World Agriculture
Developments, trade, data, and topics in world agriculture
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What can India learn from China's agricultural development?~~What India can learn from Chinese agriculture Modi would do well to remember Mao's dictum of 'walking on two legs', which envisaged a balance between agriculture and industry What India can learn from Chinese agriculture Over the past few decades, rapid agricultural growth has allowed the Chinese growth engine to pick up pace without stoking inflation. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint According to one of his ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants India to have a China-like dominance in manufacturing. China's success in manufacturing holds several lessons for India but China's performance in agriculture is no less remarkable. Over the past few decades, rapid agricultural growth has allowed the Chinese growth engine to pick up pace without stoking inflation. Unlike the advanced economies of Western Europe and North America, farm growth in China has been driven by small landowners rather than by industrial farming. As per National Sample Survey Organization data, the average size of operational holdings in India fell to 1.2 hectares in 2010-11 from 2.3 hectares in 1970-71. China's average holdings are even smaller. According to the 2000 World Census of Agriculture, the average size of Chinese holdings was 0.6 hectares. Thus, farming in both countries is dominated by small farmers. Despite the similarities, Chinese agriculture has fared better than Indian agriculture on most counts over the past few decades. Both India and China are among the world's top three producers of important crops such as rice, wheat, cotton and maize, but China produces much more from each hectare of land than India does. In the early 1960s, farm sector indicators of India and China looked similar, but since then China has left India behind. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) data, the ratio of value of agricultural production (in constant 2004-06 international dollars) in China and India was 0.99 in 1960. By 1990, this ratio became 1.66 and 2.23 in 2010. As the chart below shows, the widening gap is due to faster growth of agriculture in China. It is worth noting that much of this growth has been achieved by improvement in yields and not increase in agricultural area. Agricultural area is defined as the sum of arable land, land under permanent corps and permanent meadows and pastures. Data from FAO shows that Chinese agricultural area has stagnated after increasing till the 1980s, as the second chart shows. Given the constraint on further expansion of area under cultivation, improving yield holds the key to increasing agricultural production in the future. Yield gap between India and China has continued to increase since 1960s. The chart below shows the divergent trends in cereal yield for the two countries. It is this phenomenon that has helped China surge ahead of India in agricultural production. China's farm success has been driven by heavy public investments in the sector. In China, the rate of growth of net capital formation in agriculture was in excess of 20% over the last decade. An FAO study shows that the bulk of the increase in investment has come from the public sector. High farm growth has translated into rapid reduction in poverty as well. Several studies attribute China's dramatic decline in rural poverty to faster farm growth. According to official estimates, rural poverty levels are as low as 2.5% in China. But despite the decline in poverty, inequality in China has grown sharply in recent years. The rural-urban income gap has widened primarily because of faster growth in urban areas. While China has performed better in terms of rate of growth of agricultural output, India seems to have a better record in terms of inequality between agricultural and non-agricultural sector. A simple way of measuring this is to find out what has been happening to the share of agriculture in gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. Agriculture's share in the former falling at a faster rate than the latter would mean that those engaged in agriculture are seeing a decline in relative income. The chart below shows the ratio of agriculture's share in value added to its share in employment for India and China. One should guard against inferring from the above chart that those engaged in agriculture in China are worse off in absolute terms than their counterparts in India. Given the fact that urban and non-agricultural incomes have grown at a much faster rate in China than in India, the extent of relative inequality between the rural and urban sectors seems to be greater there. Greater social security coverage in urban areas might have aggravated this inequality further in China. The issue of rural-urban inequality is not just of academic interest. Recently, rural-urban tension was seen in China. There are studies which estimate that around 200,000 incidents of mass unrest were recorded in China in 2012, and 55-60% of these were related to land acquisition. Even a fraction of such protests can have serious ramifications for a democracy like India. Another crucial issue regarding agriculture is that of self-sufficiency in food. Despite performing better than India in terms of agricultural production, China has witnessed a rise in agricultural imports. This is in contrast to India's increasing agricultural exports, which now constitute around 10% of its total exports. The two charts below show the divergent trends in agricultural trade surplus of China and India. An examination of cross-sectional and time series data on per capita cereal consumption might provide an answer to this mismatch. As incomes rise in a given economy, there is a diversification of dietary basket. Diversification of dietary basket is commonly understood to lead to a decline in the share of cereal production as demand for other food items increases. FAO data shows this to be true for China, where the share of cereals in total production has come down from around 37% in 1961 to 20% in 2013. For India, this has changed from 33% to 25% during the same period. However, this does not mean that there is a decline in cereal consumption levels because although the direct demand for cereal consumption in staple form declines, the indirect demand in the form of feed increases with rising incomes. This is in contrast to the commonly misunderstood notion that cereal demand declines with increase in income, which is only true for the direct demand component. The per capita GDP of China is more than four times that of India. Still its per capita domestic demand for cereals is more than that of India's. The figures are much higher for developed countries like the US, as shown in the chart below. What this means is that as per capita incomes rise in India, cereal demand is likely to increase, in line with the historical experience of other countries. Given the fact that cultivated area cannot be increased, such dietary diversification will necessitate either a large increase in yields or imports. The latter seems to be happening in China's case. But while China has large merchandise trade surplus that allows it to import food in large quantities without causing a serious balance of payments problem, India does not enjoy such a luxury. China's overall economic success cannot be understood without a careful reading of its agricultural sector. The manner in which China put in place incentives for small farmers and supported them through sizeable public investments in agriculture and rural electrification holds important lessons for India. At the same time India, must guard against policies responsible for large-scale rural discontent, which can have drastic consequences in a democratic set-up. China's trajectory shows that India will face either rising food insecurity or falling net export earnings in agriculture unless it is able to improve productivity growth rapidly. In his quest to put India on the same pedestal as China in manufacturing, Modi would do well to remember Mao's dictum of “walking on two legs”, which envisaged a balance between agriculture and industry. http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/bORKeOM7iNCRvi4nNse8gO/What-India-can-learn-from-Chinese-agriculture.html
