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Facts
- World Food Day, 16 October, highlights the
need to ensure that all people have physical and economic access at all times
to enough nutritious, safe food to lead healthy and active lives.
- More
than half the world's population lives in low-income, food-deficit countries that
are unable to produce or import enough food to feed their people.
- More
than one-third of all children are malnourished and 6 million children a year
die of causes related to malnutrition.
- Most of the world's hungry people
are found in the developing world, but 34 million live in the developed world.
- Soil degradation, chronic water shortages, inappropriate agricultural
policies and population growth threaten food production in many countries.
- While
growing export crops such as coffee, cocoa and sugar produces export income, it
can lead to a decrease in basic food production, causing hardship for people who
are poor.
- Between 1960 and 1990 world cereal production more than doubled,
food production increased by one-third per head, daily intake of calories increased
by one-third, and real food prices fell by almost half.
- There is enough
food in the world for everyone to have enough to eat, but it is unevenly distributed.
Source:
http://www.fao.org
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BackgroundWhat
is food security?Food security exists when all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle. (World
Food Summit 1996) To be food secure means that: - Food is available
- The amount and quality of food available globally, nationally and locally
can be affected temporarily or for long periods by many factors including climate,
disasters, war, civil unrest, population size and growth, agricultural practices,
environment, social status and trade.
- Food is affordable - When
there is a shortage of food prices increase and while richer people will likely
still be able to feed themselves, poorer people may have difficulty obtaining
sufficient safe and nutritious food without assistance.
- Food is utilised
- At the household level, sufficient and varied food needs to be prepared
safely so that people can grow and develop normally, meet their energy needs and
avoid disease.
What happens when people do not have food security?For
the more than 800 million people who do not get enough regular, healthy food,
ill health and a shorter life expectancy are real risks. Children, and especially
very young children, who suffer from food insecurity will be less developed than
children of the same age who have had sufficient food. They will most likely be
shorter and weigh less, and be less able physically and intellectually, because
of poor nutrition. Why is there food insecurity?Poverty
Poor
people lack access to sufficient resources to produce or buy quality food. Poor
farmers may have very small farms, use less effective farming techniques, and/or
be unable to afford fertilisers and labour-saving equipment, all of which limit
food production. Often they cannot grow enough food for themselves, let alone
generate income by selling excess to others. Without economic resources and a
political voice, poor farmers may be forced on to less productive land possibly
causing further environmental deterioration. Addressing poverty is critical to
ensuring that all people have sufficient food. Health
Without sufficient
calories and nutrients, the body slows down, making it difficult to undertake
the work needed to produce food. Without good health, the body is also less able
to make use of the food that is available. A hungry mother will give birth to
an underweight baby, who then faces a future of stunted growth, frequent illness,
learning disabilities and reduced resistance to disease. Contaminated food and
water can cause illness, nutrient loss and often death in children. The
HIV/AIDS pandemic has reduced food production in many affected countries as productive
adults become ill or die. Lacking the labour, resources and know-how to grow staples
and commercial crops, many households have shifted to cultivating survival foods
or even leaving their fields, further reducing the food supply. Addressing health
issues will improve utilisation and availability of food. Water and the
environment
Food production requires massive amounts of water. It takes
one cubic metre (1000 litres) of water to produce one kilogram of wheat and 3,000
litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice. Producing sufficient food is
directly related to having sufficient water. Irrigation can ensure an adequate
and reliable supply of water which increases yields of most crops by 100% to 400%.
