Food Security Essay

Defining Food Security: A Multidimensional Perspective

Food security defined many times by various organizations and researchers but the most common definition of food security introduced by FAO (1996) is “Food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels [is achieved] when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. This definition identifies four main dimensions of food security: Availability, Access, Utilization, and Stability. Food availability focuses on the supply side and is defined by the level of food production, stock levels, and net trade. A sufficient supply of food at the national or international level doesn't in itself guarantee household-level food security. Considerations regarding deficient food access have resulted in a very bigger policy specializing in income, expenditure, markets, and costs in achieving food security objectives. Food utilization is generally understood as the way the body makes the nutrients in food. Adequate energy and nutrient intake by people are the results of excellent care and feeding practices, food preparation, diversity of the diet, and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with sensible biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional standing of people. Even if the food intake is adequate today, if no adequate access to food periodically exists, this situation is still considered as food insecure status. Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices) might have a consequence on the food security condition.

The Sociocultural Significance of Food

Since every person must eat, what people eat becomes the most powerful symbol of who they are (Fox, 2003). Although the primary use of food is to satisfy hunger and physiological needs (Lowenberg et al., 1979; Mennell et al., 1992), food has increasingly exerted many roles in human life (Conner and Armitage, 2002). Food is essential in all societies. Gathering, hunting, fishing, and agriculture have always been activities that provide the majority of the rural population’s livelihood. With job diversification and urbanization, these activities have also become important sources of income, alongside the food processing and marketing that has developed to feed cities (Brisas, 2019). But food functions are not limited to meeting biological needs, even though this is a fundamental one. Food is the first means of social interaction through meal sharing (Fischler, 1998). Food can function as a symbol of social unity (Tian, 2001). Food consumption in the general context is recognized as a collection of contextual and evolving social practices, where food no longer merely serves as sustenance but also a way to relate to other people in social, cultural, and political terms (Oosterveer 2006 as cited in Mak et al., 2012). Food is also a cultural symbol (Edles, 2004); it is one of the cultural traits that humans learn first from childhood and one that consumers change with the greatest reluctance at older ages (Gabaccia, 1998; Cervellon & Dube, 2005). Although the hierarchy between food functions depends on the society in question, all of them, including food-insecure ones, are concerned about the origins of their food and its sensory and symbolic quality. This means that food does not deal only with nutrition and health but also with well-being and the way human beings live together and interact with their environment (Brisas, 2019).

Global Population Growth and Food Demand

Based on the United Nations Population database, the world population is expected to increase from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion by 2030 (Bendjebbar et al., 2019b), also the world’s population is projected to hit 9 billion by 2050 (Godfray et al. 2010; Onwonga, 2019; Bendjebbar et al., 2019b; Blanford & Demenois, 2019), and an increase of over 50 percent in agricultural food supply will be required to meet the growing food demand (Mueller et al. 2012; FAO, 2013; Paul et al., 2009; FAO, 2009; Onwonga, 2019), without worsening poverty and deforestation (Blanford & Demenois, 2019). Global food demand in 2050 is projected to increase by at least 60 percent (Alexandratos & Bruinsma 2012) above 2006 levels (FAO, 2016), and also FAO forecasts estimate that to meet increasing food demand, cereal production in 2050 will need to be about 70 percent higher than 2006 levels (FAO, 2006; Vermeulen et al., 2012). Despite the many efforts directed toward reducing hunger, demand for food and other agricultural products is anticipated to both grow and shift in the coming decades due to population and economic growth and an increase in people’s purchasing power (Pretty et al. 2006; FAO, 2016; Onwonga, 2019). Reducing the contribution to the greenhouse effect while ensuring food security for a population that is also growing rapidly is a fundamental planetary challenge for agriculture, which will have to adapt to new contexts (Blanford & Demenois, 2019). Unfortunately, food crises are not only part of the history of humanity; they are an actual issue in many countries and regions. Attempts to eradicate hunger square measure as recent as human civilization (Fraser and Rimas 2010; Vernon 2007). Food security is one of the main goals of development policies, and access to enough healthy food is always known as one of the significant aspects of sustainable development (Nejadrezaei & Ben-Othmen, 2019). In recent decades, the global distribution of hunger has shifted significantly as a result of varied rates of achievement in hunger reduction across regions. However, there are still more than one billion food-insecure people in the world with an additional two billion people prone to hidden hunger or malnutrition caused by the deficiency of micronutrients and protein (FAO, 2016; Onwonga, 2019). Even though sufficient food is being produced worldwide to attain food security, there are a significant number of undernourished families (Islam, 1995 as cited in Nejadrezaei and Ben-Othmen, 2019).

