Editorial note from the FOODSECURE coordination team
Bratislava: Taking stock and looking ahead
We are looking forward to jointly taking stock of results so far and planning ahead of the final two-year phase of the project at the upcoming FOODSECURE conference in Bratislava, March 24-27, 2015. 'Stakeholders' is one of the foci. Other high-lights will be a diner-talk given by Jo Swinnen about his latest views on “EU policies and global food security; a discussion about food security in Europe and the impact of economic downturn on food consumption in the new member states; a panel discussion on the evolving research insights and agenda around FOODSECURE moderated by Joachim von Braun; a presentation of country case studies and discussion how FNS policy theory emerges from these, as well as the route to the Navigator and the final dissemination events towards autumn 2016. Stakeholders deserve our special attention.
The FOODSECURE scientific agenda on policies to promote food and nutrition security has been benefiting from regular interaction with a wide range of stakeholders. Within the FOODSECURE context, a diverse group of interested parties have developed their visions for how to attain global food and nutrition security, and the actions and policies to be taken to eliminate hunger and malnutrition over the course of the coming decades.
Naturally, such action planning needs to incorporate the many uncertainties that the future might bring. The stakeholders involved in a number of FOODSECURE workshops and surveys framed their proposed actions within comprehensive story-lines for four potential futures, towards 2050, that had been defined in earlier workshops. Key drivers that were selected included: population growth; technical change; income per capita; land use; and change in diets. While participants confirmed the relevance of global drivers and solutions, they were also interested in a plausible scenario around a more local food supply.
Stakeholders have repeatedly identified potentially game-changing drivers of food security in the medium to long run that are notoriously difficult to quantify in projections, such as the impact of governance, education and informed choice on production and consumption decisions and their consequences. Also, the metrics of food and nutrition security indicators that are used to report outcomes require improvement, in particular on the dimensions of food accessibility and food utilization. We are grateful for the inspiring ideas and exchange.
For a look at the up-to-date agenda have a look at www.foodsecure.eu
Any comments or suggestions? Please feel free to contact us at foodsecure@wur.nl
Your FOODSECURE management team: Hans van Meijl, Petra Berkhout and Thom Achterbosch.
News
New scenarios developed with stakeholders. Researchers of workpackage 5 (Stakeholder orientation on the future of hunger) have made substantial progress with developing scenarios in cooperation with stakeholders. The scenarios and quantification as well as the participatory stakeholder approach are described in a working paper, which has been submitted to the International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), in Milan, August 8-14, 2015 and will be published in the Food Secure Working Paper Series. As a follow-up to the scenario development process, two policy workshops are organized with stakeholders to brainstorm about the options for policy-makers to promote food and nutrition security. The first “global” workshop took place in Vienna in December 2014 and involved 16 stakeholders from international organizations, farmer associations and companies from all over the world. The “European” workshop took place on Malta mid-February. Contact: Michiel van Dijk
Participation in FOODSECURE Workshop. Colleagues of Rome Tre University participated in the FOODSECURE Workshop on Agricultural Trade Policy and Food Security in Vienna, December 9-10, 2014. Luca Salvatici presented the FOODSECURE Working Paper "Agricultural Trade Policies and Food Security: Is there a Causal Relationship” co-authored by Emiliano Magrini, Pierluigi Montalbano and Silvia Nenci. Valentina Raimondi presented the FOODSECURE Working Paper "The impact of EU trade preferences on the extensive and intensive margins of agricultural and food products" co-authored by Margherita Scoppola and Alessandro Olper. Alessandro Olper presented the paper "Food Security/Health and Trade liberalization". Rebecca Pietrelli presented the research project "Trade exposure and household food security: the maize value chain in Uganda" with Pierluigi Montalbano and Luca Salvatici. Contact: Luca Salvatici
Upgrated version of dataM. DataM is a tool for collecting and managing the most relevant datasets available worldwide on agriculture, trade and related models. You can find the improved version here.
