Whereas the 2008 policy note on agriculture, rural economic development and food security was primarily oriented towards economic development, the 2011 note included nutrition and a stronger focus on market efficiency.
In 2011 food security became a spearhead theme with a special focus on the Dutch bilateral development cooperation efforts in de context of the second generation poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs)[2]. Specific mention was made of the famine in the Horn of Africa. The proposed strategy was based on four pillars, namely (1) increasing sustainable food production, (2) improving access to better food, (3) contributing towards more efficient markets, and (4) improving the investment climate. A commitment was made to increase expenditures from 160 million Euros in 2011 to 435 million Euros in 2015.
In the 2011 policy note there is a stronger emphasis on ‘food security as a global public good’, partnerships with knowledge institutions, and civil society organizations as well as with the private sector and ‘doing what the Netherlands is good at’. The overall objective was to increase self-reliance in and of partner countries. In practice this led to multi-actor partnership strategies and interventions to improve the business climate through government policy support and economic diplomacy. The main objective is to create conditions to enable the private sector to contribute towards development goals taking into account the international positioning of Dutch companies and institutions, with a special focus on (sub)sectors such as dairy production, seed and planting materials, agro-logistics, value chains, food quality, knowledge systems, cooperatives and rural finance. It was recognized that Dutch knowledge institutions and the Dutch private sector can contribute towards improving productivity and to innovations. Moreover, increasing production and ensuring access to a nutritious diet requires a ‘fair’ distribution of production factors and access to income.
[1] Agriculture, Rural Economic Development and Food Security, MinBuZa and MinLNV, 2008, NICC collection nr. AO3793 (physical document)
[2] Kamerbrief voedselzekerheid 2011
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