2. Background

Food and Education for All

Two major commitments have been made by the majority of the world’s governments to ensure the basic right of all children to education and food, as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These commitments are: 

• to enable all children to have access to quality basic education (Education for All) by the year 2015
• to reduce by half the number of undernourished people (Food for All) by the year 2015

These two commitments are yielding good progress already. The number of children who do not attend school is declining in many countries. The number of undernourished children and adults is falling, globally. The challenges facing the achievement of Education for All are enormous, however, especially in rural areas where low participation, high drop-out rates and under-education are still common.

Linking education and sustainable resource management

Fortunately there is considerable hope, even though the challenges are great. Research has provided strong evidence that basic education makes a direct contribution to the reduction of poverty in rural areas. A minimum of 4 years of basic education, which addresses literacy and numeracy as well as science and possibly agricultural education, can lead to an increase in agricultural productivity by up to 8%. Coupled with this relationship is the important factor that families who raise themselves out of poverty and achieve a sustainable livelihood are in a better position to support their children to attend school, thus adding momentum to the process of change and development.

Although the close relationships between poverty, lack of food and absence of education have long been recognised and understood, development strategies at international and national level have tended to treat equitable access to quality education and food as separate issues. There is a real lack of information and experience sharing about the realities of basic education and schooling in rural locations in specific countries. The endemic problems of education access and quality in rural areas need to be recognised, understood and addressed through coherent, explicit policies and strategies. Support and capacity building is needed for institutions engaged in basic education in rural areas, for human resource development, and for collaborative learning and action between different stakeholders. It is no longer acceptable for these conditions to be maintained; action is now vital. Practical means are required to ensure that the rhetoric of these global frameworks becomes reality.

Agroforestry as an interface

It is timely and essential to explore and implement practical and innovative measures in which the related issues of education and food in rural areas can be tackled together. The existence of global frameworks in which issues of Education for All and Food for All can be addressed provides an enabling environment for integration of innovation and action.

Agroforestry has the potential to impact on food security and basic education at the same time. While contributing to food security and health and nutrition, agroforestry also offers unique opportunities to enhance the quality and relevance of education. Indeed, thanks to the multidisciplinarity of agroforestry, scientific, social, economical, political and cultural aspects can be integrated into different learning subjects and help the integration of disciplines. This can lead to a more effective application of what has been learned and give a practical touch to theory, thus enhancing the quality and relevance of education.

Agroforestry can also provide some food and income for schools, e.g. through the selling of seedlings from a school nursery. The profits of such activities can then be used to buy books or other materials. In addition, agroforestry activities in schools offer great opportunities for community outreach.