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Biofuels, Food, and the American Midwest~ ~ Biofuels, grain and the American Midwest KEITH WOODFORD Last updated 06:30, June 15 2015 Farmer Dan Roberts inspects his corn crops during harvest in Minooka, Illinois. JIM YOUNG Farmer Dan Roberts inspects his corn crops during harvest in Minooka, Illinois. . THE American Environmental Protection Agency has recently announced plans to reduce the 2015 and 2016 legal requirements for biofuels within American fuels. At the same time, the American Midwest looks like it could be heading for a bumper harvest year, possibly beating last year's records. The reason the Midwest is so important is that it is the American grain bowl. Increasingly, the Midwest is also becoming the centre of the American dairy industry. The twelve key contiguous states are Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. The Midwest is sufficiently important that the effects spill over immediately into global grain prices. Increasingly, they can also influence global dairy prices. Given the current combination of Midwest weather and biofuel regulations, futures prices for grains are looking soft, with the December 2015 prices for the growing corn crop around $3.60 per bushel. Wheat, as is usually the case, is considerably higher at around $5 per bushel. These prices convert to New Zealand dollars, and in units with which we are more familiar, at about $200 per tonne for corn and $260 per tonne for wheat. There are several messages for New Zealand in all of this. The first is that American production will set an upper limit on our local grain prices over the coming year. New Zealand grain is used mainly in the animal industries: pigs, poultry and dairy. In contrast, most of the grain for human consumption comes from overseas. For both categories, the local prices are controlled by international prices plus transport costs. The second message is that low feed prices are reducing the pain being felt by American dairy farmers. This reduces any incentive for American dairy producers to reduce production. The associated message is that the big American dairy farmers, with their large-scale and increasingly automated systems, are internationally competitive. The smaller farmers with less than 500 cows remain non-competitive. Within America, it is the big farmers who are taking over. Ad Feedback The third message is that current prices confirm once again that the international grain shortages of around 2008 are now well behind us as new technology and new investment has kicked in. And that must surely be a reminder to us here in New Zealand that we, too, have to keep moving forward with our own new technologies if we are to stay competitive. Coincidentally, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN has also just brought out its latest food insecurity report, showing that the proportion of the global population that is under-nourished has dropped from 23 per cent to 13 per cent over the last 24 years. That still leaves nearly 800 million people under-nourished, with most of these having no access to markets. South Asia and East Asia are the regions that have made the most progress, while Africa and now parts of the Middle East struggle to solve their problems. War, civil strife, and non-performing institutions remain key elements of food shortage. Long term, the Americans remain committed to increasing biofuel production, but the current constraint is the so-called blend wall. Almost all American cars now run on at least a 10 per cent ethanol mix (E10) but most cars are not designed for higher values. And for those cars that can handle up to E85, the distribution system across America is inadequate. One step in breaking through the blend wall is a new $100 million programme to encourage flexi-fuel delivery pumps. From there it will be onwards and upwards to increasing ethanol production. Currently about 37 per cent of the American corn crop is used for ethanol production, with some estimates even higher. However, ethanol comes only from the carbohydrate component of corn, and the remaining components still go to animal feed. The American ethanol industry no longer receives direct subsidies but the industry does benefit greatly from fuel blend requirements imposed by law. The logic behind these laws lies with national security considerations rather than economics. Quite simply, the US has an ongoing quest to reduce dependence on foreign energy. In the news media, we hear ongoing stories of the Californian drought and indeed this current drought is exceptionally severe. What we hear less of is that the rain has been falling steadily across much of the rest of the country. Everywhere east of the Rockies had a cold winter, but with lots of soil moisture the crops are now flourishing. Even Texas, which has suffered a multi-year drought, has now been deluged. In the modern world, there is no such thing as stable commodity prices. So the current situation could rapidly change. The Californian drought is likely to end in November if the current El Nino conditions develop any further. That will influence American horticultural products such as almonds but have minimal effect on grain. Looking ahead to 2016, it would be too much to expect a third successive golden harvest in the Midwest, but anything could happen. So the road ahead in New Zealand, both for those who grow grain and also those who use grain, will be one of ongoing opportunities, risks, and volatility. Incorporation of new technologies while still managing financial risk will be at the core of success. Keith Woodford is Honorary Professor of Agri-Food Systems at Lincoln University. He combines this with project and consulting work in agri-food systems. His archived writings are available at http://keithwoodford.wordpress.com -Stuff http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/69235147/biofuels-grain-and-the-american-midwest
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Food Production Expected to Increase, U.S. Food Prices LowerU.S. Grain Prices Slide on Higher Supplies Forecast Wheat futures fall more than 3%, while corn drops 2% on USDA projections Jesse Newman Updated June 10, 2015 4:17 p.m. ET U.S. grain prices fell sharply after federal forecasters projected larger-than-expected domestic supplies, owing in part to improved prospects for the wheat crop in the Plains. Wheat futures declined more than 3%, while corn slid 2%. Soybean prices dropped slightly. In a monthly report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture boosted its forecast for U.S. wheat production and stockpiles for the season ending in May. The government said late-season rains had bolstered the health of the wheat crop in the central Plains, though some areas have received excessive moisture that could diminish yields. The USDA estimated that domestic wheat output in the 2015-16 season will total 2.121 billion bushels, topping analysts' estimates of 2.096 billion. The government said domestic wheat reserves would total 814 million bushels at the end of the season next May, above analyst forecasts of 791 million. Federal forecasters also said global wheat supplies-already historically high-would rise next season to about 202.4 million metric tons from an estimated 200.4 million tons in 2014-15. The