"Research, invention, and adoption of agrotechnology have played an important role in improving human nutrition and health. Agrotechnology has introduced more effective plant breeds (such as high-yielding varieties), enhanced land management techniques (such as terracing), and improved water management tools (such as irrigation). The adoption of these techniques has benefited nutrition, largely through boosting crop productivity, thereby providing employment and income to rural populations and increasing local and global food supplies...

People in developing countries—particularly the agricultural poor—face a host of risks to their lives and livelihoods, including those stemming from globalization, climate change, and weather shocks. These experiences highlight the importance of social protection, which can have a potentially significant impact on reducing poverty and vulnerability when implemented with the optimal design, targets, and resources.

"...At the moment, a lack of integration and coordination characterizes the relationship between the agriculture and health sectors. Traditionally, agricultural and health policies address specific goals within those sectors. Agricultural policies address conservation of the natural resource base, protection of farmers’ livelihoods, basic needs of the poor including food security, and the context for regulations on, among other things, food safety and the sound use of pesticides.

Ce document vise à contribuer au programme d’action en cours pour le développement de l’Afrique au sud du Sahara.

The devolution of natural resource management responsibility from the state to communities or local user groups has become a widespread trend that cuts across countries and resource sectors. Unlike claims to the contrary in policy narratives, devolution of control over resources from the state to local organizations does not necessarily lead to greater participation and empowerment of all stakeholders (Cleaver 1999).

Mexico’s Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) is a major government program aimed at developing the human capital of poor households. Targeting its benefits directly to the population in extreme poverty in rural areas, it seeks to alleviate current poverty through monetary and in-kind benefits, as well as to reduce future levels of poverty by encouraging investments in education, health, and nutrition.

ecent food-price and economic shocks have further jeopardized the food security of developing countries and poor people, pushing the estimated number of undernourished people over one billion. Known and unknown food-security risks appear to be on the rise. Increasing uncertainties raise critical questions about how to quickly, viably, and sustainably manage familiar risks and emerging new ones.

Les nouvelles sur l’état de l’agriculture en Afrique sont en grande partie décourageantes, mais on entrevoit des lueurs d'espoir. Quelques efforts stimulants réalisés par des agriculteurs et chercheurs africains au cours des dix dernières années ont sensiblement augmenté la productivité agricole dans certains pays et pour certains produits. Ces cas peuvent servir de modèles pour de futurs efforts, mais seulement si les responsables des politiques de développement et les professionnels comprennent les processus qui ont amené ces résultats, et les éléments clé de leur succès.