Chew on these facts

Context:  By 2030, the global number of undernourished is expected to exceed 840 million despite the fact that the food supply has almost always increased faster than the population growth since the 18th century.

Challenges to Food Security

• Increase in per capita production has not resulted in food security, adequate nutrition and zero-hunger.

• For, E.g. While the Green Revolution led to a five-fold increase in production (from 51 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 290 million tonnes in 2018-19), the country still faces malnutrition.
• 22.5% of adults are underweight, 38% are stunted 
• Skewed Consumption Pattern: On average, Indians eat more carbohydrates, fewer proteins, and less fruit and vegetables. 
• National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data shows that while 50 g of lentils and 25 g of soy foods are recommended per day, Indians consume half that amount of lentils and almost no soy foods. 
• On average, rural Indians consume only half the recommended amount of milk, despite India being the largest producer of milk in the world. 
• Food insecurity at a global scale: The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates the number of people affected by severe food insecurity is showing an upward trend. 
• In 2019, close to 750 million (nearly one in 10 people in the world) were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity. 
• By 2030, the global number of undernourished is expected to exceed 840 million. 
• Impact on women is worse since the gender gap in accessing food has increased from 2018 to 2019.
• Sustainable Development Goals not on track: Current projections also suggest that it is not on track to achieve SDG 2.1’s ‘Zero Hunger’ target by 2030. 

Steps to ensure food security:

• Re-examining linkages: It is necessary for policymakers to urgently re-examine the complex linkages between what is produced, how it is supplied to markets and people’s dietary choices.
• Food systems comprise all related activities including harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing and consumption patterns.
• Implementing common strategies: While solutions may vary according to different countries, there are some common strategies which can be implemented.
• Mainstreaming nutrition in approaches to agriculture
• Making the investment in cutting cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution and marketing of food to reduce food loss and waste pre- and post-harvest.
• Aggressively building the capacity of small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets
• Prioritise children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need.
• Embedding nutrition in national social protection systems.
• Policy framework that nudges behavioural change towards healthy diets is required.

Conclusion: A global coordinated effort to make food systems more inclusive and nutrition-focused is the need of the hour if these trends have to be arrested and reversed, and time-bound goals achieved.