government is making the case that “rain makes grain," said Dave Marshall, a farm-marketing adviser at TFCG LLC in Nashville, Ill. Still, he said, “a [harvesting] combine will ultimately tell ." Wheat futures for July delivery, the front-month contract, declined 18 3/4 cents, or 3.5%, to $5.13 1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. The USDA estimated that U.S. corn supplies on Aug. 31, the end of the 2014-15 season, will total 1.876 billion bushels, above analysts' forecasts for 1.858 billion. It cited in part a reduction in its projection for the use of corn in ethanol production. The government maintained its existing estimates for U.S. corn production this autumn, pegging output at 13.63 billion bushels, lower than analysts' estimates for 13.651 billion bushels. The USDA projected larger-than-expected global corn inventories. It said world corn stockpiles at the end of the 2015-16 season are expected to fall to 195.2 million metric tons from 197 million in 2014-15. Analysts had estimated 191.8 million metric tons and 192.4 million metric tons, respectively. “It is the world production numbers that are the drag” for corn prices, said Kurt Koester, president of Iowa-based grain brokerage AgriSource Inc., pointing to a larger-than-expected increase in Brazilian corn production estimated by the USDA. “That's more corn on our hands than we thought we had” before the report. Corn futures for July delivery fell 7 3/4 cents, or 2.1%, to $3.57 1/4 a bushel in Chicago trading. Soybean prices settled lower after the USDA maintained its estimate for U.S. soybean production, but projected lower-than-expected domestic oilseed reserves for this season and next. The government pegged soybean output for the 2015-16 season at 3.850 billion bushels, the same as last month's forecast. The USDA estimated that U.S. soybean stockpiles at the end of the 2015-16 season will total 475 million bushels, up from estimated inventories of 330 million bushels in the 2014-15 season ending Aug. 31. Analysts had expected stockpiles next year to total 485 million bushels, an increase from their estimate for this year of 342 million. Globally, the government expects soybean stockpiles at the end of the 2015-16 season to rise to 93.2 million metric tons from 83.7 million in 2014-15. Soybeans for July delivery slid 2 cents, or 0.2%, to $9.49 1/2 a bushel on the CBOT. -Jacob Bunge contributed to this article Write to Jesse Newman at jesse.newman@wsj.com http://www.wsj.com/articles/usda-raises-projection-for-u-s-corn-inventories-1433952959
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Wheat: Iraq plans to change from importer to exporter starting in 2017~ ~ Wheat-Importing Iraq Plans to Be Net Grain Exporter by 2017 by Khalid Al Ansary June 10, 2015 - 7:01 PM HKT Updated on June 11, 2015 - 2:26 PM HKT Iraq, a wheat-importing nation where flat bread is a staple, plans to become a net exporter of the grain within two years, government officials said. The Middle Eastern country is in talks in London with international inspection companies about the classification of locally grown wheat for sale overseas, the national Grain Board said Wednesday in an e-mail. It didn't specify any commodity exchanges where it wants to sell wheat. Iraq currently imports the grain from suppliers including Canada, the U.S. and Brazil. Iraq has harvested more than 2 million metric tons this season, which lasts until the end of July, the Trade Ministry said in an e-mail, citing Saad Al-Hamdani, the Grain Board's acting director general. Iraqis typically consume 4.5 million to 4.6 million tons a year, according to Grain Board data. The ministry didn't provide details about how it plans to produce enough grain for export by 2017. The government is targeting exports even as it struggles to regain control over wheat-growing areas that Islamic State fighters have overrun since last June. Iraq lost 1.69 million tons of grain to the militants, who seized all of Nineveh, Anbar and Salahuddin provinces and part of Kirkuk, Jamal Kamel Abed, the Grain Board's former acting director, said Jan. 20. Iraq exported small quantities for use as animal fodder before becoming a net importer in 1954, according to Grain Board data. Wheat exports would represent a step toward the diversification of Iraq's oil-dependent economy. Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and crude exports contribute as much as 95 percent of the official budget, Planning Ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi said by phone from Baghdad. Futures in Chicago traded at $5.1325 a bushel on Thursday, declining 13 percent this year amid expanding global supplies. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/iraq-to-become-wheat-exporter-within-2-years-trade-ministry
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Lower food prices contribute to food security~~Falling prices improve global food security BY Andrew Allen 11.06.2015 Sugar is among the food commodities which has fallen in price, which has made supply more secure©iStock Falling prices mean many of the world's countries have an increasingly dependable supply of food, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) 2015 Global Food Security Index (GFSI). The products most affected by falling prices are grain, sugar and dairy products, the EIU said. Lower-middle income countries had made particular gains in addressing food loss problems due to supply chain inefficiencies, said Lucy Hurst, the EIU's GFSI project director. This has reduced their dependence on food aid, she added.Food security improved in two-thirds of the 109 countries covered by the index. Middle income countries were the biggest beneficiaries of falling prices. According to the EIU Egypt, Burma, Azerbaijan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Togo had most improved their security of food supply over the past year.Policies aimed at guaranteeing a secure food supply were taking effect in many markets worldwide, according to the EIU. What it described as “extensive” food safety-net programmes and increased government nutritional monitoring had also driven improvements.Investments in agricultural infrastructure such as larger and more numerous crop storage facilities across sub-Saharan Africa were beginning having an impact.“Falling grain, sugar and dairy prices, sustained economic expansion in most regions and rapid growth in emerging markets and developing countries, have narrowed the gap between the most food-secure and the least food-secure countries," the EIU said. - See more at: http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2015/falling-prices-improve-global-food-security#sthash.TA6e3Kac.dpuf
