Agriculture As an Engine of Economic Reconstruction and Development in Fragile Countries

BRUSSELS RURAL DEVELOPMENT BRIEFINGS A SERIES OF MEETINGS ON ACP-EU POLICY DEVELOPMENT ISSUES Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries This Reader was prepared by Isolina Boto, Manager of the CTA Brussels Office Lebo Mofolo, Policy Development Briefings Officer, CTA Brussels Office June, 2018 Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries This Reader was prepared by Isolina Briefing n. 51 Boto, Manager, CTA Brussels Office Agriculture With the assistance of Lebo Mofolo, as an engine Policy Development Briefings Officer, of economic CTA Brussels Office The information in this document reconstruction was compiled as background reading material for the 51st Brussels and development Development Briefing on the topic of in fragile Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in countries fragile countries. The Reader and most of the resources are available at: http://brusselsbriefings.net Brussels, 27 June 2018 Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries Table of Contents 1. Context �� 4 2. Policy engagement in favour of resilience �� 9 3. Fragility and agriculture �� 18 4. Agriculture Successes in the Context of Fragility .................................................................................................................21 6. The way forward �� 38 Annex Glossary �� 39 Acronyms �� 42 Resources ��46 Websites �� 51 Endnotes �� 52 Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries 1. Context 1.1. Approaches and Fragility is evaluated over five Symptoms of state fragility include: definition to fragility dimensions: political, societal, (i) high poverty rates; (ii) large economic, environmental and numbers of refugees and internally security.”3 There are alternative displaced persons (IDPs); (iii) It is important to establish that there definitions of fragility, which are low levels of internal tax revenue is no universal definition of “fragility”, used by the African Development generation; (iv) dependence on and periodic advances in the Bank4, the World Bank5, The Fund for external resources (ODA, FDI, and understanding of fragility have led Peace and other international actors, remittances); (v) high indebtedness; to changes in the way that this issue and approaches to the definition of (vi) strong reliance on primary is addressed by the international this subject have developed over products; (vii) low degree of community. the decades. Although they are export diversification; (viii) low not synonymous, violence, conflict, human development; (ix) endemic Confusion still reigns among poverty and fragility are intertwined, corruption, and (x) poor soft and international actors over how and feature heavily in the literature hard infrastructure.6 to define “state fragility” and on fragile states, and as factors what distinguishes fragile states having the most detrimental effects from general conditions of on a country’s development. underdevelopment and poverty as underlined.1 Fragility results from the complex interplay of weak societal institutions Perhaps the most widely used confronted with internal and definition is that of the OECD external stresses. Fragility has which characterises fragility as “the many dimensions and exists along a accumulation and combination of spectrum that ranges from fragility risks combined with insufficient to resilience (stability). It commonly capacity by the State, system, and/ refers to situations in which the state or communities to manage it, absorb is not able to perform basic state- it, or mitigate its consequences“. related functions, such as securing Fragility can lead to negative control over territory, enforcing outcomes including violence, national laws and regulations, ensuring the breakdown of institutions, citizens’ security, providing basic displacement, humanitarian crises or public goods such as access to justice. other emergencies.2 4 Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries The OECD defines fragility asThe An alternative approach looks at Fragilities impose large costs and combination of exposure to risk fragility as a measure of the extent hardships on local populations and insufficient coping capacity to which the actual practices and that can spill over to neighbouring of the state, system and/or capacities of states differ from its countries— directly through conflict, communities to manage, absorb idealized image (Carment, Prest crime, and disease, but also through or mitigate those risks. Fragility and Samy 2009, 2008), with the economic linkages. Those countries can lead to negative outcomes methodology often found in political also face a heavy reliance on including violence, the breakdown sciences literature focusing on development aid. In 2017, almost 124 of institutions, displacement, elements of fragility represented by million people across 51 countries humanitarian crises or other Authority (A), Legitimacy (L), and and territories faced crisis levels emergencies.7 Capacity (C).8 of acute food insecurity or worse and required urgent humanitarian States of Fragility 2016 Other definitions of fragility, such as action. In 2016 the population in characterises fragility as the that of the Overseas Development need of urgent action was estimated combination of exposure to risk and Institute (ODI), which accordingly at 108 million across 48 countries. insufficient coping capacity of the uses a results-based measure of Prolonged drought conditions also state, system and/or communities fragility, whereby “fragile countries resulted in consecutive poor harvests to manage, absorb or mitigate those are best thought of as those where in countries already facing high levels risks. Fragility can lead to negative poverty prevalence is high and where of food insecurity and malnutrition outcomes including violence, the rate of improvement is slow. This in eastern and southern Africa. the breakdown of institutions, definition mostly overlaps with the North-east states of Nigeria, South displacement, humanitarian OECD one, but is simpler to measure Sudan, Somalia and Yemen have crises or other emergencies. and is more directly operational for experienced significant acute food The OECD’s fragility framework aid agencies.”(ODI, 2017). insecurity and malnutrition. Famine provides a comprehensive picture was declared in February 2017 in two of fragility around the world. The counties of South Sudan. calculations reflect a systems-based conceptualisation of fragility. Risks and capacities are measured Figure 1. The 2016 OECD fragility framework diagram in five dimensions: economic, environmental, political, security and societal. In addition, capacities are measured at state level, as well as incorporating the various formal and informal mechanisms societies can draw upon to cope with negative events and shocks. The choice of these dimensions, and the decision to take a whole of society approach to fragility, is based on expert judgement. It is one of the key outcomes of the consultation process underlying the new OECD fragility framework. Source: OECD (2016) 5 Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries 1.2. Geographical The Fragile States Index (FSI)10 is Figure 2: World's most fragile states an annual ranking of 178 countries distribution of Fragile based on the different pressures States they face that impact their levels of fragility. The Index is based on The Fund for Peace’s proprietary In terms of the scope of fragility, Conflict Assessment System Tool the OECD identifies 56 countries as (CAST) analytical approach. Based having fragile situations – which are on comprehensive social science home to over 1.6 billion people or methodology, three primary 22% of the global population.9 There streams of data — quantitative, is no single characteristic

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