FAO Economic and Social Development Department

Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty

The State ofFood andAgriculture 20

15

#sofa15

Rome, 13 October 2015

FAO Economic and Social Development Department

#sofa15

Social protection: Why FAO? • Most of the poor and hungry live in

rural areas• In informal sector, not modern formal

sector• State of world economy, bleak

prospects• Existing economic distribution difficult to

reform• From protection to production• 2012 GA: Social protection floor• SDGs: Preamble, 1, 5, 10

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Most of the extreme poor live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

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Most of the extreme poor live in rural areas

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Key factors reducing poverty and hunger

• Economic growth necessary, but not sufficient– Needs to be inclusive to reach the poorest

• Increase productivity of smallholder and family farming– Improves incomes and access to food

• Access to rural markets– Provides market and employment opportunities

• Reduce impact of natural and human-made disasters– Of 20 countries in protracted crisis, only Ethiopia

reached the MDG hunger target• Increase coverage of social protection

– Reduces poverty and hunger directly – Fosters economic opportunities and builds resilience

• SP includes interventions to:– reduce social and economic risk and vulnerability– alleviate extreme poverty and deprivation

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Most in developing world not covered by social protection

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Poorest households more likely to be covered by social protection, but the shares vary

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SP protects poor, prevents worse deprivation

• Social protection reduces poverty – In 2013, SP measures prevented 150 m.

people worldwide from falling into poverty.• Social protection reduces food insecurity and

seasonal hunger– Improves quantity and quality of food

consumption, increases dietary diversity• Having a SP system in place enables

governments to react quickly to crises• Gender-sensitive social protection increases

positive impact on food security

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Social protection empowers, encourages investment

• Boosts demand for local goods, services, economy • Long-term effects of improved human resources• Increases on- and off-farm investment, production• Helps households manage risk• Reduces burden on social networks and informal

insurance mechanisms• Broadens labour choices, but does not reduce

work effort• Adults tend to move from casual agricultural wage

labour to on-farm activities• Children work less and go to school more • SP affordable in all countries, especially middle-

income countries; LICs could do more with aid

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Social protection alone not enough to eliminate poverty

• Addressing chronic poverty and food insecurity requires long-term, predictable social protection and complementary measures

• Social protection, agricultural investments part of rural development strategy

• Programmes necessary to address structural constraints faced by poor households

• Social protection and agricultural investments together build resilience

• e.g. Purchase from Africans for Africa Programme (PAA) creates markets for family farmers to meet demand for social protection programmes. Home grown school-feeding programmes are examples of IPPs. In Africa, they sometimes build on WFP’s Purchase for Progress, P4P.

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Incomes, investment requirements

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Incomes of poor, poverty line

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For more information …

The State of Food and Agriculture 2015

Social protection and agriculture:breaking the cycle of rural poverty

FAO‘s major annual flagship publication

Available in: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

www.fao.org/publications/sofa