One person in five in the developing countries is undernourished. Every day, some 26,000 children die from conditions related to hunger and malnutrition – half of them before their fifth birthday.

The food price crisis has pushed rural development back up the development agenda. Rural development is a tool for combating hunger and poverty on a sustainable basis. However, it is not only agricultural policy which must be geared towards food security; the same applies, for example, to trade policy and economic development. GTZ supports and advises its partners on the planning and implementation of agricultural policy and food security programmes.

Ethiopia: New crop to combat hunger

In Amhara, Oromia and Tigray in the Ethiopian highlands, local people have started to grow triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye, in recent years. It produces high yields, is drought-tolerant and grows on nutrient-poor soil, making it popular with farmers. Therefore a smaller area is required, freeing up space for the cultivation of other food crops, which has greatly improved the local people’s diet in recent years. In Amhara alone, an estimated 40,000 farmers are now growing triticale. GTZ introduced the new cereal to the region as part of a comprehensive programme to improve food security.