Agriculture for
Sustainable Development
Mark Cackler
Agriculture &
Environmental Services Department
The World Bank
mcackler@worldbank.org
www.worldbank.org/ard
Global Sustainability Conference
Dublin
September 26, 2013
75% of the world’s poor are rural and most are
in farm families.
In the 21st century agriculture remains
fundamental for poverty reduction, shared
prosperity and environmental sustainability.
• Feeding 9 billion by
2050…
• ….requires 50%
more food
remain
Global food prices
HIGH
And prices remain volatile:
We need to stop thinking of shocks as “shocks”
200
• The “New Normal”
• Leading to food insecurity
• Leading to costly risk aversion
150
100
50
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Nominal World Food Price Index
(01/1990 = 100)
250
Short term food price volatility is
increasingly a long term phenomenon
with devastating effects
• 1 in 8 people will go to bed hungry tonight.
• Rising and volatile food prices risk losing recent gains
in reducing malnutrition. Malnutrition threatens
this -- and future -- generations.
• Already hunger and malnutrition cause the death of
over 3.5 million children every year.
• Not a temporary phenomenon – food prices are
expected to stay high in the medium term (above
2004 levels through 2015) and volatile.
So…. what should we do?
1. Accelerate smallholder productivity for agricultural
growth and food security, especially by women
2. Follow a comprehensive approach to reduce ruralurban disparities and poverty, food insecurity and
malnutrition
3. Use Climate Smart Agriculture to enhance
sustainability and environmental services from
agriculture
4. Pursue multiple pathways out of poverty: smallholder
farming, labor markets, rural non-farm employment,
migration
5. Improve the quality of governance in agriculture at
local, national, and global levels
6. And don’t stop when the headlines disappear: there
were 830 million hungry people before the 2008 “crisis”
There are challenges….
Land/Water
Constraints
Price and
Weather
Volatility
Gender
Inequality
Weak
Governance
Subsidy
and Trade
Distortions
On Track for
a 4 Degree
World
…. and opportunities
Growing Markets
Technology Innovations
Better Risk Management
Agriculture Investment is Key
• Promote longer-term agricultural growth;
75% of the poor are rural
• FAO estimates that private sector agricultural
investment must rise 50%, to $200 billion per
year.
Expenditure gains induced by 1%
GDP growth (%)
Growth from agriculture is especially
effective for poverty reduction
GDP growth from agriculture
benefits the income of the
poor 2-4 times more than
GDP growth from nonagriculture (43 countries)
8
6
Agriculture
4
2
0
-2
Nonagriculture
Low est 2
3
4
5
6
7
Expenditure deciles
11
8
9 Highest
“Ag growth gives
more bang for the buck”
Agriculture growth is 2 to 4 times more effective
in raising incomes of the very poor
than growth in other sectors
The environment and climate change:
Agriculture is a big part of the problem, and...
 70% of fresh water resources
 40% of land area
 30% of GHG emissions
Contributions to greenhouse gas emissions
Developing country
agriculture &
deforestation 21%
Industrialized
countries
64%
Developing
country other
sources 15%
…agriculture is a big part of the solution
We need a “Triple Win” of:
1. Improved productivity and food security
2. Enhanced resilience to drought, flood, erosion, heat & water stress
3. Low carbon growth
Climate Smart Agriculture
Productivity,
Incomes,
Resilience
Vulnerability,
Emissions
World Bank Group’s Role
Raise agricultural
productivity
Reduce risk and
vulnerability
Link farmers to markets
and strengthen value
chains
Rural non-farm income
Enhance environmental
services and
sustainability
WBG Agriculture Action Plan
FY13-15 - $8 b to $10 b annually
Maintain long-term focus on five
thematic areas ….
Raise agricultural productivity
Link farmers to markets and
strengthen value chains
Facilitate rural non-farm
income
In recognition of the evolving context
give more emphasis to …
• Focus on Climate-Smart
Agriculture and Landscapes
•• Private sector responses
• Gender mainstreamed
Reduce risk, vulnerability, and
gender inequality
• Longer-term risk management
and improved resilience
• More explicit nutrition focus
Enhance environmental services
and sustainability
• Landscape approaches
18
Agriculture:
A World Bank Group Priority
Active Agricultural Commitment:
Total = US$16.7 Billion
AFR:
$3.4B
SAR:
$4.8B
EAP: $3B
MNA:
$0.7B
LCR:
$2.3B
ECA:
$2.7B
Partnerships,
including the private sector
AgResults
PROFISH
AgriFin
GDPRD
International
Land
Coalition
GEF
CGIAR
Global Partnership for Oceans
PROFOR
SecureNutrition
Sustainable
75% of the world’s poor are rural and most are in farm families.
With more and better investment in sustainable agriculture, we
can eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, and stop a 4° world.
www.worldbank.org/ard