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Climate change threatens food security~~'Climate change a great risk to food security' Staff Report June 12, 2015 ISLAMABAD: The Climate Change Ministry and World Food Programme (WFP) have agreed to work together to address climate risks to agriculture sector and issues of escalating food insecurity and malnutrition in the country. “Boosting agriculture productivity cannot be achieved as long as the sector is not climate-resilient and able to sustain climate-induced disasters, such as floods, heavy rains, hailstorms and shifting weather patterns," said WFP Country Director Lolo Castro during her meeting with Climate Change Minister Mushahidullah Khan on Thursday. Castro informed the minister that rapidly changing weather patterns and erratic rains pose a serious threat to farmers' ability to grow more crops, majority of whom have already abandoned farming and shifted to other sources of livelihoods, particularly cattle and poultry farming. “There is pressed on need for the present government to play its role for improving farmers' ability to produce food in today's changing climate by enabling them to adapt to the shifting weather patterns," she added. Mushaidullah Khan told the WFP country director that the present government is fully acquainted with the impacts of climate change on country's agriculture and water resources, which are being addressed on war-footing grounds through different policy measures. “Besides, new and climate-resilient crop varieties, which are flood, heat and heavy rain-tolerant are being introduced among farmers, that will help boost the lands of different crops and reduce their climate vulnerability," the minister highlighted during the meeting. The WFP country director showed willingness on behalf of her organisation that WFP is seriously interested to carry out Climate Risks and Food Security Analysis (CRFSA) study jointly with the climate change ministry. “Though the study would basically aim to assess climate impacts on food security and livelihoods, the overarching objective of it is to quantitatively and qualitatively assess climate (including climate variability, change and extremes) impacts on food security and livelihoods," she explained. Castro told the minister that her organisation is also ready to support to the climate change ministry for conducting a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) exercise for achieving food security. Mushahidullah Khan welcomed the generous offer and told her, “We would mull over matters that how my ministry can be of any support in conducting the CRFSA study in the country and how follow-up recommendations of the study benefit country's agriculture sector, which is mainstay of the country's economy and source of livelihood for millions of farming families ." The federal minister noted that there was no one denying the fact that making the agriculture sector resilient to different impacts of climate change was inevitable, particularly at a time when groundwater resources were fast depleting due to incidences of floods, heat waves, torrential rains and hailstorms. He observed that food security in Pakistan is highly sensitive to climate risks. “Recent climate-related events, such as the five consecutive floods from 2010 to 2014, persisting drought conditions in country's south district of Tharparkar, delayed winter rains, recent rains and hailstorm in country's north and eastern districts including Chakwal, are few examples of the potential impacts of climate on food production, access to markets and income from agricultural activities," he added. Climate Change Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan observed that the ways in which livelihoods and other vulnerabilities are linked to climate in the country have not been well studied. However, it is hoped that the WFP's proposed CRFSA study would be of great help, the secretary hoped. He said that the majority of farmers in the country are small and marginal landowners, who are resource-poor. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/12-Jun-2015/climate-change-a-great-risk-to-food-security
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Feeding Indonesians: Indonesia needs to step up efforts to achieve food security~ ~ Enough to Eat: Indonesia's Food Security Drive Gains Renewed Urgency By Andreyka Natalegawa on 06:43 pm Jun 09, 2015 Category Editor's Choice, Featured, Front Page, Health, News, Politics Tags: correction, food security, Food Self-Sufficiency, malnutrition, MDGs, nutrition Jakarta. Indonesia needs to beef up its fight against hunger and malnutrition as the government struggles to ensure the availability and affordability of food, after a United Nations report showed that millions of Indonesians live in hunger. In a regional overview of food insecurity in Asia and the Pacific released on May 27, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization noted that almost 20 million Indonesians, or around 8 percent of the nation's population, suffer from chronic hunger. The UN defines food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life ." “The government has done well, considering where we started, but helping those last few millions out of hunger will be quite difficult," Mark Smulders, the FAO's country representative in Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. The FAO's statements come at a time of heightened interest in national food security. In February, officials from the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) and the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced the Indonesian government's aim to become food-secure by increasing rice yields by 200 kilograms per hectare every year from the current 5,150 kilograms per hectare at present. Indonesia is estimated to produce 73.4 million metric tons of rice this year, an increase from 70.61 million tons in 2014, according to the Agriculture Ministry in January. While there has been a substantial rise in the availability food products like rice, Indonesia has made slow progress in reducing undernutrition, with the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age at 37.2 percent in 2013. Within Southeast Asia, Indonesia's stunting rate is high, compared to 17 percent in Malaysia and 16 percent in Thailand. Stunting in children is primarily caused by prolonged inadequacy of food intake, repeated episodes of infections or repeated episodes of acute undernutrition. While rice is rich in carbohydrates, it lacks key nutrients that can be found in fruits, vegetables and meat. “Food security is not only about having enough food, but also having right kinds of food," Anthea Webb, the UN World Food Program's representative in Indonesia, told the Globe. “Government programs should look at the nutritional impact of their programs. Rice alone is not enough," Webb said. Indonesia has successfully achieved the UN Millennium Development Goals' hunger target (MDG-1c) of halving the proportion of undernourished people from 17 percent in 1990. However, it has failed to meet the target set by the World Food Summit (WFS) of halving the absolute number of undernourished people from 16.6 million in 1990 by 2015. Part of the difficulty in achieving that goal is the rapid growth in Indonesia's population. Public and private sector initiatives At present, the government has in place a series of measures meant to eradicate hunger nationwide. Legislation adopted in 2012 institutionalized the right to food and defined the state's obligations to ensure the availability and affordability of sufficient, safe and nutritionally balanced food for all people at all times. Raskin, a poverty alleviation and social protection program managed by the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog), has long provided subsidized rice to low-income households identified as being Raskin Beneficiary Households (RTS-PM) by the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction. These households are entitled to receive as much as 15 kilograms of Raskin rice per month, at a price of Rp 1,600 (10 cents) per kilogram. A kilogram of rice in retail markets, by comparison, cost around Rp 9,000 to Rp 10,000. “What is good about Raskin is the card system that helps identify the most needy," Smulders said of the program's efficiency in designating RTS-PMs within vulnerable populations. “The card system is a good safety net because it can target and channel investment, including inputs like fertilizer and subsidies, to the poorest of the poor ." However, despite the measured successes of programs like Raskin, Bulog has recently come under fire for failing to reach targets for domestic rice buying. Bulog chief Lenny Sugihat was removed from office on Monday after just five months in the role, the deputy state-owned enterprises minister said. The FAO further noted that the issue of food insecurity demands cooperation from all government ministries, particularly those that deal in labor practices. “Labor practices