Focus on baseline projections and particularly on uncertainty scenarios into the latest issue of the European Commission’s agricultural outlook for the next decade. The outlook "Prospects for EU Agricultural Markets and Income" was compiled by the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and presented during a dedicated conference in Brussels (December 5, 2014). The publication describes the trends for major EU agricultural commodity markets such as crop, milk and meat markets until 2024. [more] Contact: Pierre Boulanger
LICOS organized two public panel discussions. On June 10, 2014, LICOS jointly organized with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels a public panel discussion on the occasion of the launch of the IFPRI Report "Towards a post-2015 agenda to end hunger and under-nutrition" with Shenggen Fan (Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute), Karen Brooks (Director, CGIAR Research Program on Policies Institutions and Markets) and Roberto Ridolfi (Director, DG Development and Cooperation, European Commission). On June 24, 2014, LICOS jointly organized with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels a public panel discussion on The Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture with Allan Buckwell, (Senior Fellow, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Franz Fischler (chairman of the RISE Foundation and former EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (1995–2004). Contact: Lara Cockx
Workshop on "Agricultural Trade and Food Security in the Euro-Med Area" (September 25-25, 2014). The workshop was jointly organised by the JRC IPTS Agrilife Unit and Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. The meeting gathered interdisciplinary academics and experts from FAO, IFPRI, CIHEAM and the European Commission. [more]
Presentations, lectures, keynote addresses, and invited plenary presentations
Luca Salvatici (Rome Tre University) organized a workshop on "Global value chains for food and nutrition security" in Rome, September 25-26, 2014, Rome Tre University. More information here
Rebecca Pietrelli, Pierluigi Montalbano and Luca Salvatici (all Rome Tre University) presented the research project "Trade policy and household food security: the maize value chain in Uganda" at the Workshop on "Global value chains for food and nutrition security" at the FOODSECURE Workshop on Agricultural Trade Policy and Food Security (December 9-10, 2014, Vienna).
Jo Swinnen (Catholic University Leuven) gave a presentation on "A Transatlantic Free Trade Deal: Implications for Food and Agricultural Policy" at the CEPS TTIP meeting, in October 2014.
Kristine Van Herck (Catholic University Leuven) presented the paper "Small farmers, Standards and Value Chains: Evidence from the Bulgarian dairy chain during EU accession" (joint work with Jo Swinnen) at the Workshop on the Effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Leuven, on October 2, 2014.
Jo Swinnen (Catholic University Leuven) gave two presentations on "The Media and Political Economy of GMO" and on "The 2013 CAP reform. What did political economy considerations predict?" at the EAAE Congress, in Ljubljana, August 26–29, 2014.
Jo Swinnen (Catholic University Leuven) gave a keynote speech on "Trading-off Volatility and Distortions? Economics and Politics of Food Policy During Price Spikes (in China and the World)" at the AAEA Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, July 27–29, 2014.
Jo Swinnen (Catholic University Leuven) chaired the public panel discussion on the new IFPRI Report launch Towards a post-2015 agenda to end hunger and undernutrition, at CEPS, Brussels, on June 10, 2014.
Joachim Vandecasteelen (Catholic University Leuven) presented the paper "Scaling up the adoption of improved technologies in staple food production: the impact of the promotion of row planting on farmers’ teff yields in Ethiopia" co-authored with Mekdim Dereje, Bart Minten, and Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse at the LICOS-CRED workshop in Leuven, on June 5, 2014.
Lara Cockx (Catholic University Leuven) gave a presentation on “Evidence and policy options on coherence of EU development aid” at the FOODSECURE Workshop in Vienna, on December 10, 2014.
Maryia Mandryk (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) gave a presentation on "Food and Nutrition Security - Examples of Published Visions" at the FoodSecure Workshop in Vienna, on December 10, 2014. [download the presentation]
Publications and book chapters
Achterbosch, T.J., J. Verhagen (ed.) (2014). The food puzzle: Pathways to securing food for all. www.wageningenur.nl/foodpuzzle
Anderson, K., Rausser, G., Swinnen, J. (2014). Agricultural Policy: A Global View. In Van Alfen, N. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems. San Diego: Elsevier, pp. 179–194.
Bakucs, Z., Fałkowski, J., Ferto,I. (2014). Does Market Structure Influence Price Transmission in the Agrofood Sector? A Meta-analysis Perspective. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 65(1): 1–25.
Berlinschi, R., Swinnen, J., Van Herck, K. (2014). Trapped in Agriculture? Credit Constraints, Investments in Education and Agricultural Employment. European Journal of Development Research, 26(4): 490–508.
Guariso, A., Squicciarini, M.P., Swinnen, J. (2014).Food Price Shocks and the Political Economy of Global Agricultural and Development Policy. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 36(3): 387-415.
Deconinck, K., Swinnen, J.(2015). Peer Effects and the Rise of Beer in Russia. Food Policy, 51: 83-96.
Deconinck, K., Swinnen, J. (2015). The Economics of Planting Rights in Wine Production. European Review of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming.
Minten, B., Stifel, D., Tamru, S. (2014).Structural Transformation of Cereal Markets in Ethiopia. Journal of Development Studies, 50(5): 611–629.
Negash, M., Riera, O. (2014). Biodiesel Value Chain and Access to Energy in Ethiopia: Policies and Business Prospects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 39: 975–985.
Rolland, F., Decuypere, E., De Meester, L., Deroover, S., De Tavernier, J., Keulemans, W., Niewold, F., Swennen, R., Swinnen, J., Vandesteene, L., Van Overwalle, G., Verstrepen, K. (2014). Wat met ggo’s? Leuven: LannooCampus.
