IFPRI initiated an international consultation in 2006 on needed actions for the world's poorest and hungry people. An international conference, "Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry People," held in Beijing in October of 2007, drew about 400 participants. The conference examined who the poorest and hungry people are and what new and different actions are required to improve their welfare. This synopsis summarizes the ongoing consultations with the intent to come closer to consensus for taking action.

Key Findings:

• Of the 1 billion people living on less than US$1 day, 485 million are living on between 75 cents and US$1 a day, 323 million are living on between 50 and 75 cents a day, and 162 million, the ultra poor, are living on less than 50 cents a day.
• Three-quarters of the ultra poor live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Among the categories of poverty below US$1 a day, poverty among the ultra poor has been most entrenched. Since 1990, the rate of US$1-a-day poverty has fallen substantially more than the rate of ultra poverty. The poorest are being left behind.
• The composition of the poor is changing and exclusion, ethnicity, gender, and disabilities are playing growing roles and need different policy foci.
• Poverty remains rural and is strongly tied to changes in agriculture and the rural economies.
• The optimal policy mix between growth and social protection needs revisiting.

What to Do (Priority Areas of Action)

1. Focus on inclusive growth that includes the poorest and hungry from the beginning -- in many countries, such growth will generally involve accelerated rural and agricultural growth.

2. Improve access to assets and markets to give millions of smallholder farmers access to value chains and to give many poor households access to nonfarm rural employment.

3. Phase in social protection more quickly and comprehensively and rebalance policies that encourage "Pro-poor" growth with social protection policies.

4. Accelerate investments in health and nutrition programs, particularly for children and women.

5. Include the excluded by requiring governance reforms that empower the poor and the excluded, provide accountability, and offer incentives to service providers.

How to Do It (Areas for Political and Institutional Change)

1. Core political issues -- Countries need to take charge of their own future; conflicts and instability need to be overcome; governance, accountability, and rights need to come to the forefront in poverty reduction policies; sound fiscal and tax policy is critical; and macroeconomic policy and an open trade regime remain key.

2. Scale -- (nternational and civil society organizations should provide technical and financial support to facilitate the appropriate scaling up and transfer of projects.

3. Political process -- Attention should be directed to the political process to create broad-based support for action.

4. Local action -- Building community organizations and political institutions for and with the poorest is an important part of strengthening local action.

5. Capacity to implement -- Improving capacity to implement programs requires that skill levels and organizational arrangements get more attention.

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Synopsis of an International Consultation
Joachim von Braun and Rajul Pandya-Lorch

International Food Policy Research Institute
Washington, D.C., December 2007

Visit Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry People, 2020 Conference Website

Even if the poverty and hunger Millennium Development Goal is achieved, millions of the world's poorest and hungry people will be left behind. New and different action is required to improve the welfare of these people.

When the Millennium Development Goals were adopted in 2000, 1.3 billion people were living in poverty and 800 million were food insecure. In the first of the eight MDGs, nearly 200 nations committed themselves to halve the proportion of poor and hungry people by 2015.

Although the world may meet this goal at the global level, many countries will not reach the goal and people are certain to be left behind. If we continue with "business as usual," 700 million people worldwide are projected to remain poor, many of them extremely poor, in 2015, and 600 million to go hungry. There are indications that the people who are poorest and most afflicted by hunger may have different social and economic characteristics from those who have successfully emerged from poverty in recent decades. Reaching them will require new and different action.

This 2020 Vision conference looks at what steps are needed to improve the welfare of the world's poorest and hungry people, based on the best available research and experience.

This conference addresses critical questions:

    * Who are the poorest of the poor and those most afflicted by hunger?
    * What are the key pathways out of extreme poverty and hunger?
    * Which strategies, policies, and interventions have been successful in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger so far?
    * How can existing actions to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger be accelerated or scaled up, and how can innovative solutions be designed and implemented for and with the poorest and hungry?

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was established in 1975. IFPRI is one of 15 agricultural research centers that receives its funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

"A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment" is an initiative of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to develop a shared vision and a consensus for action on how to meet future world food needs while reducing poverty and protecting the environment. Through the 2020 Vision Initiative, IFPRI is bringing together divergent schools of thought on these issues, generating research, and identifying recommendations.

IFPRI’s research, capacity strengthening, and communications work is made possible by its financial contributors and partners. IFPRI gratefully acknowledges the generous unrestricted funding from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the World Bank.

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