With a United Nations goal of reaching zero hunger by 2030, that means we are a long way off course.
Ensuring food security is one of the key targets of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day – an event that takes place every 18 July to mark and advance the societal contributions of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened malnutrition, according to the 2021 edition of the UN report, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, with economic disruption and broken supply chains exposing a clear weakness in global food systems.
The situation is exacerbating widespread malnutrition: 22% of children under five are stunted, which impacts not only their physical growth, but also cognitive development and future employment capabilities. According to the World Bank, countries lose an average of 7% of their per capita GDP because of childhood stunting.
The report recommends six pathways for improving global food security.
1. Fostering peace-building alongside humanitarian aid
Many of the world’s most malnourished people live in war zones. One example of this is Yemen, where acute malnutrition has reached record levels since the start of a civil war in 2014, affecting half of children under five.
In conflict conditions, food systems are frequently disrupted, making it very difficult for people to access nutritious food. The UN believes that emergency food assistance and water safety programmes need to be aligned with long-term socio-economic development and conflict resolution efforts in order to have sustainable impact.
2. Scaling up climate resilience across food systems
The UN report suggests that we need to move towards a “climate-positive future, in which people and nature can co-exist and thrive”. This could include better risk monitoring and resilience-building measures such as agricultural insurance for vulnerable households.
3. Strengthening the resilience of the most economically vulnerable
The world’s most vulnerable have been worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the social protection programmes implemented by governments were helpful, the report says, they should be in place in advance of any economic downturn, so that when such conditions arise, vulnerable populations are not left without a safety net and can still access nutritious food and a healthy diet.
The UN cites the success of a monthly food voucher programme in Ethiopia, with young families gaining regular access to fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs, and a bolstered cash transfer programme in Kyrgyzstan, which saw 74% of households increase their agricultural activity to provide fresh food at home – improving dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes.
Two billion people in the world currently suffer from malnutrition and according to some estimates, we need 60% more food to feed the global population by 2050. Yet the agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand: 700 million of its workers currently live in poverty, and it is already responsible for 70% of the world’s water consumption and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
New technologies could help our food systems become more sustainable and efficient, but unfortunately the agricultural sector has fallen behind other sectors in terms of technology adoption.
Launched in 2018, the Forum’s Innovation with a Purpose Platform is a large-scale partnership that facilitates the adoption of new technologies and other innovations to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food.
With research, increasing investments in new agriculture technologies and the integration of local and regional initiatives aimed at enhancing food security, the platform is working with over 50 partner institutions and 1,000 leaders around the world to leverage emerging technologies to make our food systems more sustainable, inclusive and efficient.
4. Reinventing the supply chain to lower the cost of nutritious foods
The report calls for government policies and incentives to help diversify production towards nutritious foods like fruit, vegetables and legumes. It also recommends the fortification of staple foods with vitamins and minerals as a way to supply whole populations with critical nutrients like iodine and iron.
With rapid rates of urbanization, it’s also important to shorten supply chains enough that city residents can still access fresh and nutritious food; redirecting consumption patterns that have led to rising levels of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.
One effective strategy in tackling this problem is the AGRUPAR programme in Quito, Ecuador, where more than 4,400 urban gardens have been created, with 43% of produce sold in local food markets. Because this produce is travelling shorter distances, the cost to consumers is lowered.
5. Tackling poverty and structural inequalities
Inequality contributes to hunger, food insecurity and poor nutrition, especially in rural areas, where poverty rates are three times higher than in urban settings.
Integrating smallholder farmers into food value chains is one way of resetting the balance. Through improved technology and certification, these farmers have gained a foothold in the marketplace, increased profits and boosted the resilience of their crops by using sustainable production methods.
In Indonesia, for instance, 150,000 cocoa farmers have joined a sustainable value chain since 2014. It gives them increased access to financing and productivity-enhancing technology, as well as introducing traceability systems, nutrition education and farmer organizations.
Over a five-year period, cocoa yields increased by 73%, while empowered smallholders saw their incomes increase by more than 200%.
6. Changing consumer behaviour to promote positive dietary habits
Poor nutrition doesn’t just impact health through starvation. It also leads to the kind of weight problems that trigger diabetes, poor heart health and musculoskeletal disorders.
The WHO says that low- and middle-income countries are now facing a “double burden of malnutrition”, with undernutrition and obesity often co-existing even within households. Making healthy food choices is as important as access to food supply.
Transforming global food systems is a tall order, but aid agencies are hoping that, as we reach the second half of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, there is motivation for change.
As the UN’s food security report says: “Future generations will only thrive as productive actors and leading forces in food systems if decisive action is taken to ensure that children are no longer deprived of their right to nutrition”.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
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