After nearly two decades of neglect, the 2007-2008 food and financial crises have put food and agriculture back on the agenda, and the international community has set a goal to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve shared prosperity by 2030. Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture (previously announced with the title Towards a More Effective International Architecture for Food and Agriculture) surveys the food and agricultural development assistance delivered by five major international organizations: the World Bank Group, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research since their establishment to gauge their relevance, effectiveness, and impacts in a dramatically changed world.
The project grew out of a meeting convened at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in October 2010 to explore how to address the challenges and opportunities of the global food and agriculture system by identifying the core needs for international coordination and system management and how best to structure that system. The study draws on research, evaluations, interviews, and the authors’ operational experience to assess organizational responses to the changing external and internal environment to address the post 2015 agenda. What do they need to do to remain relevant and be effective?
Author:
Uma Lele
With inputs from:
Manmohan Agarwal, Sambuddha Goswami,
Kendra White, and Elizabeth Ramborger
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Uma Lele (Ph.D., Cornell University) has four decades of experience in agricultural research, project design and implementation, policy analysis, and program evaluation. She has published notable works on agricultural and rural development, aid and capital flows, intellectual property, and conservation and management of forests and water, among others. She led complex and influential evaluations of the World Bank’s Forest Strategy, the CGIAR, and global programs. She has served on numerous advisory and expert panels in international organizations.