Effects of development cooperation on food security

How effective can development cooperation be in securing food supplies for people affected by or at risk of hunger and food crises? The German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) investigated this question in a synthesis study on internationally funded development cooperation measures in sub-Saharan Africa. The result: knowledge transfer and capacity building have a positive impact on food security. However, marginalised population groups in particular only benefit from these measures if they have the necessary resources and rights to apply what they have learned.

Overcoming hunger and poverty remains a central goal of German development cooperation. This is confirmed by the reform concept recently presented by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The ministry spends around 20 per cent of its funds on food security, agriculture and rural development, and will place an even stronger focus on sub-Saharan Africa in the future.

Development policy aims to halt renewed increase in hunger

Climate change, price increases as a result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the effects of the Covid pandemic are seriously jeopardising the successes achieved in recent decades in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. In some parts of Africa, more people are going hungry again and food crises are on the rise. While around 45 per cent of the population in Africa was affected by moderate or severe food insecurity in 2015, this figure rose to 59 per cent by 2024.

DEval provides important basis for decision-making

Knowledge transfer and capacity building are key instruments of development cooperation because they empower people to take action to improve their food security. In a synthesis study of the international evidence available, DEval examined the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and capacity development measures along agricultural supply chains and for local consumers.

The study is the first of its kind because it presents the effects of a wide range of development policy measures on all six dimensions of food security: (i) food availability, (ii) food utilisation, (iii) food access, (iv) food system stability, (v) food system sustainability, and (vi) the agency of local people. It highlights the types of measures that have proven effective.

Measures should be combined

The core message of the study is that knowledge transfer and capacity building measures have a positive impact on the various dimensions of food security. However, DEval also found that no single type of measure is effective in all six of them. The synthesis study shows which measures can achieve success in which dimensions. It can thus support government and civil society development actors world-wide in planning combinations of measures and provide them with an important basis for decision-making.

For example, along agricultural supply chains, measures to advise agricultural actors on climate-adapted farming methods are suitable for improving access to food and increasing its availability. At community meetings, participants can be taught nutrition-related knowledge to promote dietary diversity in their households. This additional knowledge can also increase their capacity to make nutrition-related decisions. DEval concludes that combining measures can increase their effectiveness in terms of food security.

In addition, a combination of measures is essential in order to reach particularly marginalised population groups. “It has been shown that particularly vulnerable groups such as women, children and Indigenous Peoples often cannot benefit from a single capacity-building measure,” study leader Cornelia Römling emphasises. “They often lack resources such as money or machinery to implement what they have learned.”

Furthermore, these groups have no or only limited ownership or usage rights to land for growing food. According to Römling, this argues in favour of putting together packages of measures and combining, for example, knowledge transfer with the distribution of seeds or cash transfers or advice on land rights.

Outlook – food security and multilateralism

DEval also plans to evaluate the effectiveness of multilateral development cooperation in the area of food security this year. In doing so, it will simultaneously deepen two priority areas of German development cooperation in accordance with the BMZ‘s reform plan: multilateralism and the fight against hunger. In this manner, DEval will continue to generate important findings on food security for the BMZ's evidence-based policy-making in the future.

(DEval/wi)

More information:

• Link to DeVal study: “The Effects of Capacity Strengthening Interventions on Food Security and Nutrition”  
• Link to BMZ reform plan: "Shaping the future together globally“