WORLD FOOD DAY 2020: GROW, NOURISH, SUSTAIN, TOGETHER
Today, we celebrate the World Food Day (WFD) along with the rest of the world. The day is celebrated in honour of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), now 75 years ago, as a way to promote awareness and action on issues of hunger and malnutrition. The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger by achieving food security for all and making sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Coincidentally, exactly a week ago, the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. The WFP is also an agency of the UN that shares a common vision with the FAO. The only distinction is that it is remarkably humanitarian.
So food, food, food, we can say, is in the air (and the stomach) and it is what we are about today. Not just today however, but every other day. Even though it’s importance is officially acknowledged on just one day in a year, everyday is world food day because without food there would be no everyday; there would be no life at all, let alone life to celebrate. Food is one of two things that sustain human life. The other thing is sex. Sex serves us to propagate life. Food on the other hand serves us to preserve the life propagated. So food indeed is very important—we may even say it is as important has life itself—, and its importance makes it an everyday concern.
But even as food is something so important that we cannot do without, many of us are forced to live without it and eventually even, forced to die as a result. More than 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. About 135 million people across 55 countries experience acute hunger requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance. 1 in every 9 people goes to bed hungry every night and 1 in every 3 are malnourished. About 9 million die every year of hunger and hunger related issues (this is more than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined)m and at this very point in time this number of people have died of hunger this year. Today alone, this number have. The stats are startling! And all that is just for starts—you can find more on the Internet.
What may be even most startling is that the figures are not as a result of inadequate food production—the world produces enough food to feed its entire population, however one key lesson the FAO has discovered over the years is that simply producing food is not enough. The problem is food insecurity as I have earlier hinted at. According to the 2020 global report on food crises, food insecurity refers to the lack of secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal human growth and development and an active and healthy life. For people to be food secure food must be both consistently available and accessible in sufficient quantities and diversity and households must be able to utilize (store, cook, prepare and share) the food in a way that has a positive nutritional impact. The key takeaways are “consistently available,” “accessible” and “usable.” In addition to food production, we need effective food systems, better technology, favourable economic policies, community collaboration and a host of many other pieces that make up an efficient food network in order to make them consistently available, accessible and usable by the consumer. Without these pieces, the 2 billion people who do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food will continue not to.
At the moment, hunger continues to plague people, and at the rate is does, coupled with the limited progress being made to address the situation and the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, it signals that if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger (SDG 2.1) and all Zero malnutrition (SDG 2.2) is to be achieved by 2030, something urgent and drastic needs to be done. WFP for one predicts that if current trends continue, the number of hungry people will increase from 690 million today to over 840 million by 2030. In fact, preliminary projections based on the latest available global economic outlooks also suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may add an additional 83 to 132 million people before the year runs out, depending on the economic growth scenario.
Despite all these projections, the hope still remains that we can succeed in achieving the SDG 2. This is why this year’s World Food Day has been themed “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.” Emphasis on “togetherness.” If the major stakeholders—the UN organizations, countries government, private sector—play their part as a team in performing expected roles and responsibilities, the rising hunger rates will plummet. And If we individuals also play our part by heeding the recommendations of the FAO to make healthy food choices, reduce waste, advocate for knowledge sharing and support sustainable, resilient food systems and livelihood, the SDG 2 may still be achieved. It doesn’t seem likely now with only 10 years to go. Tick-tock, says the clock, as if to mock us. But if we work together, we can grow, nourish and sustain our world, we can achieve zero hunger and malnutrition.
Comments