Showing papers by "Center for Global Development published in 2023"
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors recognize that current food consumption patterns, often characterised by higher levels of food waste and a transition in diets towards higher energy, more resource-intensive foods, need to be transformed.
Abstract: Abstract This chapter recognises that current food consumption patterns, often characterised by higher levels of food waste and a transition in diets towards higher energy, more resource-intensive foods, need to be transformed. Food systems in both developed and developing countries are changing rapidly. Increasingly characterised by a high degree of vertical integration, evolutions in food systems are being driven by new technologies that are changing production processes, distribution systems, marketing strategies, and the food products that people eat. These changes offer the opportunity for system-wide change in the way in which production interacts with the environment, giving greater attention to the ecosystem services offered by the food sector. However, developments in food systems also pose new challenges and controversies. Food system changes have responded to shifts in consumer preferences towards larger shares of more animal-sourced and processed foods in diets, raising concerns regarding the calorific and nutritional content of many food items. By increasing food availability, lowering prices and increasing quality standards, they have also induced greater food waste at the consumer end. In addition, the potential fast transmission of food-borne disease, antimicrobial resistance and food-related health risks throughout the food chain has increased, and the ecological footprint of the global food system continues to grow in terms of energy, resource use, and impact on climate change. The negative consequences of food systems from a nutritional, environmental and livelihood perspective are increasingly being recognised by consumers in some regions. With growing consumer awareness, driven by concerns about the environmental and health impacts of investments and current supply chain technologies and practices, as well as by a desire among new generations of city dwellers to reconnect with their rural heritage and use their own behaviour to drive positive change, opportunities exist to define and establish added-value products that are capable of internalising social or environmental delivery within their price. These forces can be used to fundamentally reshape food systems by stimulating coordinated government action in changing the regulatory environment that, in turn, incentivises improved private sector investment decisions. Achieving healthy diets from sustainable food systems is complex and requires a multi-pronged approach. Actions necessary include awareness-raising, behaviour change interventions in food environments, food education, strengthened urban-rural linkages, improved product design, investments in food system innovations, public-private partnerships, public procurement, and separate collection that enables alternative uses of food waste, all of which can contribute to this transition. Local and national policy-makers and small- and large-scale private sector actors have a key role in both responding to and shaping the market opportunities created by changing consumer demands.
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors reviewed and synthesised the evidence available on changes in demand for livestock products in the last few decades, and the multiple socioeconomic roles that livestock have around the world.
Abstract: Abstract Livestock are a critically important component of the food system, although the sector needs a profound transformation to ensure that it contributes to a rapid transition towards sustainable food systems. This chapter reviews and synthesises the evidence available on changes in demand for livestock products in the last few decades, and the multiple socio-economic roles that livestock have around the world. We also describe the nutrition, health, and environmental impacts for which the sector is responsible. We propose eight critical actions for transitioning towards a more sustainable operating space for livestock. (1) Facilitate shifts in the consumption of animal source foods (ASF), recognising that global reductions will be required, especially in communities with high consumption levels, while promoting increased levels in vulnerable groups, including the undernourished, pregnant women and the elderly. (2) Continue work towards the sustainable intensification of livestock systems, paying particular attention to animal welfare, food-feed competition, blue water use, disease transmission and perverse economic incentives. (3) Embrace the potential of circularity in livestock systems as a way of partially decoupling livestock from land. (4) Adopt practices that lead to the direct or indirect mitigation of greenhouse gases. (5) Adopt some of the vast array of novel technologies at scale and design incentive mechanisms for their rapid deployment. (6) Diversify the protein sources available for human consumption and feed, focusing on the high-quality alternative protein sources that have lower environmental impacts. (7) Tackle antimicrobial resistance effectively through a combination of technology and new regulations, particularly for the fast-growing poultry and pork sectors and for feedlot operations. (8) Implement true cost of food and true-pricing approaches to ASF consumption.
01 Jan 2023
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors report on a randomized controlled trial used to test the impact of CCTs on various measures of trust and informal safety nets within communities in Tanzania, and they provide evidence that the introduction of a CCT program increased program beneficiaries' trust in other community members and their perceived ability to access support from other households.
Abstract: Abstract Institutionalized conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs may affect pre-existing, informal safety nets such as inter-household transfers and trust among community members. This study reports on a randomized controlled trial used to test the impact of CCTs on various measures of trust and informal safety nets within communities in Tanzania. It provides evidence that the introduction of a CCT program increased program beneficiaries’ trust in other community members and their perceived ability to access support from other households (e.g., childcare). Although CCTs reduced the total size of transfers to beneficiary households in the community in the short run (after 1.75 years of transfers), that reduction had disappeared 2.75 years after transfers began. Taken together, this evidence suggests that formal CCT programs do not necessarily crowd out informal safety nets in the longer term, and they may in fact boost trust and support across households.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors argue that while we know much about certain elements of the food system, specifically production and consumption, our understanding of the processing and distribution components of food system is weak.
Abstract: Abstract Linking the concepts of food systems and resilience offers the opportunity to strengthen our understanding of these concepts, the potential they hold for more informed policy discussions, and the design and implementation of interventions that will better deliver on food security outcomes. This chapter outlines how these twin concepts can be linked conceptually and empirically. It argues that while we know much about certain elements of the food system, specifically production and consumption, our understanding of the processing and distribution components of the food system are weak. For example, market structure in the processing sector and market integration can contribute to food system resilience, but these are rarely measured at a country level. This makes efforts to measure resilience at the system-level challenging. Understanding what can make a resilient food system has important implications for policy and intervention design. Building resilient food systems requires that policymakers grapple with trade-offs and tensions such as those between the benefits of diversification versus gains from specialization; and how openness to trade reduces vulnerability to domestic shocks to the food system while exposing it to external shocks. How best to manage these will be an important challenge to address.
TL;DR: In this article , a demand-driven growth model is used to explore climate change scenarios faced by the South African economy, and the focus is on key macroeconomic variables including employment, productivity, income distribution, trade, and fiscal balances.
Abstract: In this paper, a demand-driven growth model is used to explore climate change scenarios faced by the South African economy. The focus is on key macroeconomic variables including employment, productivity, income distribution, trade, and fiscal balances. Results show that emission reduction alone will not put South Africa on a sustainable and equitable growth path. Expansionary macroeconomic policies are necessary. We show that, under sufficient global mitigation, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies lead to faster output and productivity growth, higher employment, and lower inequality. By contrast, macroeconomic tightening or “free riding” on global emission reduction lead to inferior outcomes, putting sustainable development out of reach.