Meeting the Needs of the World's Poor through Wheat and Maize Research

Meeting the Needs of the World’s
Poor through Wheat and Maize Research

Around one billion people in the developing world live on less than one dollar per day (Table 1). These are the poorest of the poor, populations living in abject poverty and under extremely high levels of food insecurity. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of those struggling to survive on less than one dollar per day live in South Asia, and another one-fifth (20%) live in sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America accounts for 5% of the world’s absolute poor, with the vast majority living in southern Mexico and Central America.

Across the developing world, the numbers of absolute poor living in rural areas are disproportionately concentrated in the lower potential tropical production environments relative to the more favorable subtropical and temperate environments. Meeting the needs of the rural poor continues to be of predominant importance to CIMMYT, and we are also facing up to the challenge of providing for the rapidly rising numbers of urban poor. Rural poverty continues to be the overriding concern in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and South Asia, but urban poverty and urban food insecurity are also escalating in South Asia.

Overall economic growth and price levels (particularly food prices) influence urban poverty, whereas several additional factors influence rural poverty. Some are well known, such as rapid population growth, dwindling access to resources, and limited technological options. The effects on rural poverty of new and emerging factors, such as global climate change and the deterioration of natural resources, are less well understood, although it is clear that sustainable management of the rural resource base can significantly enhance food security and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor.

Given these circumstances, how can wheat and maize research make a difference to the world’s poor? Together, CIMMYT’s research and technology development help to:

ensure sufficient and stable food supplies for subsistence farmers and poor rural households;
improve the nutritional security of the poorest of the poor;
ensure adequate food supplies at affordable prices for the urban poor; and
promote sustainable management of natural resources, especially in marginal production environments.

Research that contributes specifically to these objectives is described in this report; for additional details see People and Partnerships (our medium-term plan and project portfolio).

The geographic allocation of CIMMYT’s research resources (Table 2) is consistent with the regional distribution of the world’s poor. More than one-third of our resources are spent in sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest share of poor people in its population (Table 1) and lowest share of trained scientists and research infrastructure. South Asia accounts for 22% of CIMMYT’s resources, and Central America, with the third highest share of the global poor, accounts for 15%.

Table 1. Distribution of global population living below one dollar per day, late 1990s
	Total population (millions)	Population living on less than US$ 1/day
Region	Total population (millions)	Millions	As percentage of total population
Latin America and Caribbean	423	49	12
West Asia and North Africa	204	5	3
Sub-Saharan Africa	388	169	44
South Asia	1,266	515	41
East and Southeast Asia	1,726	320	19
Source: World Bank (2000), World Development Indicators.

Table 2. Allocation of CIMMYT research resources by region of the developing world
Region	Percentage of research resources
Central and Western Africa	4
Eastern and Southern Africa	33
Central and West Asia and North Africa	10
East and Southeast Asia	6
South Asia	22
Central America and Caribbean	15
South America	10
Total	100

Annual Report 00-2001