are deeply tied to the issue of food security. Our main objective is to educate, and we cannot do that if children are taken out of school to he put into the workforce," Smulders said. In a statement issued last month, the FAO and the UN's International Labor Organization signed a partnership agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration establishing a code of conduct on decent work for food security and sustainable rural development. “The objective of the program is to promote food security and sustainable poverty reduction of rural communities, through increased labor productivity, enhanced employment opportunities, and expanding entrepreneurial opportunities," said Marwan Jafar, the minister. The bid to establishing proper labor practices comes at a time of concentrated efforts in providing aid to Indonesia's rural and urban workers. Last Thursday, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Hanif Dhakiri announced a roadmap toward eradicating child labor. Hanif's plan includes a series of policy adjustments, including the creation and review of social safety nets. The slow progress of government initiatives means that a renewed effort must be made in strengthening the implementation of food security policies, say private sector observers. “The government must work with and support small farmers, with the aim of increasing overall commodity output," says Herry Kristanto, head of corporate affairs at Monsanto Indonesia, the local unit of the US agricultural giant. According to Herry, the government must empower farmers to make more efficient use of farmland by giving them access to technologies that would increase overall crop yield. “By using new technologies like hybrid seeds and fertilizers, farmers could increase their output without having to increase the overall area of farmland," he told the Globe on Monday. Herry also highlighted a lack of development on key infrastructure as a factor for Indonesia's food insecurity. Many roads across Indonesia are inadequate, and transportation of goods between islands can be expensive because of the difficulty of access to ports. “Transporting food and grain across Indonesia can be very difficult and expensive, which harms the overall productivity of the agricultural sector," he added. Debora Tjandrakusuma, the legal and corporate affairs director at Nestlé Indonesia, one of the nation's largest food manufacturers and a unit of the Swiss corporation, says that private companies and the government can work together to develop programs that make nutritious food available to all Indonesians. “Long-term national strategies and public-private partnerships are required to ensure food security in Indonesia, a country with 250 million population to feed," Debora told the Globe. “A long-term national strategy on education, family planning, land usage, the agricultural sector, nature and forest conservation and its disciplined implementation will help to achieve food security in the country ." Some farmers putting rice seed to be planted and deployed in the field in Kampung Embankment, Kasemen, Serang, Banten, West Java on June 8, 2015. Rice is one of the main crops in Indonesia. (Antara Photo/Asep Fathulrahman) Farm workers plant rice in Serang district, Banten province, on Monday. Rice is the main food crop grown and consumed in Indonesia. (Antara Photo/Asep Fathulrahman) Challenges ahead The government's moves toward increasing equitable food production and ending food insecurity are complicated by a series of formidable challenges, some officials say. Food production makes use of various inputs, making food prices sensitive to changes in volatile global commodity markets. The FAO has emphasized the need to diversify Indonesia's production of crops, a preventative measure against factors of instability that could harm local production markets. Indonesia's main crops include rice, corn and cassava, but little focus on other types of produce including protein-rich foods such as soybean - of which almost all is imported from the United States. Meanwhile, Indonesia's population boom could hinder efforts to fight food insecurity, particularly in terms of the sustainable allocation of land for farm use. As the population increases, people are moving into cities, and as cities grow, farmland is being developed for residential use. Herry of Monsanto says that more than 1,000 hectares of agricultural land are transformed for urban needs each year. “In Java, farmland has been converted to suit the needs of the growing cities," he said. Conversely, Indonesia must work toward controlling the amount of forests converted for farm use. “The world cannot afford for Indonesia to transform further forest land into agricultural land," said the FAO's Smulders, emphasizing the importance of Indonesia's rainforests in maintaining the region's ecological balance. Climate change also will play a role in determining the future of Indonesia's food security, said the WFP, as changes in rainfall affect Indonesia's efforts to increase food production. Conflicting interests could become a growing challenge to Indonesia's search for food security, even in terms of government programs. The 2012 Food Law contains numerous provisions calling for the realization of “food sovereignty, self-sufficiency and security ." The FAO's regional report targeted government self-sufficiency programs for "[entailing] significant trade restrictions and therefore a trade-off with economic efficiency," creating further obstacles in establishing food security. Indonesia has made self-sufficiency a prime objective through increasing rice production. Speaking on the possibility of conflicting interests between self-sufficiency and food security initiatives, Smulders said the government “must balance their different policy objects in order to reap the most benefits ." Regional cooperation As a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and hence the Asean Economic Community that goes into full force at the end of this year, Indonesia must now grapple with the issue of food security in the regional context. Although Southeast Asia as a whole has made significant strides in hunger eradication by reaching the MDG-1c target of halving the proportion of the hungry, the region has yet to grapple with key issues of undernutrition. While Smulders believes that Indonesia and other nations in the region have the capability to free themselves from hunger, he added “the bigger challenge is to achieve good nutrition ." According to the FAO report, Southeast Asia suffers from higher rates of wasting among children than both Eastern Asia and Oceania. Wasting, the result of short-term inadequacy of food intake, has significant efforts on human growth and development. The continuance of wasting and other similar conditions has led to a host of medial issues in Southeast Asia, including the increased prevalence of anemia among pregnant women and children. In a bid toward enhancing regional cooperation in the fight against food insecurity, Asean will host its 14th Food Conference in the Philippines later this month. The conference aims to strengthen the capabilities of Asean in promoting a higher quality of life for the people of the region through the achievement of food security and safety. Asean has also spearheaded the creation of the Asean Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework and the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve, initiatives meant to foster food security in the region. “Nations in Southeast Asia all share similar dietary needs and requirements," said WFP representative Webb. “Cooperation between the Asean states in ending food insecurity is inevitable and necessary ." Correction: The latest version of this story removes reference in the 22nd paragraph of FAO bidding to establish proper labor practices.
