GROUP 1 - Global Food Security

Global Food Security Overview

Definition: A state where all people have access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs for a healthy life.
Four Pillars of Food Security:
- Availability: Sufficient quantities of food available at all times.
- Access: Individuals have sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods.
- Utilization: Proper biological use of food, requiring a diet of sufficient energy and nutrients.
- Stability: Consistency of the previous three dimensions over time.

Food is recognized as a universal human right, as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
It states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being.

Approximately 820 million people faced caloric insufficiency.
Around 1.9 billion struggled with access to a healthy diet.
281 million affected by food insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Causes: Conflict, climate shocks, economic instability.

The pandemic exacerbated food loss, waste, and access issues despite available food supplies.
It exposed the fragility of the global food system.
Calls for social justice and the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for equitable food access.

Concept by C. Wright Mills: Viewing personal experiences in relation to broader societal issues.
Helps connect personal hunger to larger societal structures and issues.

Thomas Malthus (1798) predicted that population growth would outpace food production, resulting in scarcity.
Historically, food security recognized as having enough food available at all times, leading to efforts in production.

1930s: Yugoslavia proposed awareness of food issues through the League of Nations, marking food security's entry into the international political arena.

A 1935 report highlighted acute food shortages in poor countries, leading to global awareness and efforts to address hunger and malnutrition.
Focus on increasing food production continues despite persistent issues in food access.

FAO (1996): Food security exists when everyone has physical, social, and economic access to sufficient food at all times.
WFP (2009): Condition where all people are free from hunger.

Hunger and poverty remain prevalent in developing countries.
The 2005 Nigerian food crisis exemplified media misrepresentation of hunger and ongoing survival challenges.

Emergency/Short-Term Relief Strategies: Programs offering immediate food assistance without long-term solutions.
- Examples: Soup kitchens, food banks, school lunch programs, food drives.
Capacity Building Strategies: Enhance community skills supporting food security.
- Focus on gardening, harvesting, cooking, food preservation, and local markets.
System Change Strategies: Long-term policies to improve food security.
- Examples: Food policy organizations and food charters.