Evidence-Based Research

China's food security is being challenged by a mix of factors, including rising demand, rapid urbanization, scarce natural resources and agricultural labor, and greater risk of food safety and environmental problems. To address food security concerns, China had resolved to meet the bulk of its grain demand domestically. But this policy is now being revisited, suggesting a considerable increase in the already rising food imports. The No 1 Central Document released on Sunday reiterated the importance of improving the food security system while ensuring food safety.

Use, control, and ownership of productive assets – land, money, livestock, and education, to name just a few – are essential stepping stones on the path out of poverty. But this pathway can look very different depending on whether you are a man or a woman. Growing evidence suggests that women typically have fewer assets than men, and that they use those assets differently. What’s more, agricultural development programs may impact men’s and women’s assets in different, sometimes unexpected, ways.

Fertilizer use in India has exploded since the government began a subsidization program in the 1970s. National fertilizer consumption rates increased by 50% during the 1990s. But research has shown that the effectiveness of these inputs has actually declined – on average, 8 kilograms of grain were produced per kilogram of fertilizer in the late 1990s, compared to 25 kg of grain per kg of fertilizer in the 1960s.

The issue of large-scale public food stockholding programs played a starring role in this month's 9th WTO Ministerial in Bali (for more analysis, read posts by Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla and David Laborde and Luca Salvatici). The resulting ministerial declaration, released on December 7, establishes an interim mechanism that Members can use to navigate the use and management of public food stocks in lieu of a more permanent solution. The declaration calls for a permanent solution to be concluded no later than the 11th Ministerial Conference.

The “food vs. fuel” debate came no closer to a resolution last week, as Energy ministers from the European Union’s 28 member states failed to agree on a compromise limiting the use of transport fuels made from food crops such as rapeseed and wheat, so-called first generation biofuels.