The Contemporary World

Chapter 13

Global Food Security

Chapter 13
Global Food Security
Introduction
One of the primary issues in the ever-debated population growth is the serious concern on food
security. It is an undeniable fact that substantial proportion of the world population is still
suffering from food shortage, while some, although able to comply with the mandatory food
intake, fail to attain the desired dietary level.

The global food security situation and outlook remains delicately imbalance amid surplus food
production and the prevalence of hunger, due to the complex interplay of social, economic, and
ecological factors that mediate food security outcomes at various human and institutional scales.

Specific Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Define Global Food security.
2. Critique existing models of global food security.

Duration: 3 hours
Chapter 13: Global Food Security: Concepts, Facts, and Issues

Lesson Proper

CHAPTER 13 – GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

13.1 FOOD SECURITY: CONCEPTS, FACTS, AND ISSUES

According to the World Summit on Food Security (2009), there exists food security when “all
people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. From this
definition, availability, access, utilization and stability are considered pillars of food security, in
which the absence of one entails the existence of food insecurity.

Central to the issue of food security is the question of food availability. Following the premise of
Malthus, food production is lagging far below the demands of the ever-increasing population. If
the population growth is not properly addressed as a serious concern, food scarcity will
ultimately bring misery to huge number of people, especially to the most vulnerable segment of
the population. This means that food availability, as it appears, will no longer be accessible to the
increasing population.

Certainly, food security is merely about food availability, access, utilization, or stability. There is
a fifth element, and that is nutritional dimension. In simple terms, it is not enough that there is
food in the table. Rather, it is a must that every human being must have access to nutritious food
on the table - one that meets the daily dietary needs.

Based on the joint report issued by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the
International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the
World Health Organization about the state of food security and nutrition in the world 2020,
almost 690 million people around the world went hungry in 2019. High costs and low
affordability also mean billions cannot eat healthily or nutritiously. As progress in fighting
hunger stalls, the COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of
global food systems. While it is too early to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other
containment measures, at least another 83 million to 132 million people may go hungry in 2020.
If recent trends continue, the Zero Hunger target of the Sustainable Development Goals will not
be achieved in 2030.
The report urges the transformation of food systems to reduce the cost of nutritious foods
and increase the affordability of healthy diets. The study calls on governments to:
 Mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture.
 Work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution, and
marketing of food, including reducing inefficiencies and food loss and waste.
 Support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure
their access to markets.
 Prioritize children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need.
 Embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.

Characteristic of being Food Secured:

a. Enough Food – if there is adequate food as per one’s need and requirements.
b. Good Food – it should be with desirable taste, texture, and other attributes.
c. Healthy Food – it should be nutritious and sustaining with proper vitamins, minerals, fiber,
energy, and all other things that our bodies need.
d. Culturally Appropriated Food – having access to culturally appropriate food means that people
have food that they are familiar and comfortable with including availability of familiar foods and
varieties.

Dimensions of Food Security:

Dimensions Description
Food Availability  Having sufficient quantity of
appropriate food available.
 It includes: domestic production,
import capacity, food stocks, and
food aid.
Accessibility  Physical and economic access to
food.
 Purchasing power, income of
population, transport, and market
infrastructure.
Utilization  It includes adequate dietary intake
 and ability to use nutrients in the
body.
 Food safety, hygiene and
manufacturing practices applied in
primary agricultural production,
harvesting and storage; food
processing; transportation, retail,
households, diet quality and
diversity; meeting needs in terms of
energy, macro and micronutrients.
Stability  Stability of supply and access
 Weather variability, price
fluctuations, political factors,
economic factors.

Source: https://www.publichealthnotes.com/food-security-determinants-and-urbanization/

Factors Affecting Food Security:

The food security can be mainly influenced by:

 Low per capita income
 Low and unequal distribution of income
 Poor and highly unstable growth performance especially in agriculture
 Unemployment and underemployment
 Low and declining farm size
 Inequalities in land distribution
 Low land utilization
 Social discrimination
 Population growth
 Access to market
 Poverty
 Climate induced insecurity: climate change, deforestation, landslide, declining soil
fertility
 Political instability