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FAO: Global Food Price Index falls to new low in MayEconomic Daily, United Nations, June 12 (Reporter Zhang Wei) The latest Food Price Index of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows that the global prices of major foods fell again in May, hitting a new low since September 2009. The main reason is that the prospects for this year's grain harvest are promising, and grain prices Will drop sharply. Data show that the global food price index fell again in May, down 1.4 per cent from April and 20.75 per cent year-on-year; global wheat, coarse grains and rice are expected to increase, corn production in China and Mexico will increase, and wheat grown in Africa and North America will also have a bumper harvest. Global prices for cereals, dairy products and meat fell by 3.8 per cent, 2.9 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, while the vegetable oil price index rose by 2.6 per cent in May, partly due to undue concern that El Niño could affect production in Southeast Asia, FAO said. Karp, a senior economist at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, pointed out that for many countries, climatic conditions will be a major factor in determining food prices. El Niño is forecast to appear this year, which is an important climate emergency. For some regions, this phenomenon will bring great danger. Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand will face dry weather, and Central America and northern South America will also be affected. These countries should be vigilant and monitor this. But the strength of this year's El Niño remains to be seen. June 12, 2015 Author: Zhang Wei | Source: China Economic Net-Economic Daily lixia
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FAO expects global rice production to rise 1.3 percent year-on-yearFAO has revised up its May 2015 global wheat, coarse grains and rice production forecast, predicting higher maize production in China and Mexico and bumper wheat harvests in Africa and North America. FAO predicts that global rice production will increase by 1.3 percent compared with last year, thanks to the increase in production throughout Asia. However, the forecast is still uncertain and needs to be watched for changes in the coming months. According to the latest forecast, global cereal production in 2015 will be 2.524 billion tons, 1% less than last year's record level. FAO believes that although some stocks will be reduced, the ratio of world cereal stocks to utilization is expected to decline slightly, indicating that the cereal market is generally stable. 2015/6/10 9:32:46 Source: Office of Business and Counsellor in Benin
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Russia allocates huge sums of money to restore rural economic vitalityIn 2015, the Russian Federation will allocate about 9 billion rubles (1 U.S. dollar equals 52 rubles) for the development of rural areas, and various local governments and other institutions will also raise a total of 21 billion rubles. In 2015, while trying to cope with the economic crisis and stabilize the currency, Russia also continued to make great efforts to support the development of rural areas. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently signed an order to allocate about 9 billion rubles (about 52 rubles per US dollar) from the federal budget for the development of rural areas in 2015. This allocation is carried out in the framework of the national project "Sustainable development of rural areas in the Russian Federation 2013-2020. The project aims to revitalize rural areas over a seven-year period. In addition to the federal grant of 9 billion rubles, local governments and other institutions will also raise a total of 21 billion rubles. The main task of the project is to encourage young people to return to the countryside and to attract various professionals to settle in the countryside. Of the funds provided by the state and local governments, 4.5 billion rubles will be used to subsidize rural residents of 80 federal entities to help improve housing conditions. Professionals and their families who are willing to move to the countryside will also receive government-provided housing. Another 4.3 billion rubles will be used to unify the construction of water, electricity and natural gas supply networks in most villages and towns in 71 federal entities. Educational and medical conditions in rural areas will also be improved, including the construction of additional primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, hospitals, pharmacies, etc., and the renovation of existing educational and medical institutions. More sports and entertainment facilities will be built in the vast rural areas, and folk culture and traditional handicrafts will also receive financial support. The Russian government hopes to create new jobs and absorb the rural youth labor force in the process of improving rural infrastructure. In recent years, the Russian government has also adopted a series of policies to support agricultural production. In 2007, Russia's new "Agricultural Law" came into effect, and then the government promulgated the "2008-2012 Agricultural Development, Agricultural Product Market Regulation, and Rural Development Plan", which is Russia's first five-year agricultural development plan. The plan proposes: first, sustainable rural development; second, improving the competitiveness of Russia's productive agriculture, including increasing financial support, realizing modernization and accelerating the development of key areas to replace imports; third, protecting and restoring natural resources, including Soil protection. Agriculture has officially become one of the priority development directions of the national economy, and the state has once again played a leading role in agricultural development. After the promulgation of the plan, Russia worked hard to improve the outlets of the Agricultural Bank to facilitate the provision of preferential loans for farmers to update agricultural machinery during critical periods such as spring sowing and autumn harvest. State insurance for crops was raised from 26 per cent to 40 per cent. In order to stabilize grain market prices, increase producer income and promote grain exports, the Russian government established the United Grain Company in 2009. In order to help agricultural producers improve production efficiency, Russia will also create a "national agricultural information dissemination system". 2015/5/5 China News Network
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India's agricultural output shrinks for first time in five years~ ~ India's farm output falls for the first time in 5 years amid fears of drought Thursday, 4 June 2015 - 9:59am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna India's farm sector shrank for the first time in five years in the year ended March 31, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Wednesday, a day after the government forecast a likely drought this year that could hit output again. The Met office cut this year's monsoon forecast on an El Nino weather pattern that has raised fears of the first drought in six years. El Nino, an event marked by warmer surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, increases the chance of droughts in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Southeast Asia and India. The monsoon rains are vital for the rural economy as three-fifth of India's population of over 1.2 billion depend on farming for their livelihood. The agriculture sector accounts for around 15% of the country's economy. According to the government's estimate, total foodgrains production has declined to 251.12 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from a record production of 265.04 million tonnes in the previous year. Due to poor monsoon, agriculture growth stood at 0.2% in the 2014-15 fiscal. The farm sector grew 3.7% in 2013/14 following a protracted monsoon in 2013. Meanwhile, as the spectre of deficient monsoon looms large, the government on Wednesday announced a number of contingency measures to minimise the losses in agriculture and power sectors, safeguard farmers' interest and keep prices under check. The downward revision to the monsoon forecast -- from 'below normal' to 'deficient' -- has already sparked drought fears, pushing stock markets into a freefall and raising doubts about economic recovery. Besides, firms with significant exposure to agriculture and rural markets are fearing significant business losses. While the agriculture sector is already passing through a bad phase, the rainfall deficiency may have multiplier adverse impact on manufacturing and services sectors, a composite gauge for which today recorded a seven-month low figure. "In the agriculture sector, there would obviously be some losses if there are problems (of deficient rains). We have confidence and policies in place to ensure there is minimum damage to agriculture sector and overall economy," Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said. Power minister Piyush Goyal also said that the contingency plans have been drawn up to meet any eventuality in case the deficient monsoon hits hydro power output. "It's a matter of concern that the monsoon is expected to be below normal, deficient. We are conscious that this will result in a fall in hydropower production and the demand will also increase... The ministry of power and the ministry of coal are seized of the situation," Goyal said. (With Agencies)
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Commercialization is key to improving food security~~'Commercialisation key to improving food security' Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have cited commercialisation of smallholder farming as the main key towards improving food security and reducing poverty in the country. Speaking at a USAID-Zimbabwe Agricultural Income and Employment Development (Zim AIDE) project closeout in Lupane last week, United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Bruce Wharton said helping smallholder farmers commercialise their activities would increase incomes and stamp out poverty. He noted that besides their significant contribution, smallholder farmers had not received as much support in terms of inputs and training on pertinent issues like market surveys and increasing their yields. However, partners like the USAID have initiated projects like the Tshongokwe Irrigation Scheme which has transformed the lives of the farmers who can now realise greater, quality yields and compete at the market with other farmers. The Tshongokwe project has been running since 2010 and local farmers have actively participated in the project, supplying quality produce like butternuts, cabbages and rearing livestock. Although the Zim-AIDE programme is ending, the US government has vowed to continue supporting the country and has promised to launch two more agricultural development programmes. Source: newsday.co.zw Publication date: 5/26/2015
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Global corn production forecast data remain unchanged~ ~ global corn production forecast data remain unchanged 2015-05-28 09:24 | source: China Grain Network | according to the forecast data released by MDA CropCast, an agricultural meteorological agency under the United States Earth Satellite Meteorology (EarthSat Weather), the global corn production forecast for 2015/16 remains unchanged at 0.9599 billion tons, 1.7 less than in 2014/15. This week MDA CropCast maintained the 2015/16 U.S. corn production forecast unchanged at 13.8 billion bushels, down 3.9 percent from the 2014/15 record. For comparison, the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently expects U.S. corn production to be 13.63 billion bushels in 2015. MDA CropCast predicts that China's corn production will reach 0.2241 billion tons in 2015, which is lower than the current forecast of 0.228 billion tons by the US Department of Agriculture. The forecast value of other countries also remains unchanged. In 2015/16, Brazil's corn production roller is 72.7 million tons, and Argentina's corn production is expected to be 25.1 million tons. Ukraine's corn production is expected to be 26.2 million tons, and Russia's corn production is expected to be 11.5 million tons.
