short essay on food security

This is why food security matters now more than ever

Food security is a rising concern as the global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2100 Image:  REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Douglas Broom

Keith breene.

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Stay up to date:, food security.

• By 2050 there will be two billion more people on Earth than there are today.
• Today’s agriculture can’t deliver enough food to meet that need.
• So change is needed to increase output across the globe.
• But it mustn’t be done at the expense of an increasingly fragile environment.
• And the world’s most undernourished need help now.

The global food security challenge is straightforward: by 2050, the world must feed two billion more people , an increase of a quarter from today’s global population . The demand for food will be 56% greater than it was in 2010.

The United Nations has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition , and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030.

“With 10 years to go until 2030, the world is off-track to achieve the SDG targets for hunger and malnutrition,” says the latest report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization . “After decades of long decline, the number of people suffering from hunger has been slowly increasing since 2014.”

So what needs to be done to achieve the SDG target? The solution will involve addressing a whole host of issues, from gender parity and ageing demographics, to skills development and global warming. Agriculture will need to become more productive and greener.

These will be among the issues under discussion at the World Economic Forum’s virtual event ‘Bold Actions for Food as a Force for Good ’ from 23-24 November 2020.

Why is food security such a major global challenge?

The obvious reason is that everybody needs food. But the complexity of delivering sufficient food to a national population and to the whole world’s population shows why food security is such a priority for all countries, whether developing or developed.

In short, this is a global challenge because it’s not just about food and feeding people, but also about practically all aspects of an economy and society.

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How is covid-19 affecting food security, food insecurity could soon be on everyone's plate. here's what we need to do, 4 reasons why the world needs more urban farming post-pandemic.

What causes it?

1. Population growth – this varies considerably across countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to double its population from one to two billion by 2050 . Populations in the developing world are also becoming increasingly urbanized, with 2.5 billion additional urban residents projected in Africa and Asia.

2. Changing tastes – not only is the population growing, but its diet is changing, too. As people become more affluent they start eating food that is richer in processed foods , meat and dairy. But to produce more meat means growing more grain.

3. Climate change – currently, 40% of the world’s landmass is arid , and rising temperatures will turn yet more of it into desert. At current rates, the amount of food we’re growing today will feed only half of the population by 2050.

4. Water scarcity – 28% of agriculture lies in water-stressed regions. It takes roughly 1,827 litres of water to produce a kilogramme of wheat , and the number of people facing water shortages could double by 2050 .

5. Troubled farmers – fewer people are choosing farming as an occupation. Meanwhile, global food prices are rising , arable land continues to be lost to urban sprawl and soil is being degraded by over-farming .

What makes ensuring food security so complex?

Consider India. Agriculture accounts for 18% of the economy’s output and 41% of its workforce . India is the second biggest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. Yet according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, some 189 million Indians are undernourished, the largest number of hungry people in any single country . An estimated 14% of the population of India are too malnourished to lead a normal life.

Addressing the problem of hunger and malnourishment in an economy such as India’s requires improvements in the productivity of the agriculture sector, particularly smallholder farms. Rural and farming communities typically experience a higher incidence of poverty and hunger.

Agriculture must also be sustainable. Globally, the sector accounts for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of freshwater withdrawals so attention has to be paid to energy and water use in farming. Waste is also a problem, with an estimated one-third of food consumption, some 1.3 billion tonnes , lost.

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about it?

Two billion people in the world currently suffer from malnutrition and according to some estimates, we need 60% more food to feed the global population by 2050. Yet the agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand: 700 million of its workers currently live in poverty, and it is already responsible for 70% of the world’s water consumption and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

New technologies could help our food systems become more sustainable and efficient, but unfortunately the agricultural sector has fallen behind other sectors in terms of technology adoption.

Launched in 2018, the Forum’s Innovation with a Purpose Platform is a large-scale partnership that facilitates the adoption of new technologies and other innovations to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food.

With research, increasing investments in new agriculture technologies and the integration of local and regional initiatives aimed at enhancing food security, the platform is working with over 50 partner institutions and 1,000 leaders around the world to leverage emerging technologies to make our food systems more sustainable, inclusive and efficient.

Learn more about Innovation with a Purpose's impact and contact us to see how you can get involved.

