, then bringing her case to court successfully in Pakistan.

Eric Healy is managing editor of Development Asia. He has worked in international media for two decades.

Bruce Heilbuth has worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent on four continents. He spent nearly a decade as the editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest magazine’s Australasian and Asian-English editions.

Margo Pfeiff is a Canada-based journalist and photographer with 30