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EU Raises Wheat Production Estimate, Downgrades Inventory Estimate~ ~ EU Raises Wheat Production Estimate, Downgrades Inventory Estimate 2015-05-07 15:11 | source: China Grain Network | the European Commission raised its forecast for soft wheat production this year to 0.1416 billion tons on the 6th, compared with 0.1411 billion tons last month, but still significantly lower than the record 0.1482 billion tons in 2014. In the monthly supply and demand forecast published on the website, the EU lowered its year-end inventory forecast for soft wheat in 2015/16 to 15 million tons, up from 16.2 million tons previously, mainly due to increased demand for animal feed. The EU lowered its barley production forecast for this year from 59.6 million tons to 58.6 million tons and its corn production forecast from 68 million tons to 66.3 million tons. The EU's year-end barley inventory forecast for 2015/16 was lowered by 1 million tons to 9 million tons. The forecast for corn stocks for the next year will be lowered by nearly 3 million tons to 16.3 million tons due to the decrease in production and the increase in feed demand by 1.5 million tons.
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Study shows organic farming makes farmers more profitable~ ~ Organic Agriculture Is More Profitable For Farmers, Study Finds The Huffington Post | By Joe Satran Posted: 06/03/2015 10:58 am EDT Updated: 06/03/2015 6:59 pm EDT Organic agriculture alone may or may not be able to feed the world, but a recent study suggests that it can provide a relatively healthy paycheck for its practitioners. David W. Crowder and John P. Reganold, two researchers at Washington State University, conducted a meta-analysis of studies on agricultural economics to learn whether organic farming is more profitable than conventional farming. And after reviewing 129 studies examining agriculture in 14 countries around the world, they published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences arguing that it is. Crowder and Reganold found that yields on organic farms were, as their critics often allege, lower than on conventional farms -- as much as 18 percent lower, in fact. And organic farms also have higher labor costs than conventional ones. Yet organic farmers also incur significantly lower costs than their conventional peers for inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, which makes the overall cost of farming an acre of land nearly equal in the two systems. For those reasons, they found that the breakeven cost for organic farming is between 5 and 7 percent higher than for conventional farming. That sounds bad. But their meta-analysis also revealed that consumers are willing to pay a premium of about 30 percent for organic foods. Because that premium far exceeds the differential between the break-even points for the two methods, organic farms end up being significantly more profitable than conventional ones. A crank might respond that the premium for organic products will go down as organic farms become more numerous. According to Crowder and Reganold, just one percent of the world's cropland is currently farmed organically. It's conceivable that if organic acreage were to, say, double, increased supply would push the price down closer to the break-even point. Yet the researchers note that their study does not explicitly account for the long-term ecological benefits of using organic methods. Countless studies have shown that organic farms are better than conventional farms at reducing erosion, promoting natural pest control, supporting pollinator populations and preventing harmful runoff of agricultural chemicals, all of which have very real economic value for individual farms and society at large. If these externalities were accounted for, they argue, the organic side of the ledger would get a major boost. Even without taking stock of these other factors, though, it's clear that there's money to be made in organic agriculture. No wonder organic farm acreage is booming in America.
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U.S. Potato Farmers Focus on Southeast Asian Markets~ ~ Potato Logistics: U.S. Agriculture Producers Eye Southeast Asia As demand grows, so do the supply chain challenges, especially for perishables By Erica E. Phillips June 3, 2015 6:21 p.m. ET Oregon potato-promoter Jim Cramer recently returned from what he called a “potato mission trip” to Vietnam. He and a handful of Pacific Northwest producer-packers and government officials attended a food trade show in Ho Chi Minh City in April. They hired a local celebrity chef, Dieu Thao, to write a potato-based recipe book, and she prepared some of her dishes live for sampling at their booth. “In Asia, rice is king," Mr. Cramer said. “But they are familiar with potatoes ." More than just familiar, in fact. Last year, the U.S. exported $3.6 million-worth of frozen French-fry potatoes to Vietnam, up from less than $150,000-worth a decade ago. As the Southeast Asian economy expands and young people's tastes become more global, the market for American products has grown. But U.S. agriculture producers face unique logistical challenges in delivering those goods to consumers in those markets, especially with demand growing so quickly. Dwight Wilder, a senior representative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Ho Chi Minh City, said agriculture exports to Vietnam have grown every year but one since the U.S. and Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations in 1995. In 2014, they topped $2.3 billion, which was 100 times the $23 million in agricultural products the U.S. sent there in 1995. “If you look at a chart, it looks like a mountain going straight up," Mr. Wilder said. But that “mountain” of goods meets challenges when it reaches Vietnamese shores. Potato exports to Vietnam, especially frozen French-fry spuds, have been growing as local tastes have become more global. ENLARGE Potato exports to Vietnam, especially frozen French-fry spuds, have been growing as local tastes have become more global. . “In an emerging market like Vietnam, things don't work in a clean-cut fashion," said Barry Horowitz, an international trade and logistics consultant who works with the Port of Portland in Oregon. Products might inexplicably get lost or damaged as they go through customs, he said. Old roads and choked local traffic conditions mean goods can take longer than expected to get from one place to another. And available space in cold storage facilities-a necessity for perishable agricultural products like potatoes-isn't always easy to come. Emerging Southeast Asian markets-Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, for example-are more challenging than domestic or established foreign markets because basic processes and infrastructure, which many producers take for granted elsewhere, just aren't there yet. Mr. Horowitz said producers need to have contacts on the ground whom they trust, and can communicate with easily. Foreign markets like Vietnam are “out of your sight, but they cannot be out of your mind," he said. It helps that local buyers and a growing group of logistics providers in Vietnam are enthusiastic about doing business with American producers, he said. The U.S. has something of an advantage over other large competitors there because American products have a sound reputation. U.S. potatoes, for one, are seen by many as safer than those coming from China, Vietnam's main trading partner. Recent Chinese food scares, from contaminated baby formula to tainted dumplings and expired meats, have made customers wary of that nation's exports. That opinion is shared by some Chinese. A 2013 Pew Research survey conducted in China found that 38% of the Chinese public believed food safety was a “very