Sida's work with agriculture and food security
Sida works to make it easier for people to earn a living in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Through support from Sida, small-scale producers can create jobs and have secure access to food using environmentally sustainable farming methods. The aid also reduces the environmental impact of agriculture and contributes to climate adaptation.
Why do Sida work with agriculture and food security?
World hunger is on the rise
More and more people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition in the world. In 2022, three out of ten people could not eat every day and one in five children under five years old had stunted growth due to malnutrition and are at risk of permanent damage and premature death.1
The climate crisis threatens agriculture
Agriculture, especially large-scale industrial agriculture, uses up to 70% of the water used and accounts for about a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions.2,3 The effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods and storms, make plants and animals more vulnerable to disease. This causes crop failure, loss of crops and livestock, which particularly affects people with the least resources. It threatens their livelihoods and access to food.
Unequal and insecure access to land
In many low-income countries, women make up more than half of the agricultural labour force, but compared to men they are less likely to own the land they farm and earn less money.4 Lack of land rights leads to short-term unsustainable farming practices, low yields, deforestation, illegal land deals and conflict.
Examples of what Sida contributes to:
New methods make farms more productive and sustainable
Sida contributes to new modern cultivation methods and digital solutions that make it easier for small-scale farmers. Production increases, more green jobs are created and farms become more environmentally sustainable. The need for artificial fertilisers and harmful pesticides is reduced. The organisations that Sida supports work together with local experts and innovators as they have the best knowledge of the needs and solutions.
Improved resilience to climate change and crises
Sida helps to develop sustainable farming methods that both cope better with climate change and reduce the impact of agriculture on the climate and the environment. Indigenous peoples and small farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia can grow more different types of crops and preserve local crops. This increases resilience to an unpredictable climate and crises. It also gives people a more stable income and access to nutritious food.
More sustainable forestry and land rights
Sida helps to create conditions for more sustainable forestry, restores biodiversity and contributes to the replanting of forests that sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The aid helps smallholders to invest in more sustainable agriculture and forestry. It also empowers the most vulnerable people, such as women and indigenous peoples, in disputes over land and land rights.
Sida works with agriculture and food security
The right to food has been a human right since 1948. Nevertheless, hunger and malnutrition are on the rise, particularly in Africa, Western Asia and the Caribbean.5 The causes of hunger and malnutrition are many, complex and varied. The pandemic, climate change, wars and conflicts, and the economic crisis are some important reasons. It is also about the malfunctioning of food systems: raw materials and food do not arrive on time, are destroyed or people cannot afford to buy food. Sharply rising food prices mean that people living in extreme poverty often spend two third of their income on food.6 Many people living in cities lack the ability to grow food.
More and more people are suffering from malnutrition, with many being both undernourished and overweight at the same time. Malnutrition and hunger hinder people’s ability to contribute to their own and the country’s livelihoods and are estimated to reduce the country’s GDP by around five per cent.7
Sida supports research to help develop sustainable farming methods. These are methods that are better adapted to climate change and can contribute to biodiversity while reducing environmental and climate impact.
Sida supports people’s food security and their ability to produce food, cultivate forests and fish in ways that are sustainable in the long term.
Around 65 per cent of adults living in poverty make their living from agriculture.8 It is important that crops, forestry and livestock are managed both efficiently and sustainably to feed a growing population without damaging the environment. The food produced also needs to be distributed more equitably as both malnutrition and obesity are increasing.
If agricultural productivity and wages were equal, the global GDP (gross domestic product) would increase by one per cent (equivalent to one trillion dollars) and lead to 45 million people not having to suffer from hunger.9 Reducing food waste, both in the field and by extending the life of food products, storage, transport and consumers, is important to increase the amount of food available.
Sida contributes to increasing access to food by supporting farmers around the world in small-scale and environmentally friendly cultivation that increases production, income and access to food. Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
In Tanganyika province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than half of all families are food insecure.10 Sida supports the work of the UN Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to restore agricultural land to ensure food security. Small-scale farmers are able to sell their crops, which reduces poverty and thus the amount of conflict in the area.
When households farm with grazing animals, the food needs to be sufficient for both the animals and the family. Areas close to conflict zones are often degraded and may need to be restored.
In Burkina Faso, Sida is supporting the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in, for example, supporting the cultivation of chickpeas, which creates opportunities for young women to earn money and improve their family’s diet. The increased harvest also helps to feed people who have been forced to flee within the country.
Oxfam Novib supports indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia to grow small-scale and environmentally friendly crops by developing local seed banks.
This has contributed to increased and more secure access to food, better nutrition and increased resilience to climate change and crises.
The programme is run through farmer field schools where farmers meet and exchange experiences, process and exchange crops, sell their products and strengthen their rights. In Peru, the programme helped the Supreme Court recognise village land rights and compensate for historical land losses.
