Abstract
Millions of people worldwide live in extreme poverty, which has an adverse effect on global food security. Research shows that growth in the agricultural labor sector has twice the impact on poverty compared to growth in other labor sectors. To that end, we examine some of the enabling factors of private sector investment to increase food security and reduce poverty: innovative output, intellectual property rights innovation, gender-sensitive land tenure, creation of new businesses, openness to trade, government institutional flexibility, access to credit, inclusion of new sectors, income diversification, public-private partnerships, infrastructure improvements, payments for eco-system services, and climate-smart innovation. Developing policies that improve food security will help to reduce poverty.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 25-37 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2021 |
Funding
This paper focuses on enabling private sector investments in food-insecure countries such as those in Africa, where private investments to end food insecurity are limited. For example, roughly only 5% of investments in Uganda's agriculture is funded by the private sector (). Strategies to stimulate private investment in agriculture can increase farm income and employment to guarantee global food security. Private sector investment in food-insecure countries has been limited for many reasons that we discuss that relate to agricultural enabling environments, innovative output, intellectual property rights innovation, gender-sensitive land tenure, creation of new businesses, openness to trade, government institutional flexibility, access to credit, inclusion of new sectors, income diversification, public–private partnerships, infrastructure improvements, and climate-smart innovation. This paper complements the research by on increasing food supplies and reducing food insecurity through public sector investments in new crop varieties.
Keywords
- Agriculture
- Chronic hunger
- Enabling environments
- Feed-the-future initiative
- Food security
- Global public health
- Poverty
- Private sector investments
- Rural
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science
- General Business, Management and Accounting
- Economics and Econometrics
