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Grain plan will boost incomes of Asia's poor
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2009, Wednesday
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INTERNATIONAL agriculture researchers and donors yesterday announced a plan to substantially boost crop yields in South Asia and help farmers increase their income to avoid a repeat of last year's food crisis.
The 10-year program, led by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States government, aims to produce an additional 5 million tons of grain annually and increase the income of 6 million rural poor in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal by at least US$350 a year.
"The food price spikes of 2008 were a stark reminder of what can happen when agricultural productivity growth ?? which is reliant on continued research and development ?? tapers off and demand begins to overtake supply," said Achim Dobermann, deputy head for research at the institute.
He said the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia "can take big steps in the eradication of hunger, malnutrition and poverty in a region that has grappled with these afflictions for far too long."
The initiative will focus on eight hubs in the four targeted countries, which play a major role in feeding close to a quarter of the world's population. South Asia is home to 40 percent of the world's poor, with nearly half a billion people subsisting on less than US$1 a day.
Almost half of the region's children under 5 are malnourished, the institute said.
By improving post-harvest technologies and practices and accelerating development of new cereal varieties, the project's goal is for 4 million farmers to achieve a yield increase of at least 0.5 tons per 2.5 acres on 12 million acres, the institute said.
An additional 2 million farmers could achieve a yield increase of at least a ton per 2.5 acres on 6 million acres, it said.
The figures translate into at least 5 million tons of additional grain produced annually, with an additional economic value of at least US$1.5 billion per year, it said.
The Gates Foundation is supporting the program with a US$19.59 million grant, and the US Agency for International Development has promised to contribute US$10 million to the program over the first three years.
The 10-year program, led by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States government, aims to produce an additional 5 million tons of grain annually and increase the income of 6 million rural poor in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal by at least US$350 a year.
"The food price spikes of 2008 were a stark reminder of what can happen when agricultural productivity growth ?? which is reliant on continued research and development ?? tapers off and demand begins to overtake supply," said Achim Dobermann, deputy head for research at the institute.
He said the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia "can take big steps in the eradication of hunger, malnutrition and poverty in a region that has grappled with these afflictions for far too long."
The initiative will focus on eight hubs in the four targeted countries, which play a major role in feeding close to a quarter of the world's population. South Asia is home to 40 percent of the world's poor, with nearly half a billion people subsisting on less than US$1 a day.
Almost half of the region's children under 5 are malnourished, the institute said.
By improving post-harvest technologies and practices and accelerating development of new cereal varieties, the project's goal is for 4 million farmers to achieve a yield increase of at least 0.5 tons per 2.5 acres on 12 million acres, the institute said.
An additional 2 million farmers could achieve a yield increase of at least a ton per 2.5 acres on 6 million acres, it said.
The figures translate into at least 5 million tons of additional grain produced annually, with an additional economic value of at least US$1.5 billion per year, it said.
The Gates Foundation is supporting the program with a US$19.59 million grant, and the US Agency for International Development has promised to contribute US$10 million to the program over the first three years.
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