Food security a new frontier for Oikocredit

The world will need to feed 9 billion people by 2050, according to expert projections, and smallholder farms and fisheries will play an important part in this growth, says Oikocredit Managing Director David Woods.

Speaking at a forum in Canada on Sept. 30, Woods said smallholder farms and fisheries have an important food security role since they are already producing food and have the knowhow and resources to expand production. But a big risk is the trend of young people leaving farms to pursue work in cities.

“Keeping people on the farm is increasingly important,” Woods said at the forum, jointly sponsored by the Oikocredit Canada West Support Association and the World Fisheries Trust, a Canadian-based non-profit dedicated to equitable and sustainable use of fisheries worldwide. The forum was held at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.

He cited the example of a Filipino chicken farmer who once told him that her proudest accomplishment is being able to send her five children to school and work in the city. For her, that’s a tremendous achievement, but collectively it spells trouble for our ability to feed additional people in the world, Woods said.

“How do we keep those five children on the farm?” he asked.

Focus on Bolivia

The forum, entitled Sustainable Development and Microfinance, attracted about 60 people. Featuring discussion on Bolivia, Mark Flaherty of the University of Victoria Geography Department described a new program called Peces para la Vida (Fish for Life), which encourages the sustainable development of the Bolivian fishery in the Amazon. The project is sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund of the International Development Research Centre.

Flaherty said the project is working to help develop indigenous and small-scale aquaculture in the Amazon.

Part of the project is assisted by Centro de Investigacion y Desarollo Regional (CIDRE), a Bolivian microfinance institution and Oikocredit partner. Santiago Laserna, CIDRE’s Planning Director, told the forum that CIDRE plans to provide $2 million in microcredit loans to indigenous women who are interested in aquaculture.

Oikocredit to expand its role in food security

Commending these initiatives, Woods said that food security is a “new frontier” for Oikocredit. He said that while about 80% of the Oikocredit loan and investment portfolio is devoted to microfinance, he expects this proportion to drop in the future while loans and investments to agriculture partners will grow.

The Oikocredit strategic plan targets loans and investments of € 200 million to agriculture by 2020, roughly double the amount currently invested, he said.

Woods also said that Oikocredit supports the recently-approved Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. The first of the 17 goals commits the nations of the world to ending poverty in all its forms by 2030.

One of the means to achieving this goal will be by encouraging small-scale food production in a way that minimizes carbon emissions, he said.

A copy of Woods' powerpoint presentation is available here.