Rozelle, S., Huang, J., Wang, X. (2014). The Food Security Roots of the Middle Income Trap. In Naylor, R. L. (Ed.), The Evolving Sphere of Food Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 64–86.
Swinnen, J., Van Herck, K., Vranken, L. (2015). The Diversity of Land Markets and Regulations in Europe, and (Some of) Its Causes. Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming.
Swinnen, J. (2014). Political economy of EU agricultural and food policies. In: Naylor, R. L. (Ed.), The Evolving Sphere of Food Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 122–152.
Swinnen, J., Deconinck, K., Vandemoortele, T., Vandeplas, A. (2015) Quality Standards, Value Chains and International Development: Economic and Political Theory. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
Swinnen, J., Knops, L., & Van Herck, K. Food Price Volatility and EU Policies. In: Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (Ed.), Food Price Policy in an Era of Market Instability. A Political Economy Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Vandeplas, A., Minten, B. (2015). Food quality in domestic markets of developing economies: a comparative study of two countries. Agricultural Economics, forthcoming.
Vigani, M., Olper, A. (2014). GM-free Private Standards, Public Regulation of GM Products and Mass Media. Environment and Development Economics. 19(5): 1–26.
FOODSECURE working papers
 FOODSECURE working paper no. 29.
Trade Policy Coordination and Food Price Volatility. By Christophe Gouel.
This paper analyzes trade policy coordination when trade policies are driven by terms-of-trade effects and a desire to reduce domestic food price volatility.
 FOODSECURE working paper no. 28.
We are what we eat: An economic tool for tracing the origins of nutrients with entry points for action. By Martine Rutten, Andrzej Tabeau, Frans Godeschalk.
In this paper, the authors show the development of a methodology for incorporating nutrition impacts in economy-wide analyses, providing entry points for where, when and how to act.
 FOODSECURE working paper no. 27.
Non-Tariff Measures when Alternative Regulatory Tools can be Chosen. By Stéphan Marette.
This paper analyzes whether or not different non-tariff measures (NTM) like a standard or a mandatory label can be considered as protectionist in presence of market imperfections.
 FOODSECURE working paper no. 26.
Does Food Aid Disrupt Local Food Market? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia. By Nathalie Ferrière, Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann.
This paper analyzes in an empirical way the impact of food aid on wheat production, sales and purchases in rural Ethiopia between 1994 and 2009.
 FOODSECURE working paper no. 25.
Agricultural Trade Policies and Food Security: Is there a Causal Relationship? By Emiliano Magrini, Pierluigi Montalbano, Silvia Nenci, Luca Salvatici.
The aim of this paper is to assess the causal impact of trade policy distortions on food security.
Further discussion papers and reports from FOODSECURE researchers
Matthias Kalkuhl and Irfan Mujahid, 2014, A Typology of Indicators on Production Potential, Efficiency and FNS Risk. FOODSECURE technical paper no. 4. [download]
Marijke Kuiper and Lindsay Shutes, 2014, Expanding the household coverage of global simulation models: An application to Ghana. FOODSECURE technical paper no. 3. [download]
Marian Rizov, Andrej Cupak and Jan Pokrivcak, 2015, Food security and household consumption patterns in Slovakia. LICOS discussion paper 360/2014. [download]
Hannah Pieters and Jo Swinnen, 2014, Trading-off Volatility and Distortions? Food Policy During Price Spikes. LICOS discussion paper 359/2014. [download]
Olivia Riera and Jo Swinnen, 2014, Household level spillover effects from biofuels. LICOS discussion paper 356/2014. [download]
Emiliano Magrini and Mauro Vigani, 2014, Technology adoption and the multiple dimensions of food security: the case of maize in Tanzania. LICOS discussion paper 352/2014. [download]
Pierre Boulanger and George Philippidis, 2014, Modelling the Common Agricultural Policy with the Modular Agricultural GeNeral Equilibrium Tool (MAGNET). Effects of the 2014-2020 CAP financial agreement on welfare, trade, factor and product markets. JRC Science and Policy Report. [download]
Calendar/upcoming events
"Towards better-informed global and national policies for
Food and Nutrition Security". March 24-27, 2015, FOODSECURE consortium meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia. This will be the third FOODSECURE consortium meeting. Jan Pokrivcak of the Slovak University of Agriculture will kindly host the conference. We will discuss scientific progress in the project’s research agenda, including an original survey study on the determinants of food and nutrition security in Eastern Europe (under WP2). We will have a three-day conference, starting at the end of Tuesday afternoon with an informal drink or dinner. This will allow all participants to travel to Bratislava on Tuesday. The actual conference will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday will be used for technical workshops on various subjects.
You can find the latest conference papers on the internal sharepoint on www.foodsecure.eu. Find the updated agenda on the Website.
We will keep you posted about any possible modifications!
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