Reform policies and create an enabling environment [Recommendation two]

In the fight against hunger and poverty, general and sectoral policies can be

powerful and constructive instruments that affect all dimensions of food secu-

rity. For example, monetary, fiscal, and trade policies have a direct influence

not only on the price of food, but also the stability of the economic system and

the overall investment and employment climate. In addition, favorable social

and gender-specific policies can influence the extent to which the poor and

the vulnerable, especially mothers and children, have access to food. But poli-

cies poorly formulated or implemented at any level of government can directly

impede progress and create conditions that keep the poor trapped in hunger. A

favorable policy framework is thus needed to maximize the impact of increased

political action and implementing the local interventions described in the next

chapters.