In 2007 and into the first half of 2008, global food prices increased sharply stirring social unrest and riots in both developing and developed economies, from Bangladesh to Brazil, from Mexico to Mozambique. This prompted the World Economic Forum and its partners, members and other constituents to define, in 2009, a New Vision for Agriculture (NVA) ; the aim continues to be to achieve, through market-based public-private approaches, 20% improvement in food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunities every decade till 2050.

The World Economic Forum’s action portfolio of locally driven public-private partnerships under the NVA has mobilized over $10 billion , with some $1.2 billion already implemented, reaching nearly 3.6 million smallholder farmers.

The Forum also launched the Food Action Alliance , a coalition of organisations working together to strengthen the impact of agricultural value chains to produce food efficiently and sustainably, as well as the Food Innovation Hubs , which are regional platforms designed to enable technology and innovations to meet local needs. In addition, Uplink's Future of Protein initiative is calling for innovative projects to accelerate progress toward accessible, affordable, healthy and sustainable protein.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Essay on food security.

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According to FAO, “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life.”

This involves four dimensions:

i. Adequacy of food supply or availability;

ii. Stability of supply, without seasonal fluctuations or shortages;

ii. Accessibility to food or affordability; and

iii. Utilisation: quality and safety of food.

These factors include a broad spectrum of socioeconomic issues with great influence on farmers and on the impoverished in particular.

Large shares of the world’s small-scale farmers, particularly in central Asia and in Africa, are constrained by access to markets, while inputs, such as fertilisers and seed, are expensive. With lack of irrigation water, infrastructure and investments, and low availability of micro-finance combined with dependency on few multinational suppliers, crop production is unlikely to increase in those regions where it is needed the most, unless major policy changes and investments take place. These constraints are further compounded by conflicts and corruption.

Agricultural prices are forecast to remain well above the levels of the first half of 2001-10. In addition, a production short of demand, a greater geographical inequity in production and demand, combined with possibly more extreme weather and subsequent speculation in food markets, could generate much greater price volatility than before.

Food Availability:

The availability of food within a specific country can be guaranteed in two ways: either by food production in the country itself or by trade.

Increase in productivity can come about by using innovative soil and moisture conservation techniques, e.g., the double plantation techniques adopted by farmers in the Mekong plains of Indo- China and the elaborate terraces and irrigation systems of Bali and South China.

The Green Revolution helped to increase production in cereals in some regions, but the technologies involved had their own limitations.

Developments on the demand side require increase in production in those regions with the highest economic growth or population increase. The majority of these regions will be in emerging economies in Africa and Asia. Nowadays, Africa is especially dependent on food imports. Food production in this region is lagging behind due to limited research investments and the problems for farmers to use the appropriate inputs in their production process.

The world regions are sharply divided in terms of their capacity to use science in promoting agricultural productivity in order to achieve food security and reduce poverty and hunger.

Productivity has risen in many developing countries, mainly as a result of investment in agricultural R&D combined with improved human capital and rural infrastructure. In Africa, the levels of productivity are much lower and their growth has also been slower than in Asia.

One of the major options for significantly raising crop production is increasing the use of mineral fertilisers. The Africa Fertiliser Summit 2006 concluded that the use of fertilisers should be increased to a level of at least 50 kg/ha by 2015.

A major challenge is to find ways of making fertiliser available to smallholders at affordable prices. There is also a need for holistic approaches to soil fertility management that embraces the full range of driving factors and consequences of soil degradation. This would include the integration of mineral and organic sources of nutrients, thereby using locally available sources of inputs and maximising their use efficiency, while reducing dependency upon prices of commercial fertilisers and pesticides. The use of perennials, intercropping and agroforestry systems, such as the use of nitrogen fixating leguminous trees, are ways to increase nutrient availability, and enhance water availability and pest control, in a more sustainable manner.

After 1980, growth in expansion of irrigated area decreased and it is assumed this trend will continue in the near future. One of the reasons is that the areas most suitable for irrigation are already used, leading to higher construction costs in new areas. Current irrigation systems could be improved by investing in water control and delivery, automation, monitoring and staff training.

