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Opportunities for Economic Growth and Job Creation in Relation to Food Security and Nutrition

Report to the G20 Development Working Group

Year of publication 2014

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 37

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Document

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Food security is critical to the G20’s growth agenda: G20 actions to foster faster economic growth are mutually reinforcing with efforts to improve global food security and nutrition. The growth, jobs and finance agenda is therefore closely linked to food security and nutrition. FAO estimates that around 842 million people (12 percent of the global population) are unable to meet their dietary energy requirements. The principal cause of food insecurity is household incomes that are too low to e nsure adequate access to food. Economic growth that raises the incomes of the world’s poorest is essential for long-term food security. Empirical evidence suggests that agricultural growth in LICs is three times as effective in reducing extreme (dollar-a-day) poverty as growth in other sectors. Improved food security, reflected in better nutritional status, is a prerequisite for human resource development and resulting gains in productivity and economic growth. Food insecurity and malnutrition c arry a high cost in terms of foregone economic opportunities, which can extend into future generations. Eliminating undernutrition during the window of opportunity from pregnancy to 24 months could raise the economic growth potential of Africa and Asia dramatically. Productivity-enhancing investments and the integration of smallholders into markets not only improves food security and resilience to food price volatility but also improves incomes and creates jobs in agriculture and through strong multiplier effects in the rural sector, and in the broader context of structural transformation can be a foundation for growth and development more generally.

Language English

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