Globalisation opens up huge opportunities for improving the conditions in which the poorest people on earth live. The great danger, however, is that, whether because of myopia or greed, we fail to translate these opportunities into actions. This risk is real: unless we take action to ensure that a fair share of the benefits of globalisation reach the poor, they will be bypassed.
With a famine declared in parts of Somalia, almost 1 billion people living in chronic hunger worldwide, 1.5 billion people overweight or obese, and possibly another 2 billion suffering from various forms of mineral and vitamin deficiency, more than half of humanity is threatened with bad health and premature death because of bad nutrition.
Bad choices
This is not because of insufficient food production – even during the recent food price crisis, there has been ample food for all. It is mainly because very poor people simply do not have enough money to buy the food they need and because many of those who can afford to eat well choose an unhealthy diet, often being persuaded by advertising and price incentives to eat to excess or without a balanced diet.
This means that we face formidable challenges, that neither the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) nor any other single organisation or government can tackle alone. They require the fullest possible engagement of all who share the FAO’s aspirations to see a well-nourished, food-secure population.
I feel that it is unjust, and contrary to the principles of humanity, that anyone should be hungry, especially when, as is now the case, the knowledge and means to eradicate hunger exists. However, I recognise that most of the big decisions on resource allocations, in both the public and private sectors, are taken on economic grounds. What people do not seem to understand is that investing in ending hunger is not 'welfare', but does in fact generate high returns.
Good economic sense
Nobel economics laureate Robert William Fogel has shown that about half of the economic growth in the UK between 1790 and 1980 can be attributed to “the combined effect of the increase in dietary energy available for work, and of the increased human efficiency in transforming dietary energy into work output”. This implies that policies that result in billions of people eating badly are depriving the world of a huge slice of potential economic growth.
Since the launch of the 'Zero Hunger Programme' by then president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in January 2003, Brazil has quickly gained ground in its battle against hunger and poverty. Undernourishment among the children of beneficiaries of the Family Grant cash transfer component fell from 12.5% to 4.8% in 2008. Between 2003 and 2010, 24 million Brazilians were lifted out of hunger and poverty, and are now making their contributions to the country’s economic development, both as producers and consumers.
There are, therefore, great potential economic benefits from improving nutrition – and especially from eradicating hunger – that justify governments and the private sector making this a priority area for investment.
Private sector role
There has been much debate as to how the UN institutions should interact with the private sector. The FAO, as is the case of most UN specialised agencies, is an intergovernmental body, in which each member government has a single vote in its decision-making processes. However, recognition of the importance of engaging other stakeholders in issues related to food and agriculture has led the organisation and its member states to look for more inclusive mechanisms for their participation in some areas of the FAO’s work.
For instance, associations representing the private sector and civil society have a formal role in the joint FAO/World Health Organisation Codex Alimentarius Commission, which sets international food standards. Similarly, the recently reformed Committee on World Food Security has an interface with the private sector as well as with non-governmental and civil society organisations.
Some question the wisdom of engaging the private sector in the institutions responsible for the global governance of food security. I am not one of them.
The private sector plays such a fundamental role in the production, trade, processing and distribution of food that its collaboration is essential if significant progress is to be made towards hunger reduction and sustainable development. Given this, and with the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development just around the corner, we cannot afford not to have the private sector's participation.
There are many ways the private sector can contribute. They include, but are not restricted to, contributing to rapid responses to emergency situations with funding or logistical capabilities, broadening markets for small-scale farmers, expanding fair-trade practices, assuring transparency on international food stock inventories, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy eating, and putting its political weight behind national and international efforts to fight hunger and promote sustainable development.
The FAO also needs to hear from the private sector how, from its perspective, both forces can best work together. The FAO is open to all those willing to join forces in a spirit of true partnership to contribute to a more responsible and fair management of food, to eradicate hunger and to promote more sustainable food production and consumption patterns.
One goal
Commitment to these goals and the understanding that we cannot treat food as just one more commodity when billions suffer from hunger are the foundation for any partnership with the FAO. I also believe that engagement of private enterprises should not be a token corporate responsibility gesture, but reflect a genuine will to use their corporate strength to make the world a better place for all its population.
An alliance between the FAO, its member governments, civil society and non-governmental organisations, philanthropic foundations and private enterprises that are committed to a better world for all can become a hugely effective instrument for change. I am sure that, like-minded as we are, we can create it. Let us work together on this agenda.
José Graziano da Silva became director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation on January 1, 2012. He formerly led the design and initial implementation of Brazil’s Zero Hunger Programme.