Challenges to Achieving Global Food Security

Population growth means an increase in food demand and greater pressure on natural resources such as land and water (Bendjebbar et al., 2019a; Bendjebbar et al., 2019b). Challenges such as growing competition for natural resources, natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy, and diseases would likewise pose threats to food security, thus intensifying the hunger crisis (Wu et al. 2014; Onwonga, 2019). Agricultural development is critically important to improving food security by enhancing food supply and reducing malnutrition (HLPE, 2016; Anyatewon et al., 2016; Nejadrezaei and Ben-Othmen, 2019). Strengthening agriculture based on poverty reduction and food security is an essential step toward achieving international development goals. A sufficient quantity of healthy food is a critical element of efforts to achieve a sustainable reduction in poverty and hunger. It is also an emphasis that development will not be sustainable unless it concentrates on the many causes of hunger and poverty (German Society for International Cooperation, 2011; Nejadrezaei and Ben-Othmen, 2019). Agricultural development roles include: increasing the quantity and diversity of food; driving economic transformation; and providing the primary source of income for many of the world’s poorest people. Many studies in different countries over the years revealed that both agricultural development and economy-wide growth are necessary to improve food security and food nutrition and the first strengthen the second (HLPE, 2016).

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Addressing Food Insecurity: Global Efforts and Challenges

A sufficient quantity of healthy food is a critical element of efforts to achieve a sustainable reduction in poverty and hunger. According to Sen (1981), poverty and food security are closely related. The challenges of food insecurity and the manner in which they can be addressed are global concerns. Governments throughout the world have strived for means to address global food security either through the development of Millennium Development Goals or United Nations protocols. A permanent end to hunger and malnutrition cannot be achieved in isolation; achieving Zero Hunger calls for realizing the totality of the 2030 Agenda in ways that benefit everyone, everywhere (United Nations 2016 as cited in Nejadrezaei & Ben-Othmen, 2019).

The Future of Food Systems and Sustainability

The Global Report on Food Crises 2018 (Food Security Information Network, 2018) shows that about 124 million people across 51 countries and territories faced crisis levels of acute food insecurity in 2017, thus requiring urgent humanitarian action. This is while current food systems are generating adverse outcomes such as land, water, and ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, excessive greenhouse gas emissions, and persistent malnutrition and hunger and fail to eradicate poverty, particularly of rural populations in the Global South (FAO, IFAD, & WFP, 2015; Foresight, 2011; Godfray et al., 2010; WWW-UK, 2013). The notion of food systems is central in this context, in the sense that it is at the crossroads of global environmental, social, and economic challenges such as resource scarcity, ecosystem degradation, and climate change (Freibauer et al., 2011; Garnett, 2014; Gladek et al., 2016; IPES-Food, 2015; Lang, 2009; Searchinger et al., 2013; WWW-UK, 2013; Forrest, 2017; Nejadrezaei & Ben-Othmen, 2019).

While adaptation is the priority in agriculture in order to achieve global food security, adaptation actions in agriculture are also well placed to provide co-benefits in terms of environmental sustainability, nutrition and livelihoods, and specific opportunities to achieve co-benefits (Dinesh et al., 2017). Future food systems will have to provide food and nutrition security while facing unprecedented sustainability challenges; this underlines the need for a transition to more sustainable food systems (Vermeulen et al., 2012; World Bank, 2015). The challenge of assuring food security is significant and needs attention now. It cannot be met without a renewed commitment by scientists, farmers, national policymakers, and international donors (Ayres and Mccalla, 1996 as cited in Nejadrezaei & Ben-Othmen, 2019). Ensuring populations’ food security without degrading land and water resources, eroding biodiversity, and contributing to climate change are among the most significant challenges of development. (Nejadrezaei & Ben-Othmen, 2019).

So, agriculture is at the intersection of three major challenges in the context of climate change; food security, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and reducing emissions (Dinesh et al., 2017).