In most African regions, the major challenge is not the lack of water, but unpredictable and highly variable rainfall patterns with occurrences of dry spells every two years causing crop failure. This high uncertainty and variability influence the risk adverse behaviour of smallholder farmers. Rarely are investments made in soil management and fertility, crop varieties, tillage practices and even labour in order to avoid losses in case of total crop failure.

Managing the extreme rainfall variability over time and space can provide supplemental irrigation water to overcome dry periods and prevent crop failure. In combination with improved soil, this should reduce the risk of total crop failure and enhance the profitability of investments in crop management, for example, fertilisers, labour and crop varieties. Increasing crop canopy coverage reduces evapotranspiration from the soil, improving soil moisture and the provision of water for the crop.

This option has become more and more important with increasing transport possibilities and storing capacities and the growing challenges faced by some countries in their domestic production, including because of limitations in available cropland. International trade in agricultural products has expanded more rapidly than global agricultural GDP.

An increasing share of global agricultural exports originates from developed countries. The EU countries account for most of the global growth.

A large portion of this increase is accounted for by intra-EU trade.

Another perspective of trade is the purchase of land abroad for food production. Responding to recent food crises, a number of countries have started to purchase land abroad for cultivation of – crops needed to support domestic demand.

This is seen as a long-term solution to the high prices of agriculture commodities and increasing demand for Agroforestry products such as palm oil. Among the most active countries owning, leasing or concessioning farmland overseas are China, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and United Arab Emirates. The total area of overseas farmland in different countries was estimated at 5.7 million ha at the end of 2008 or 0.4 per cent of the global cropland area.

Food Supply Stability:

A major reason for instability in food supply is high fluctuation in food prices (price volatility). Volatile prices lead to poor investment strategies of producers and immediate impacts on consumers, especially in developing countries where consumers spend a large share of their income on food. Another source of instability is conflicts, which increase food supply risks.

Trade policies that limit market access, increase the volatility of commodity prices, unfairly subsidise developed country exports and constrain the trade policy flexibility of the developing world affect the stability and security as well as overall economic well-being of developing countries.

A quarter of the world’s governments implemented some export restrictions in the period of high prices in 2007-08 to ensure domestic food security. The impacts of these restrictions varied from panic-buying to the cultivation of smaller areas due to high input costs and the expectation of low product prices. These restrictions even increased price volatility of food products on the world market, thereby decreasing the food security of other countries.

With open markets, developing countries are very vulnerable to fluctuations in global food supply and prices and temporary protection of their own agricultural markets is promoted for these countries.

Conflicts greatly increase the risk of food supply instability. Countries in conflict and post-conflict situations tend to be food insecure, with more than 20 per cent of the population, and in many cases far more, lacking access to adequate food.

Accessibility to Food:

Accessibility to food refers not only to physical access but also affordability. Access to markets includes transportation of commodities and its costs and the transmission of price developments to producers. Poor transmission of price incentives to producers results in increasing the gap between consumers and producers especially as diets change.

As urbanisation increases, large urban markets are created and with this the scope of the establishment of big supermarket chains increases. This has implications for the entire food supply chain. Supermarkets have become an emerging force in South Asia, particularly in urban India, since the mid-1990s. The growth and power of international food corporations affect the opportunities of small agricultural producers in developing countries. Market entry is often barred to the majority of producers because of stringent safety and quality standards of food retailers.

Trade and urbanisation affect consumer preferences. The rapid diversification of the urban diet cannot be met by the traditional food supply chain in the hinterland of many developing countries. Consequently, importing food to satisfy the changing food demand could be relatively easier and less costly than acquiring the same food from domestic sources.

In Asia, traditional rice-eating societies are consuming increasing quantities of wheat in the form of bread, cakes, pastry and other products. Countries that traditionally [imported rice for meeting food shortfalls may now be shifting towards increasing levels of Wheat imports. This trend is also evident in the import of other temperate products like vegetables, milk and dairy products and temperate fruit. The overall result is that we are beginning to see a homogenisation of food tastes across the globe, but with regional variations.

Poor connections between urban and rural areas hinder price transmissions towards local markets, broadening the gap between urban demand and rural production in increasing demand for traditional products or for product diversification. The lack of access to markets is most evident in Africa, although large parts of Latin America and Asia are also experiencing long transport hours to reach markets. Consequently, domestic prices do not always follow international prices as an FAO report pointed out in 2006.

