In its 2015 annual report, the Committee on World Food Security, a group convened under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), “Food insecurity and undernutrition are the most serious and common manifestations of protracted crises, which disrupt both livelihoods and food systems.”
Research data derived from measuring selected indicators can provide insights not only on the extent of food insecurity around the world, but identify the main triggers and drivers that contribute to food insecurity such as food waste, low production, unemployment and underemployment, conflict, climate change among many others. It is only with such data can informed decision making for longer-term solutions be done by policy makers, otherwise there will be adhoc short-term interventions that do deal only with symptoms, but do not address the fundamental causes of food insecurity. The multi-generational consequences of ineffective planning and solutions to the challenges of food insecurity will be harshest among vulnerable groups such as children and women which would not reduce the levels of infant mortality and maternal deaths.
Zero Hunger is the aim of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 of the United Nations. To achieve this ambitious goal, seven targets have been identified. Findings of the 2021 report on the SDGs show that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated what were already worrying trends in respect of food insecurity around the world. For example, 2.37 billion were affected by food insecurity in 2020 (that is nearly one in three people worldwide), moderate or severe levels of food insecurity increased by almost 320 million between 2019 and 2020.
Vulnerable groups continue to be affected more, with the gap between men and women being 10% higher among women, compared to 2019 when the gender difference was 6%. There has also been the rapid escalation of food insecurity in some regions, for example, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa (66.2%) and fastest growing food insecurity reported for Latin America & Caribbean (a change of 24.95% in 2014 to 40.9% in 2020).
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