International Development Committee Inquiry into SDG 2: Zero Hunger

VSO written submission

December 2023

VSO is an international development organisation which works through volunteers to build lasting change with the most marginalised communities. VSO’s livelihoods work focuses on agroecology, the formation of collectives, group savings and the promotion of local and territorial markets for shorter food chains.  We do this to support marginalised people to empower themselves including smallholder farmers, micro and small-scale entrepreneurs, women, people with disabilities, young people, and those with less access to land and resources.  We also work with collectives, volunteers and youth organisations to advocate for Right to Food, right to resources, and better national policies on farming and agriculture, and social protection. VSO is demonstrating that agroecology projects can improve food security in hunger hotspots and improve water conservation which is a key aspect of food insecurity. We welcome the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry. 

After a number of years of decline, the number of people experiencing food insecurity has been on the rise due to interrelated and compounding factors, like climate change, protracted crises and the COVID19 pandemic. Wars in Ukraine and elsewhere are making               the situation worse. This is our third food crisis in 15 years.  Currently, 783 million people are               living in hunger, 13.6 million of them are children.  

Gendered impacts of hunger

Food insecurity is a gendered phenomenon. At the global level, the gender gap in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity has grown even larger in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity being 10 % higher among women than men in 2020, compared with 6 % in 2019.

Working with women smallholder farmers, young people and people with disabilities, VSO targets the most marginalised and most vulnerable.  Through creating co-operatives to strengthen women smallholder farmer voices to having better access to markets, training on agroecology and agricultural methods which don’t deplete the soil and improving diversity. Creating seedbanks of indigenous seeds which are naturally resistant means that women are better able to develop resilience in their farming, improve the local natural environment, avoid the need to pay for costly seeds and fertilisers, understand and advocate for their rights, have more influence when seeking change and have greater bargaining power.  

An example of this, and where we are working with the FCDO on these issues is in Nepal.  The UK Aid funded ACTIVE grant, is supporting marginalised communities, especially farmers, to come together and advocate for the Right to Food at the local level.  VSO is working with marginalised, rural, female-headed household communities in sharing farmer voices, holding issue-based discussions, influencing local government representatives for the implementation of the policy which has many pro poor farmer responsive provisions like agriculture insurance, Farmer Categorization, Social Protection, Leasehold farming.  Specifically, there has been engagement with female farmers and young farmers.  VSO volunteers worked to mobilise farmer networks and youth groups to engage with the process with the local government and influence priorities which will benefit them.

Given the the gendered impact of food insecurity and hunger on women and girls, the FCDO’s Women and Girls Strategy could strengthen its emphasis on the gendered impacts of food insecurity.   For example, the women’s economic empowerment section does not mention the need to support rural women smallholder farmers, or on the need to diversify               seeds and recognize women’s indigenous knowledge or provide support for them to transition to agroecology.  Whilst VSO welcomes the commitment of the FCDO to ensure that 80% of all funding and programming is targeted at women and girls, it seems that hunger, food security and the role of women farmers is lacking this focus and may mean this connection is missed.  

To address the issues, the FCDO should increase funding for agroecological, smallholder farmers, or women food producers.  Support small scale food producers, particularly women, improving their incomes, making their production systems economically and ecologically viable, and building their resilience is particularly needed. This includes investments in gender transformative approaches and strengthening women’s active agency and control over resources and incomes. The FCDO should strengthen alliances and networks of smallholder farmers, including women farmers and farmers with disabilities to promote their solidarity, strengthening their agency, knowledge, and networks. This would be a demonstration of locally led development in action, putting resources, tools, knowledge directly in the hands of the most marginalised.  

Resilient livelihoods in fragile & conflict contexts

Conflict and displacement disrupt agricultural activities, transportation and trade routes, and affect the production and movement of food from production areas to markets, resulting in food scarcity, price spikes, and food inequities amongst affected populations.                Conflict and displacement can also lead to the loss of livelihoods, as people may be forced to abandon their occupations. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), more than half of the world's hungry people live in conflict-affected areas, which has a disproportionate impact on children.  Conflict also disrupts agricultural activities, damages infrastructure, and displaces farmers, leading to crop failures and reduced food production. In conflict-affected countries, agricultural yields can drop by 20%.

In Ethiopia, VSO is working with refugees and partner organisations to establish agroecological collective food farms in refugee camps. In the Philippines, VSO works with partners to provide livelihood trainings to a group of internally displaced women in Mindanao, as well as with ex-rebels to normalise peace and transform former rebel camps into peace and eco-tourism sites.  