The periods of rising real prices were generally associated with real exchange rate devaluations. Relaxation of government controls over prices and market systems also led to gains in producer prices in some cases. In other instances, import liberalisation appears to have contributed to a decline in the real domestic prices of some commodities. Consequently, global shortages of food and feed that lead to global price increases are not followed by production increases at the local level.

Future World Food Prices:

Accessibility to food is also determined by the long-term trend in food prices (which is a different issue from price volatility).

In 2007-08 food prices were driven by a combination of rising fuel costs, production of biofuels, and unfavourable weather conditions, with trade restrictions boosting upward price pressures.

As the cost, and subsequent use, of fertiliser is strongly correlated with price, a potentially higher oil price would lower the use of fertiliser or further increase the food price.

Fuel price is one of the main determining factors for fisheries. Rising energy prices have a strong impact on capture as well as aquaculture (for the production and transport of fish feed) and lead to higher costs during the processing, transport (particularly air freight) and distribution of fish products. Small-scale fisheries, which depend on outboard motors and small diesel engines, have especially suffered from the spiralling rise in fuel prices.

While a higher oil price increases demand for biofuels, there is a catch: the agricultural commodities used nowadays or biofuels were previously used for feed and fodder; in the circumstances, demand for agricultural commodities as for factor inputs increases in this case. The overall decline in food prices is not expected to be so marked because of biofuel use.

Most of the quantitative and qualitative indicators of food security at the household level are linked to the poverty issue. As Amartya Sen (1981) points out, the poor do not have adequate means or entitlements to secure food, even when food is locally or regionally available. It is interesting to note that merely increase in income does not necessarily ensure improved nutritional status. Access to gainful employment, suitable technologies and other productive resources are important factors influencing undernutrition.

Though, overall, soaring food prices are blamed for their impacts on human vulnerability, there are two sides to this picture. Increasing food prices do have a positive effect on net food-selling households (FAO, 2008), augmenting their incomes and allowing more possibilities for farmers to afford investments in production inputs.

This underlines the need to minimise short-term price volatility and stimulate slow increases in long- term food prices, in order to enhance investments in the agricultural system and bridge the gap between developed and developing countries as well as between rural food producing and urban food consuming regions. Ideally, these developments should take environmental aspects into account to achieve sustainable agricultural systems that will meet the food demand of all the world citizens and eradicate hunger.

However, increasing yield and food supply without simply continuing the conventional expansion of cropland and rangeland and use of fertilisers and pesticides—at the cost of biodiversity and future generations—will require major investments and implementation of food energy considerations in the entire food production and consumption chain.

Utilisation, Quality and Safety:

As already mentioned in discussing the problems of nutrition patterns, much requires to be accomplished to acquire equitability in this regard.

Apart from quantitative aspect, qualitative aspects of diet such as consumption habits and nutritional needs also affect food security. In the absence of adequate attention to qualitative aspects of food, the ability of the individual to sustain the benefits of development gets affected.

A number of more novel matters will need to be dealt with, such as:

(i) The positive and negative impacts on non-communicable diseases of intensive production systems, not only in terms of health (e.g. nitrite in vegetables, heavy metals in irrigation water and manure, pesticide use), but also in terms of dietary quality (e.g. leaner meats in intensive poultry production);

(ii) The effects of longer food chains, in particular of longer storage and transport routes, such as the higher risk of -deterioration (even if most of this may be bacterial and hence not a factor in chronic diseases), and the use and misuse of conserving agents and contaminants; and

(iii) The effects of changes in varietal composition and diversity of consumption patterns, for example, the loss of traditional crop varieties and, perhaps even more significantly, the declining use of foods from “wild” sources.

Improving Food Security:

In the short term, the volatile prices can be decreased by price regulation and creation of larger cereal stocks to buffer the tight markets of food commodities and the subsequent risks of speculation. Safety nets need to be provided to alleviate impacts of rising prices and food shortage. Subsidies on agricultural commodities and inputs that are aggravating the food crisis need to be reduced/removed and investments made to shift to sustainable food systems and food energy efficiency.

In the middle term, efforts should be made to develop alternatives for feeds for animals and fish. Our ability to change the feed destined for livestock and aquaculture is probably greater than that of changing people’s food choice habits, which are not as easily controlled. Finding alternative feed sources provides a huge potential for increasing the availability of cereal for human consumption.