Although only 17% of global cropland is irrigated, that 17% produces 40% of the
world's food. Increasing irrigation efficiency and limiting environment damage
through salinisation or reduced soil fertility are important for ongoing food
availability. Where water is scarce and the environment fragile, achieving
food security may depend on what has been called 'virtual water', that is, importing
food from countries with an abundance of water. This may be a more efficient use
of a scarce resource. Gender equity
Women play a vital role in providing
food and nutrition for their families through their roles as food producers, processors,
traders and income earners. Yet women's lower social and economic status limits
their access to education, training, land ownership, decision making and credit
and consequently their ability to improve their access to and use of food. Food
utilisation can be enhanced by improving women's knowledge of nutrition and food
safety and the prevention of illnesses. Increasing women's involvement in decision
making and their access to land and credit will in turn improve food security
as women invest in fertilisers and better seeds, labour-saving tools, irrigation
and land care. Disasters and conflicts
Droughts, floods, cyclones
and pests can quickly wipe out large quantities of food as it grows or when it
is in storage for later use. Likewise, seeds can be destroyed by such environmental
dangers. Conflict can also reduce or destroy food in production or storage
as farmers flee to safety or become involved in the fighting. Previously productive
land may be contaminated with explosive debris and need to be cleared before it
can again be used for food production. Stored food, seeds and breeding livestock
may be eaten or destroyed by soldiers, leading to long-term food shortages. Government
spending needs to prioritise food security in the aftermath of conflict. Population
and urbanisation
Population growth increases the demand for food. With
most productive land already in use, there is pressure for this land to become
more productive. Poor harvests and higher costs lead many poor farmers to migrate
to cities to look for work. Expanding cities spread out across productive land,
pushing food production further and further away from consumers. This increases
the cost of all the activities associated with producing and transporting food,
and decreases the food security of the poor in cities. Trade
Many
poor countries can produce staples more cheaply than rich nations but barriers
to trade, such as distance from markets, quarantine regulations and tariffs make
it difficult for them to compete in export markets against highly subsidised farmers
in rich countries. This deprives poor farmers of income and entire countries of
the agricultural base they need to develop other sectors of the economy. In addition,
trade imbalances prevent poor countries from importing agricultural products that
could enhance their food security. What is being done?Improving
food production
Increasing the amount of food available is necessary to
feed the growing population. The Green Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s led to
huge increases in output, largely due to the cultivation of high-yielding varieties
of rice and wheat, the expansion of land under production and irrigation, greater
use of fertilisers and pesticides and greater availability of credit. In many
countries these gains have reached their limit, and social and environmental issues
must now be addressed. Further increases in food production depend on better integration
of traditional knowledge with research; improving farming practices through training
and the use of technology to increase outputs from current land without further
loss of productive land; land reform to provide secure access to land for more
people; and the provision of low-cost finance to help farmers invest in higher
quality seeds and fertilisers and small irrigation pumps. While genetically
modified seeds are being hailed as a means of improving crop outputs, there are
also concerns about the ownership of seeds, adequate compensation for traditional
knowledge and possible side effects. Economic growth and trade liberalisation
Increasing
food production leads to greater availability of food and economic growth in the
domestic and/or overseas markets. Generating income can provide access to more
and varied foods and provide cash for use in other areas of the economy, such
as small enterprise and manufacturing, which in turn helps reduce poverty. Trade
liberalisation is opening up markets slowly, but there are costly barriers to
overcome. Work is underway through the Doha Round of multilateral trading negotiations
in the World Trade Organisation to make trade rules fair, encourage trade liberalisation
and assist developing countries to participate in the global trade environment. Distribution
While
there are sufficient resources in the world to provide food security for all,
policy and behavioural changes are necessary to guarantee a fair share for all
people, especially the poor. Building on a series of global conferences, in particular
the 1992 International Conference on Nutrition and the 1996 and 2002 World Food
Summits, countries have developed national nutrition plans and policies in nine
major strategic action areas that: - include mainstream nutrition goals
in development policies and programmes
- improve household food and nutrition
security
- protect consumers through improved food quality and safety
- prevent
and manage infectious diseases
- promote breastfeeding
- care for
the socioeconomically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable
- prevent and
control specific micronutrient deficiencies
- promote appropriate diets
and healthy lifestyles
- assess, analyse and monitor nutrition situations.
The
progress towards achieving these goals, however, has been much slower than intended. Recognising
the role of women
Gender equality is a prerequisite for the eradication
of poverty and hunger. Many programs recognise the need for changes in access
to food, land, credit, education, health and nutrition training and decision making
in order to make effective use of women's roles in agricultural production and
food preparation. Food aid
The need for food during emergencies
such as drought, disaster, population displacement and conflict is addressed by
the distribution of basic food supplies and fuel. Early warning systems can predict
problem areas, allowing action to be taken to keep people in their homes and help
them back to food self-sufficiency as quickly as possible. Food sourced locally
rather than internationally minimises the costs and disruption to local markets.
In severe situations feeding may be necessary but often food aid is linked with
work, health or education to avoid dependency and address the long-term causes
of food insecurity.
Australia's
responseThe Australian Government helps developing countries in its region
to reduce poverty and address food security by promoting trade liberalisation,
peace and stability, good governance, security of land tenure, rural development
and agricultural research. Australia also provides emergency food aid to developing
countries in need. In May 2003, the Australian Government announced a A$1 billion
food security pledge for the five years from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2008 for programs
and initiatives that enhance the food security of people in the developing world. Specific
programs to improve food security for those in need include: - helping
people improve their farms and productivity;
- constructing food stores
and improving roads so that food can be moved to where it is needed or where it
can be sold;
- promoting national and international trade to encourage economic
growth and poverty reduction;
- improving the status of women and girls
so they have more control over the areas in which they have traditionally been
involved and can access new areas;
- ensuring that people, and especially
children, receive food in emergency situations;
- promoting rural development,
including sustainable agricultural, fishery and forestry production and management
of natural resources;
- preparing for disasters and emergencies to meet
transitory and emergency food requirements in ways that encourage recovery and
rehabilitation
Each year Australia contributes up to 150,000 tonnes
of Australian produced wheat and rice to the World Food Programme. This operates
like a 'food bank' that can be used during both humanitarian emergencies and development
situations to help households shift towards more sustainable livelihoods. For
more information: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/ausaid_food.pdf
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