Improving Food Security: A guide for rural development managers

In many parts of the world, food insecurity and nutritional risk is often greater for females than for males, in infancy, in parenthood (particularly during pregnancy, nursing and as single parents), and in old age. Further, women are usually the key decision-makers in child nutrition. Therefore a substantial part of the challenge in improving household food security involves raising the incomes and education of disadvantaged women. For policy makers and students as well as rural development managers and others with an interest in food security, Improving Food Security discusses in a practical way the participative assessment of malnutrition and food security problems, how to improve nutrition, food and livestock markets, water supplies, finance, and co-operation between NGOs and governments, as well as the importance of strengthening local preparedness for famine prevention.

Table of Contents:
Preface vii 1. PLIGHT AND POWER OF THE RURAL MANAGER 1 The person in the middle 1 What the rural manager needs to know about food 2 security 2. ASSESSING FOOD SECURITY IN THE LOCALITY 7 Local food security and nutrition 7 Carrying out a local food security and nutrition audit 12 A local food security strategy 18 Summary 21 3. NUTRITION, HEALTH AND DISEASE 22 Nutrition priorities in rural areas 23 Finding out whether there is a nutrition problem in the 26 area Designing programmes to improve nutrition 33 Summary 38 4. FOOD SUPPLIES AND PRICES 39 State and market 39 Techniques for finding out how well local food markets 41 work What can be done to overcome problems 50 Summary 61 5. CREATING INCOMES AND EMPLOYMENT 63 The changing rural employment problem 63 Why government and NGOs should be involved in 63 trying to raise and maintain people's incomes Indirect measures: creating an environment that fosters 65 productive employment for the poor Direct measures to raise incomes 68 Summary 89 6. WATER 90 The rural water management problem 90 Potential benefits of improved water supplies 91 Government-village partnership in water management 91 Government's role in building sustained self-help in 93 water management Key food security issues involving water 94 Summary 97 7. LIVESTOCK 99 Managing the local livestock sector during a drought 99 Managing livestock development to promote food 104 security: Dos and Don'ts Summary 107 8. FINANCE FOR LOCAL FOOD SECURITY 109 Assessing the local financial system as it affects the poor 110 Improving the local financial system for the poor 113 Improving project funding 116 Summary 118 9. GOVERNMENT-NGO CO-OPERATION 120 The nature of NGOs 120 NGO dilemmas 121 Working with local NGOs 122 Strengths and weaknesses of national and foreign 122 NGOs NGOs and food security 124 Summary 125 10. PREPAREDNESS FOR FAMINE PREVENTION 127 The basis for disaster preparedness 128 Essential disaster preparedness measures: national and 130 local Making local preparedness administration more 137 effective under adverse circumstances Appendix I: Rapid and participatory appraisal tools 139 Appendix II: Kenya's Turkana District drought preparedness plan 142 Glossary of food security terms 145 Notes 147 References 149