Chapter 5


On the national level:

If a country has a production deficit (for definition see section 2 of Annex 1) and depends on
food imports to complement supplies from domestic production, then access to sufficient
food for the country as a whole is determined by the availability of foreign exchange to pay
for the necessary food imports. The factors which have contributed to the macro-economic
imbalances, the chronic balance of payments deficits and the increased indebtedness and debt
service burdens of many developing countries (see sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 4) have
inhibited the import capacities of the countries concerned and the achievement of food
security on the national level.

All policies aiming at re-establishing macro-economic balance and economic growth will
therefore, if successful, increase the import capacity of the countries and implicitly serve the
purpose of improving access to food at the national level. This applies, in principle, to
structural adjustment programs but also depends, as outlined in section 9 of Chapter 4. on a
number of other factors which are beyond the reach of individual countries' policies, e.g. the
international trade and financial environment. Increasing access to food on the aggregate
national level requires therefore, a two-sided approach:

1) Economic reform programs by and within the countries themselves along the line of
 macroeconomic, structural and sectoral adjustment policies discussed in Chapter 4,

2) International co-operation and appropriate policies at global level, e. g. in the field of
 international financial and trade relations. The latter issues will be addressed in Chapter 6.

If the overall impact of this approach enables the country to achieve economic balance and
sustainable growth in the medium and longer term, this will not only help to solve the
problem of access to food at the aggregate national level but through employment and
income creation also at the household level.

At the household level:

At the household level, access to food depends on the means available to the households to
obtain the food and other essential items required for a decent living. Food insecurity occurs
if the means are insufficient and is, therefore, closely related to wide-spread poverty. The
households may lack the means (e.g. land, manpower, access to water, knowledge,
technology) to produce enough food on their own, and/or the purchasing power to buy the
food they need on the market. In tracing the effects of macro-economic policies down to the
factors determining household food entitlement, we have seen that certain vulnerable groups
are prone to suffer a further aggravation of their food security situation under adjustment. The
capacity to attain access to the food required may be further eroded by a nominal and/or real
income decline, resulting from general food price increases, a removal of general food
subsidies, or a decrease in employment and cash-income.

Under such conditions, targeted approaches are required to support those groups of the
population who, due to poverty and insufficient access to food, are exposed to food
insecurity. Targeted assistance may consist of measures to enhance the capacity of the people


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