Food security is defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, which means all people have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that satisfies their food preferences and dietary requirements for an active and healthy life at all times. The high price of food and low affordability also means billions cannot eat healthily or nutritiously.
Current estimates in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) show that nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9 percent of the world population – up by 10 million people in one year and nearly 60 million in five years. The world is not on track to achieving Zero Hunger by 2030. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted social distancing, workplace closures, and restrictions on mobility and trade that had cascading effects on economic activity, food prices, and employment in low- and middle-income countries. The likelihood of households experiencing food insecurity at the extensive and intensive margins increased among those who knew an infected person in Bangladesh and Kenya.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 report argues that once sustainability considerations are factorized in the global switch to healthy diets would help check the backslide into hunger while delivering enormous savings.
Achieving food security for all is at the heart of the efforts of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Its purpose is to ensure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Its three main goals: the eradication of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition; the elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and, the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations. FAO also issues the food price index, which is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
Investment in agriculture and rural development to boost food production and nutrition is a priority for the World Bank Group. The World Bank Group works with partners to improve food security and build a food system that can feed everyone, everywhere, and every day. The activities include encouraging climate-smart farming techniques & restoring degraded farmland, breeding more resilient & nutritious crops, and improving storage & supply chains to reduce food losses.
CSM’s state-of-art technology disruptions are bringing about a paradigm shift in food security policies, programs, and the systems of the state. Our CropStack is a suite of post-harvest solutions that ensures three key components of food security i.e. sufficient availability, adequate accessibility & effective utilization.From agri-procurement automation system, supply chain management to agri-commodity auction and smart public distribution system, CSM has digitally transformed the post-harvest landscape of agriculture optimizing the process, accessibility and accuracy to increase the productivity of the systems in place.
Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food security. Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change, including options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, post-harvest food processing, food prices, and safety are needed urgently. And technology is a great enabler to ensure food security and zero hunger.
