Concerns over the food security situation in sub-Saharan Africa are reflected in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the number of food insecure by half by 2015. Given that land plays an important role in the livelihoods of the majority of Africans, food security and poverty reduction cannot be achieved unless issues of access to land, security of tenure and the capacity to use land productively and in a sustainable manner are addressed. Recognizing the importance of a better understanding of these linkages, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) undertook a study in 2002/2003 on the Impacts of Land Tenure on Food Security and Sustainable Development.
Poverty and health
Land tenure, poverty and food security
Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts
World Health Organisation
Even in the most affluent countries, people who are less well off have substantially shorter life expectancies and more illnesses than the rich. Not only are these differences in health an important social injustice, they have also drawn scientific attention to some of the most powerful determinants of health standards in modern societies. They have led in particular to a growing understanding of the remarkable sensitivity of health to the social environment and to what have become known as the social determinants of health. This publication outlines the most important parts of this new knowledge as it relates to areas of public policy.
The link between unhealthy people and unhealthy soils
Pedro A Sanchez, M S Swaminathan, Lancet 2005; 365: 442–44
"Malnutrition is the biggest risk factor for illness worldwide. Various dimensions of malnutrition (eg, underweight, zinc deficiency, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency) account for seven of the 13 leading risk factors associated with the global burden of diseases. For both children and adults, malnutrition reduces the body's natural defences against a vast range of diseases. The death rate from diseases such as lower respiratory infection, malaria, and measles, which account for a large proportion of children's deaths, are much higher in children who are underweight or have specific nutrient deficiencies than in those who are not. Undernourished people infected with HIV/AIDS develop the full symptoms of the disease more quickly than people who are well fed. Yet one of the earliest side-effects of AIDS is reduced consumption of food in affected households."
Food security and HIV/AIDS
Poverty and hunger continue to characterise life for most Africans who are denied agency over their livelihoods as a result of a complex mix of reinforcing structural, political and environmental factors. This article identifies HIV and AIDS and food insecurity (particularly in rural areas) as the two most severe and interrelated humanitarian issues currently facing southern Africa. It argues that the current situation must be seen as an entangling crisis of climatic factors, chronic poverty, the failure of economic and political governance, and the impact of HIV and AIDS on the ability of individuals to respond independently.
Assuring food security in Africa
Food and nutrition security remain Africa's most fundamental challenges. The number of Africans who are undernourished has been on the rise for decades and now stands at about 200 million people. However, a new commitment to change is emerging both among African leaders and in the international community. Africa may at last be poised to make real progress on achieving food and nutrition security. This book, ‘2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment’ by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), introduces a variety of presentations and deliberations that took place at a conference hosted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, held in Kampala, Uganda, April 2004.
Double burden of disease threatens the world’s poorest people
This article from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization highlights the association between poverty and major risk factors for ill-health. Research was focused on people in low and middle income countries within each of the World Health Organization (WHO) sub-regions. Findings showed that in each sub-region, poverty was strongly associated with increased malnutrition among children, having access only to unsafe water and poor sanitation, and exposure to indoor air pollution. The authors suggest that halving the number of people who live on less than a dollar a day would still fail to reduce the prevalence of these health risks by the 50 per cent needed to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets.
Globalisation and poverty
This paper from World Institute for Development Economics Research looks at the impact of globalisation on rural poverty, in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sector. The paper analyses the processes through which globalisation, in terms of openness to foreign trade and long- term capital flows, affects the lives of the rural poor. The author believes that globalisation can cause many hardships for the poor but it also opens up opportunities which some countries utilise and others do not. This largely depends on their domestic political and economic institutions and policies.
The economic burden of illness for households
"Ill-health and the household costs of illness can undermine livelihoods and contribute to impoverishment, processes that have been brought into sharper focus by the social and economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Concerns about the links between ill-health and impoverishment have placed health at the centre of development agencies' poverty reduction targets and strategies and increased the weight of arguments for substantial health sector investments to improve access for the world's poorest people (WHO 2001)." The aim of this paper from the School of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia in the UK is to review and summarise studies that have measured the economic costs and consequences of illness for patients and their families, focusing on malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Malnutrition expected to rise in Zimbabwe
Malnutrition and related diseases are expected to rise in Zimbabwe, peaking in the January to March 2005 period, according to a new report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). While staple cereals are increasingly unavailable in rural areas, maize prices on the parallel market continue to climb, limiting the ability of households to buy enough food to satisfy their needs, said both FEWS NET and the World Food Programme (WFP) in separate surveys.
Poverty in post-apartheid South Africa
This survey by the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) at the University of Cape Town of poverty in post-apartheid South Africa defines and examines poverty in the South African context. The aim of the report is to provide a picture of asset and services deprivation, economic activity, and health and safety. The report also examines the changes in these indicators from 1996 to 2001.