World Food Day has been marked every year on 16 October since 1979, and is observed by more than 150 countries. One can’t help but reflect on the social inequity that for millions of people, food is – at best –- bare sustenance to make it to tomorrow.
by Wolfgang Jamann, CEO and Secretary General of CARE International
Food scarcity and food distribution in Mali (Photo: CARE)
The goal is crystal clear: “To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and to promote sustainable agriculture.” By 2030. For all people. The second of the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritises ending one of the gravest violations of human rights – the right to food and to a healthy life, unaffected by any form of malnutrition. Almost 800 million people are chronically hungry or suffer from malnutrition, and more than 50 countries show serious or alarming levels of hunger, according to the recently published Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide.
In the fight to end world hunger, every year counts: Millions of children are born without the necessary nutritional inputs in their first 1,000 days of life, meaning that before and up to two years after their birth, their ability to grow up as healthy individuals will be severely compromised. Stunting and chronic malnutrition are a widespread problem, and the growing number of conflicts around the world are leading to acutely undernourished, starving, and often dying children. A recent BBC report on the fate of over 370,000 children in Yemen, by the BBC, is heart-breaking and shows the dramatic impacts of war and conflict.
All is not dire but what stands in the way of turning the past 16 years of relative progress into success is the need for “whole-of-government commitment to Zero Hunger, transformation of food systems, inclusion and participation of all members of society, and rigorous monitoring to hold international organizations and national governments to account,” as the Index has stated. The 17th of the 17 SDGs is therefore last but certainly not least as it stresses innovative and global partnerships for sustainable development. In this spirit, CARE International has signed an agreement with IFPRI in the context of a ‘Compact 2025’, bringing together the complementary expertise of the scientific community, governments, the UN, and non-governmental organisations to strive for an even more ambitious timeframe for the Zero-Hunger challenge.
Achieving Zero Hunger will be a complex task. Yes, it is about increased productivity of yields, to producing enough food for a growing world population. But perhaps even more, it is about increasing the income of the approximately 500 million smallholder farmers who produce 80 per cent of the food in Africa and Asia, and who form the majority of the hungry people in the world – a paradox that can only be explained by their marginalised situation in the market economy. Evidence has shown that the potential productivity of smallholders could be a much more sustainable way forward than large-scale industrial farming, and supported through multinational food and agriculture companies.
We must not side-line other elements that underpin our chances of success in winning the food fight. It is critical to transform food and agricultural systems so that they benefit the poor and to ensure that the base of natural resources and biodiversity is protected. We must also strengthen the role and rights of women in the agricultural labour force-- a force which, estimates from various studies suggest, is made up of more than 50 per cent of women in developing countries. Conflicts and man-made disasters that make famine and malnutrition even worse must be addressed with a different kind of rigour and collective courage, and treated as what they are: crimes against humanity, and against humanity’s most vulnerable.
Connect with Dr Wolfgang Jamann on Twitter @wjamann