One of the most effective ways to create resilience during and after conflict is through social safety nets and social protection measures (including school meals), cash transfers, mass screenings for food insecurity and malnutrition, referral mechanisms and relief for the most               affected.  This can help curb the worst of malnutrition and hunger during conflict and help people get back on their feet and rebuild.  

To address this, the FCDO urgently should accelerate steps to invest in and diversify food               production nationally and restructure trade flows. Dependence on imports is not a viable food security strategy, it is expensive and increases vulnerability to shocks and conflict. The FCDO should consider Investing in local production systems to deliver multiple benefits such as generating income for local producers (who make up the majority of the population in the most food insecure countries), improving nutrition, supporting local economic development and decreasing the carbon footprint of the food system, all of which build resilience during and post conflict.  

Whilst the FCDO recognises the interrelatedness of food security, conflict, fragility and climate change, it is not really following through in terms of the policy interventions, specifically around social protection measures.  Social protection is often seen as stand alone, and there is still too much emphasis on global food systems and supply chains which perpetuate insecurity, and are worsened by conflict and fragility, rather than focusing on national and local food systems which would further greater resilience; and the strengthening of social protection systems specifically around fragile hotspots; getting these measures in place through early warning systems to increase resilience and food security.  

Agriculture and climate change

As the recently published International Development White Paper mentions, one of the               biggest contributors to carbon emissions is agriculture.  Specifically, big corporate agriculture that uses fertilisers, pesticides and mono-cropping.  This kind of approach               reduces biodiversity, reduces resilience to climate change, depletes soils, increases erosion,               and creates food susceptible to being wiped out by bugs or weather due to a lack of diversity.  Whilst the paper identifies this as a problem, it doesn’t go far enough in considering               the solutions to some of this.  VSO considers that agroecology is a key solution to this as well as investing in smallholder farmers, co-operatives and locally led, culturally appropriate solutions.  Agriculture receives very little climate finance.  Agroecology is a key climate adaptation strategy that needs support. This would include investing in organic manure, indigenous seeds, and removing subsidies and funding from agrochemical-based fertilisers and pesticides.  Instead, funding needs to focus on climate resilient solutions and away from fossil fuel based polluting chemical fertilisers.  

Agriculture policy needs to focus more on the needs of the poorest and most marginalised. This includes smallholder farmers, the majority of which are women.  Technology which supports farmers rights to use, save, exchange and sell seeds is particularly welcome as this puts money, innovation and resilience into the hands of farmers, especially women farmers.                Instead there is a lot of use of proprietary seeds and technologies which are expensive and limit locally led, demand driven innovation.  

In Zimbabwe, VSO volunteers are supporting local communities affected by cyclone Idai to make their own organic fertiliser by using food waste and other organic materials.  The region is at a high risk of climate shocks, and the impacts of the war in Ukraine have weakened food security in the region.  By training the communities on agroecology practices, including developing seedbanks, organic fertiliser, crop rotation and water preservation, the communities are becoming more resilient and less reliant upon global food markets, global seed and fertiliser supplies.  

The white paper focuses on technology, advances and innovation in research which is to be welcomed.  There needs to be a focus on technologies which promote biodiversity preservation, sustainable use of biodiversity and scientists working together with farmers.  This would true partnership in action, in the way described in the paper.  

Locally led, demand driven approaches to food security, and which focus on the engagement and empowerment of women and girls to create their own food security and that of their communities, can help to deliver other aspects of the paper, and should be considered alongside research, innovation, technology and new financing approaches.

We welcome the UK’s leadership in supporting and funding the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) and we welcome the UK’s continued support for it including leveraging this support to encourage more donors and greater donations to the fund. 

Whilst we see a lot of good rhetoric from FCDO and through the recently published white paper and other strategies including the women and girls’ strategy, there is a need to join some of the thinking up and make the shift from the thinking to action on the ground.  

Too much of the FCDOs approach to tackling food insecurity relies on global systems, technology, research, which we know do not always serve the poorest and most marginalised; those most vulnerable to climate change and conflict.  Whilst there is a space for this work, there also needs to be locally led, culturally appropriate, indigenous knowledge shared of methods which work, which are sustainable, which support the land, and which put power, resources, money back into the hands of smallholder farmers.  

For any queries, more information or to request a someone to attend an oral evidence session please contact Ruth Jackson, UK Parliamentary Adviser, ruth.jackson@vsoint.org