Publications /  Annual Report 2001

Less poverty, less hunger During the 1980s it became clear that putting an end to hunger involved much more than guaranteeing food production; economic access to food was just as important.

An estimated 1.3 billion people, nearly a third of the population of the developing world, lives on less than US$1 a day. Improving this condition has been described as the greatest single moral challenge facing humankind. In response to this challenge, the CGIAR's mandate, and with it that of CIP, was broadened to embrace the closely intertwined goals of providing a way out of poverty while putting and end to hunger. The articles in this section give an idea of how this can work.

At the core of CIP's efforts to improve the lives of the poor is crop germplasm, the raw material on which agricultural scientists depend to combat hunger and poverty. The first article in this section looks at efforts to save some rare Andean crops from extinction while turning them into cash-earners for the region's resource-poor farmers.

Our second story shows how China has achieved massive reductions in the number of its poor and hungry over the past 20 years, largely thanks to the creation of a conducive policy environment. Potatoes, of which the country is one of the world's largest producers, and cooperation with partners such as CIP have been part of the formula.

Another key to improving the link between livelihoods and food security is a tight focus on the needs of farmers. Today, they have a far greater say in research planning and implementation than they did 20 years ago. Our third article explores the evolution of the farmer field school, a useful vehicle for involving resource-poor farmers in the research process and for extending its results.