Views on "the new global context for agricultural research: implication for policy"

Food and fertilizer prices have fallen substantially since the mid-1970s, and globally there is a relative abundance of food. The improvement in Asia is marked. While the situation in Africa remains precarious, the number of food emergency countries has declined since 1985. This gives cause for satisfaction, but not for complacency. Severe national debt problems divert funds from long-term development, and an increasing number of developing countries have food deficit. Some countries have rising food deficits despite rapid agricultural growth because general economic progress and rising incomes have increased demand, especially for livestock products. Developing-country importers need an international environment wherein food supplies are reliable and not subject to radical price or volume fluctuations. Some low-income countries are being forced to export grain despite severe malnutrition because of lack of domestic purchasing power, yet they are under investing in sectors that could increase income and employment. The improvement of food production in Asia has resulted from investment in research, expansion of irrigation and fertilizer use, infrastructural development, relative peace and stability, and emphasis on building resources of trained personnel. Similar progress has not been achieved so far in Africa. The reasons for this inadequate production growth merit careful study, especially of factors that influence the generation and adoption of new technology and of yield-increasing inputs and the sustainability of crop area expansion without environmental damage. Attention is drawn to weaknesses in the assumptions on which long range global studies are predicated, in particular those related to climate (which is usually ignored) and the natural resources base. Research and monitoring of climate and land and water resources, bases for sound policy decisions on food security, are essential. International support for national production policies that maximize ecological comparative advantage rather than simply aiming at food self-sufficiency is needed.