Global Issues: Food

Introduction

Currently, projections show that the world is not on track to accomplish the global nutrition targets or the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger by 2030), despite modest gains. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 study, the food security and nutritional condition of the most vulnerable population groups is projected to continue to deteriorate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic's health and socioeconomic effects.

The most recent version of the research, which was released in the middle of 2021, predicted that in 2020, between 720 and 811 million individuals experienced hunger. Billion people cannot afford to consume a healthy or nutritious diet due to high costs. When comparing 2020 to 2019, there were 118 million more individuals who were hungry, or as many as 161 million when comparing the center of the expected range (768 million).

The global food systems, which are thought to be all the activities and processes affecting the production, distribution, and consumption of food, are becoming more vulnerable and inadequate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global food market changes

In the middle of the 2000s, it was possible to watch how quickly the global food market could shift. The demand for food has been rising steadily for two decades before to the year 2000, along with population expansion, record harvests, new technology, rising incomes, and a diversification of dietary preferences. Through 2000, food prices continued to drop. However, most grain prices started to increase in 2004. Rising output was unable to keep up with the demand's even faster expansion. Food supplies were scarce. Then, in 2005, poor harvests in the major food-producing nations reduced the amount of food available. The production of cereals worldwide had decreased by 2.1% by 2006. The cost of producing food and fertilizer surged in 2007 due to the sharp increases in oil prices.

Countries looked for strategies to protect themselves from future food shortages and price shocks as international food prices rose to previously unheard-of levels. Export limitations were enforced by a number of food exporting nations. To maintain domestic supplies, a few significant importers started buying wheat at any price. However, it also became clear that many countries' food security was compromised by the global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009.

Healthy diets would help check the backslide into hunger

According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report, a switch to healthy diets on a worldwide scale will help prevent the resurgence of hunger while generating substantial savings. It estimates that such a change would enable the health costs of unhealthy diets, which are projected to reach US$ 1.3 trillion annually in 2030, to be almost entirely offset, while the social cost of diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, which is predicted to be US$ 1.7 trillion, could be reduced by up to 75%.

In order to make healthy diets more accessible and affordable, the research calls for a restructuring of the food systems. The general answers lie in interventions along the entire food supply chain, in the food environment, and in the political economy that shapes trade, public expenditure, and investment policies, even though the details will vary from country to country and even within them. The study calls on governments to mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture, work to reduce cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution, and marketing of food, support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets, prioritize children's nutrition as the category in greatest need, and foster behavior change through education.

Food and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Eight Millennium Development Goals were created as a result of a gathering of world leaders in 2000 at the United Nations to create a broad vision to battle poverty (MDGs). This continued to be the global development strategy up until 2015. The Millennium Development Goals' global mobilization has given rise to the most influential anti-poverty campaign in history. Long before the 2015 deadline, the MDG goal of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty was accomplished in 2010. In emerging regions, the percentage of malnourished persons decreased by about 50%. But there is still a great deal of work to be done. The Sustainable Development Goals are currently centered on that work.

Food and SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN's development plan for the twenty-first century, are centered on food. "End hunger, achieve food security and enhanced nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture" is the second of the UN's 17 SDGs. The global food and agricultural system will need to undergo significant change in order for this aim to be accomplished by the target year of 2030. This objective's elements include, among others:

Putting an end to hunger and ensuring that everyone has access to wholesome food;
Eliminating all dietary malnutrition;
Double agricultural output and small-scale food producers' earnings;
Ensuring sustainable methods for producing food;
Increasing financial support for agriculture;
Removing and eliminating trade barriers and market inefficiencies on the global agriculture market;
Adopting efforts to guarantee the markets for food commodities operate properly.

Numbers on hunger and nutrition

The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) increased to about 9.9 percent in 2020 from 8.4 percent a year earlier, after holding essentially stable from 2014 to 2019.
In 2020, there were likely be between 720 and 811 million hungry people on the planet.
In 2030, 660 million people may still be going hungry, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic's long-lasting effects on world food security.
282 million of the 768 million undernourished people in the world in 2020 are found in Africa, 418 million are found in Asia, and 60 million are found in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 2020, 2.37 billion people around the world—an rise of over 320 million in just one year—did not have access to sufficient food.
In the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gender difference in the incidence of moderate or severe food insecurity has grown even worse, with the prevalence of such insecurity among women being 10% higher than that of males in 2020 as opposed to just 6% in 2019.
Stunting affected 149.2 million (22.0 percent) of children under the age of five worldwide in 2020 (SDG Indicator 2.1.1).

The United Nations Secretary-General launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2012

The Zero Hunger Challenge was introduced by the UN Secretary-General in 2012 at the Rio+20 World Conference on Sustainable Development. The goal of the Zero Hunger Challenge is to spark a global movement that will end hunger within a generation. It demands: Under two-year-olds have no stunting and have year-round access to 100% of the recommended dietary intake Every food system is a sustainable one. Increased income and productivity of smallholders by 100% No food is lost or wasted.

Food Systems Summit

A Food Systems Summit was held in 2021 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as part of the Decade of Action to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit unveiled bold new initiatives to advance all 17 SDGs, each of which depends to some extent on more equitable, sustainable, and healthy food systems. The Summit brought together important figures from the fields of science, business, policy, healthcare, and academia, as well as farmers, indigenous peoples, youth organizations, consumer groups, environmental activists, and other important stakeholders. The Summit was driven by five Action Tracks. .

UN organizations that promote food security

World Food Programme: The World Food Programme (WFP) is constantly responding to emergencies and seeks to provide food assistance to more than 80 million people in 80 countries. WFP, however, also strives to combat future hunger. They achieve this through initiatives that employ food to create resources, disseminate information, and foster better, more vibrant communities. This promotes greater food security for communities.
World Bank: The World Bank Group prioritizes investments in agricultural and rural development to increase food production and nutrition. In order to increase food security and create a food system that can feed everyone, everywhere, on a daily basis, the World Bank Group collaborates with partners. Activities for decreasing food losses include promoting climate-smart farming practices, repairing degraded lands, breeding more robust and nutrient-dense crops, and enhancing storage and supply chains.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN places a priority on achieving food security for all people (FAO). Making sure individuals have frequent access to enough wholesome food to live active, healthy lifestyles is its primary goal. Its three main objectives are the abolition of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition; the eradication of poverty and the advancement of economic and social progress for all; and the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, such as land, water, air, climate, and genetic resources, for the benefit of both the present and future generations. The FAO also publishes the food price index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of food commodities' international prices.
International Fund for Agricultural Development: In order to eradicate poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, increase rural people' productivity and earnings, and enhance the quality of their lives, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has exclusively focused on reducing rural poverty. Aspects of food and nutrition security are addressed in all IFAD-funded programs and initiatives. Over the past forty years, IFAD has provided assistance to about 483 million rural poor individuals.