Is a Zero Hunger future possible?

Food security is a central development issue of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. FAO is the custodian UN agency for 21 SDG indicators across SDG2 zero hunger, SDG5 gender equality, SDG6 clean water and sanitation, SDG12 responsible consumption and production, SDG 14 life below water and SDG 15 life on land.

Issues affecting food security include:

• Climate change - rising global temperatures are beginning to have a ripple effect on crop yields, forest resources, water supplies and altering the balance of nature.
• Global water crisis - water table reserves are falling in many countries due to widespread over-pumping and irrigation.
• Land deals - corporations and governments buying rights to millions of acres of agricultural land in developing countries to secure their own long-term food supplies.
• Land degradation - intensive farming leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields.

Additionally, food security incorporates a measure of resilience to future disruption or unavailability of critical food supply due to various risk factors including droughts, shipping disruptions, fuel shortages, economic instability, wars and disease.

Negative consequences of food insecurity include poor child development, increased rates of infectious and chronic diseases, stunting, obesity, suboptimal sleep patterns, social disruption, environmental damage and more.

A preliminary assessment by the FAO indicates the COVID-19 pandemic could see between 83-132 million more people suffer from chronic hunger by the end of 2021. The nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.

Sadly, the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030.

Local governments are ideally placed to help achieve the targets of SDG2 by implementing integrated strategies to improve access to nutritious food and simultaneously reduce the cultural, social, economic and environmental barriers that poor and disadvantaged communities face.

 

Does your city have a food security programme or policy you would like to share with other citymakers? You can upload your project here. If you are not a register, sign up here.

 

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For programmes and policies related to food security search the use data base by SDGs or topic – food sustainability:

https://use.metropolis.org/search

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Further reading:

The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2020 (FAO)
World hunger map 2020 (WFP)
WFP Strategic Plan (2017-2021)
The Zero Hunger Challenge (UN)