big problem," up from 12% in 2008. Amanda Welker, a marketing manager with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, says agriculture producers (of potatoes, blueberries, Christmas trees, among other things) in her state are trying to get into Southeast Asia's markets early. “The buyers who are able to import are a pretty small group," Ms. Welker said. “So if you can get to know those people in the beginning, before the market grows, it puts you in nice position ." In some cases, they're laying the foundation for those relationships before the markets have even opened up. In Vietnam, for example, there's growing demand for blueberries from the Pacific Northwest. Officials there have yet to allow fresh blueberries in to the country (they currently allow only dried and frozen blueberries), but that's expected to change very soon. And with the help of people such as Mr. Wilder, U.S. growers' representatives have been able to connect with potential buyers and gather information on the needs, opportunities and constraints in the market. Ms. Welker said some growers she works with have been hesitant to enter emerging markets at first, but they've had good success. Once they try it out, she said, “they become raging fans ." Write to Erica E. Phillips at erica.phillips@wsj.com
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ASEAN agriculture faces climate change threatWith the completion of ASEAN economic integration, goods, labor and capital will flow freely, and the economic prospects of ASEAN member countries will be better. However, countries in the region are also facing the impact of declining agricultural production and increasing poverty caused by climate change such as drought, heavy rain and sea rise. The experts recommended that ASEAN governments promote climate-smart agriculture and adopt sustainable agricultural production models such as "rice intensification techniques. In 2010, agricultural output accounted for 1/3 of the GDP of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia; 60% of the labor force in Cambodia was engaged in agriculture, 50% in Vietnam, and 33% in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Agriculture occupies a major position in their economies. Since 2009, rainfall in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam has been below average, causing drought, production reduction and various diseases and insect pests; at the end of 2013, Typhoon Haiyan destroyed large tracts of Philippine coconut forests, and coconut and its products are the Philippines' No. 1 export agricultural products; sea level rise is also threatening rice production in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. 2015/6/1 People's Daily Online
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Enhancing food security for the poor: what can China learn from the failure of the G7?~~What China Can Learn from G7' s Failures to Improve Food Security of Poor Chinese investors should consider land rights, the involvement of rural communities and transparency issues when setting up agricultural programs abroad By Kevin May Leaders of the G7 will soon meet in Germany to discuss issues of common interest in economic and foreign policy. This year, as in 2009 and 2012, agriculture and food security will be a significant item on the agenda. This is thus an opportune moment to look back at previous G7-led initiatives in this area and see how China can learn from these lessons. Investment in foreign farmland is growing. A large amount of this finance still flows between richer, industrialized countries, but investment in land for agriculture in Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Europe is becoming a trend. China is an increasingly important part of this mix. In 2013, its foreign investment in agriculture reached US$ 7.2 billion, about 20 times more than a decade ago. So what can China learn from the G7 when designing its own investment plans? Unfortunately, the G7 is littered with failed examples of agricultural development programs. The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched in 2012, is a case in point. The New Alliance, and other public-private partnerships that use public money to support private sector actors, aims to increase food production in African countries. Through the use of policy incentives and by clustering agri-business in arable areas, New Alliance members hope to improve productivity and create jobs through new plantations and smallholder outgrower schemes. However, schemes of this type are fraught with risks for local communities. Land transfers to large investors, which are a core part of the New Alliance's agenda, raise a number of concerns. In target countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi and Burkina Faso, governments are offering to lease "idle" or "underutilized" land to large investors. State control over land means that investors' interests might override those of local communities. Weak tenure rights leave rural communities vulnerable to dispossession, while compensation for removal from land is often inadequate or opaque. Moreover, the opportunity for small-scale farmers to partake in and benefit from the creation of plantation-style agriculture is likely to bypass the poorest, which will only worsen inequality. In Burkina Faso, some local companies have noted difficulties in gaining funding from the New Alliance due to the relatively small investment plans and amount of capital required. In addition, farmers often take on large debts to enter outgrower schemes, leading to increased risk and uncertainty. Women, who make up the majority of small-scale producers in Africa, are also unlikely to benefit because they prioritize local food crops - such as fruit and vegetables - rather than the stable commodity crops that are attractive to investors. The New Alliance has been strongly criticized by civil society groups as being wasteful, not involving the people it purports to support and ineffective in improving food security. So, what does this mean for China and Chinese investors? How can they avoid these pitfalls and create a win-win situation? First, land rights matter. Chinese investors should clearly understand existing land use rights before undertaking an investment. In addition, land investments should not take place unless investors and the government have gained explicit free, prior and informed consent from local communities. This will remove the potential risks involved for both investors and communities, and build trust between both parties. Also, the involvement of local communities and small-scale producers in setting the vision and design of the investment remains vital. Experience from the New Alliance shows that any program designed by governments and investors with little participation from those that it claims to support can result in active opposition. Involving small-scale producers and other rural communities during the planning stages is likely to lead to greater benefit for all involved. Finally, the Chinese government should also proactively support poor countries with which it forms food security partnerships to promote transparency and accountability. This will ensure that the partnerships benefit the poor, especially for those in countries with weak governance and institutional capacities. While there is growing enthusiasm for investing overseas in China, it is abundantly clear that such investments do not have to end up in win-lose - or ultimately lose-lose - situations. By taking more proactive steps that are inclusive and well-informed, the Chinese government and investors can avoid the mistakes the G7 made, and make their cooperation with other countries truly welcome and mutually beneficial for all involved. Kevin May is the manager of Oxfam's China and the Developing World Program