Food aid in crises should also aim for longer-term self-reliance – UN

Food distribution in natural or man-made emergencies should be combined with actions to improve self-reliance in food production, according to a new United Nations publication released today aimed at drawing up a long-term perspective to food insecurity and malnutrition during periods of crisis and recovery.

“Temporary food distribution is necessary to help people to cope under emergency conditions,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director of Emergency and Rehabilitation Division Anne M. Bauer said on the release of ‘Protecting and promoting good nutrition in crisis and recovery.’

“However, at the same time, assistance is also often needed to help restore local food production and to reduce the dependency on food aid,” she added.

The new FAO resource guide – available in print and as a CD-ROM – offers guidance to programme planners and technicians in the field of nutrition, food security, agriculture, and community and social development on how to adopt a long-term perspective.

Every year, floods, droughts, earthquakes, outbreaks of plant and animal pests and diseases and other natural disasters as well as armed conflicts, adversely affect the lives of millions of people in the developing world, FAO said. Access to a nutritionally adequate amount and variety of good quality and safe food becomes difficult and contributes to high rates of malnutrition.

When a crisis occurs, food production is often no longer possible, income is reduced, food distribution and marketing networks collapse, and people's homes and belongings are looted, destroyed or burned. The disruption of normal life results in rising poverty and vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition.

“Food diversity can be increased through field crop production, horticulture, rearing of poultry or small livestock, cultivation of fruit and nut trees, fishing, small-scale irrigation and the utilization of wild foods," FAO's Food and Nutrition Division Director Kraisid Tontisirin said.