To enable small-scale farmers to produce healthy food without losing production due to insect pests, agriculture needs to reduce the overuse of chemicals that are harmful to the environment and health.
Through the African research organisation International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Sida supports the development of biological pesticides and circular farming methods where animals and plants work together and resources are kept in a cycle. This makes agriculture less vulnerable to economic crises and extreme weather conditions.
Conflict, poverty and environmental degradation have a negative impact on forestry. At the same time, there are major challenges around deforestation.
Forests store carbon in trees and soil, which is important for reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Trees provide shade that lowers temperatures and prevents drought. Roots hold the soil in place, reducing the risk of soil erosion caused by heavy rainfall or strong winds. The forest is an important source of income for many people in the form of fuel and food.
Sida supports forest users and their rights and contributes to more sustainable forestry that is better able to withstand climate change. Here are some examples of what Sida supports:
Agriculture and forestry contribute to climate change through deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Forest Farm Facility of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), farmers and foresters are supported to transform their operations to become more sustainable and resilient to climate change.
Sida contributes to facilitating the participation, dialogue and conflict resolution of forest users in forest management through its support to the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC).
Since 2018, the project has contributed, among other things, to the local population managing a larger area of forest, from around 8 to more than 12 million hectares. More than 7 million families manage forests under the project.
Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are hard hit by the effects of climate change: extreme weather conditions, pests and water shortages. This makes it more difficult to produce food and leads to increased poverty. Women are particularly vulnerable.
Sida supports Vi Forest’s Agroforestry for Livelihood Empowerment (ALIVE) programme. It focuses on transforming society to strengthen human rights and the economies of smallholder families through market-driven, sustainable agroforestry. The programme is implemented through farmers’ organisations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Overfishing, climate change and environmental degradation affect the biodiversity of oceans, lakes and rivers. Unsustainable methods of breeding (farming) fish and mussels also harm aquatic life. In lakes and seas, entire fish stocks may collapse within a few decades if nothing changes. Sustainable fishing is crucial for the millions of people who depend on fishing for their survival.
Sida supports small-scale fishermen and supports efforts to improve fisheries policy and management. Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
The World Bank’s Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership (GWSP) is raising awareness of the importance of areas such as mangroves and wetlands. Co-operating countries have been given tools to assess how much is fished and where. They have also received resources to manage and create more sustainable ways of fishing and to counteract harmful fishing subsidies.
Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing hinders efforts to improve ocean health. It hits small-scale fishermen and communities hard. The regional organisations Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) help gather knowledge and use it to influence fisheries policy in Southeast Asia and the Western Indian Ocean. For example, the programme has produced documentation for certified exports to the EU market and an agreement between Fiji and Solomon Islands on the boundaries of fisheries in the sea.
The majority of people in low-income countries live in rural areas. Therefore, Sida supports many projects that help improve the lives of people outside the cities.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
In Colombia, ex-combatants need support to return and become part of society. Through the European Trust Fund for Colombia (EUTF), Sida is supporting around 30 community-based rural development projects, with a particular focus on gender equality, environmental sustainability and strengthening local institutions so that they have greater capacity to do their work, for example in the legal field to defend people’s land rights and women’s equal rights to land, or to work against corruption, for example in the area of land grabbing by companies that take land from farmers or force them to grow certain crops. Sida also supports innovative business activities in rural areas most affected by armed conflict. The fund is run by Reconciliación Colombia and works to increase companies’ production and sales.
In Sida’s partner countries, women often have less power than men over their lives. This is particularly true in rural areas. Through support for the organisation Rural Women Economic Empowerment (RWEE), Sida helps thousands of women to start businesses and earn income from agriculture, for example. Many women receive training in areas such as business and financial management, marketing and negotiation techniques.
Sida’s support for agriculture, forestry and fisheries amounted to SEK 1.1 billion in 2022. 65 per cent of the support went to agricultural development, about 25 per cent to forestry and 10 per cent to fisheries. Supporting small-scale farming is particularly prioritised as it provides people with livelihoods and contributes to local production. Sida contributes to food security through programmes and projects in, for example, the thematic areas: economic development, climate and environment, health, peaceful and inclusive societies and through humanitarian aid.
- State of the world’s food security and nutrition statistics (2023) on FAO website
- Share of water used by agriculture on the OECD website
- Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture on the UNCC website
- Women in agriculture on the FAO website
- State of the world’s food security and nutrition statistics (2023) on the FAO website
- Share of income spent on food by people living in extreme poverty on the World Bank website
- Food insecurity and hunger reduce a country’s GDP
- Proportion of people making a living from agriculture on the World Bank website
- If agricultural productivity and wages were equal, global GDP (gross domestic product) would increase on the FAO website
- Proportion of people in Tanganyika province in DRC who are food insecure on the WFP website
Updated: August 21, 2023