For other feed sources to become a sustainable alternative to the current use of cereals, their exploitation must not be resource- demanding. This poses a big challenge, since most of the easily available feed sources have already been fully exploited, although some alternatives still exist.

By using discards, waste and other post-harvest losses, the supply of animal and fish feed can be increased and be sustained without expanding current production, simply by increasing energy efficiency and conservation in the food supply chain.

There has been little focus on salvaging food already harvested or produced. An important question centers around the percentage of food discarded or lost during harvesting, processing, transport and distribution as well as at the point of final sale to consumers. Reducing such losses is likely to be among the most sustainable alternatives for increasing food availability.

Discarded fish from’ marine fisheries is the single largest proportion lost of any food source produced or harvested from the wild. The proportion is particularly high for shrimp bottom trawl fisheries. If sustainable, the amount of fish currently discarded at sea could alone sustain more than a 50 per cent increase in aquaculture production. However, many of these species could also be used directly for human consumption.

The potential to use unexploited food waste as alternative sources of feed is also considerable for agricultural products.

Food losses in the field (between planting and harvesting) could be as high as 20-40 per cent of the potential harvest in developing countries due to pests and pathogens. Postharvest losses vary greatly among commodities and production areas and seasons.

Substantial losses and wastage occur during retail and consumption due to product deterioration as well as to discarding of excess perishable products and unconsumed food. Food waste represents a major potential, especially for use as animal feed, which, in turn, could release the use of cereals in animal feed for human consumption.

Recovering energy from agricultural wastes is becoming increasingly feasible at the industrial production level; investments in technology enhancement of existing systems and innovation in new waste management systems is called for to support this expanding green economy.

Farmers need to be supported in developing diversified and resilient eco-agricultural systems. This includes management of extreme rainfall and use of inter-cropping to minimise dependency on external inputs like artificial fertilisers, pesticides and over irrigation.

Increased trade and improved market access can be achieved by improving infrastructure and reducing barriers to trade.

In the long term, awareness needs to be created about the pressures of increasing population growth and consumption patterns on sustainable functioning of the ecosystem. Alternative sources of food have to be explored and developed.

Related Articles:

• Food Problems: Notes on the Causes of Food Problems
• Food Security in India: Definition, Availability of Food Grains and Other Details

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Food Security Update | World Bank Response to Rising Food Insecurity

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Latest Update – April 15, 2024

Domestic food price inflation remains high. Inflation higher than 5% is experienced in 57.1% of low-income countries (a 2.9 percentage point decrease since the last update on March 28, 2024), 63.8% of lower-middle-income countries (no change), 36% percent of upper-middle-income countries (3.0 percentage points lower), and 21.8% of high-income countries (5.5 percentage points lower). In real terms, food price inflation exceeded overall inflation in 55.4% of 166 countries where data is available.

Download the latest brief on rising food insecurity and World Bank responses

Compared to two weeks ago, the agricultural and export price indices closed 3% higher and 8% higher, respectively, while the cereal price index closed at the same level. The export price index continues to be driven by increasing cocoa and coffee arabica prices. Among cereals, maize prices and rice prices were down 1%, while wheat prices closed 3% higher compared to two weeks ago. On a year-on-year basis, maize prices are 34% lower and wheat prices are 17% lower, rice prices on the other hand are 25% higher. Compared to January 2020, maize prices are 13% higher, wheat prices are 1% higher, and rice prices are 48% higher. (See “ pink sheet”  data for agricultural commodity and food commodity prices indices, updated monthly.)

The most recent Agricultural Market Information System ( AMIS) market monitor highlighted a month-on-month decrease in wheat and rice export prices in March 2024. Coupled with a longer-term downward trajectory in maize prices, this is helping offset the rising costs of freight and insurance related to shipping disruptions for importers. Consequently, winter wheat plantings for the 2024 harvest decreased in Ukraine and the United States, although spring plantings may compensate for this in some regions. There may also be a shift from maize to soybeans as increasing crude oil prices boost prospects for biofuel demand. Although overall crop conditions by the end of March do not raise alarm, significant weather events could change this outlook.

Unhealthy ultra processed foods such as instant noodles and sodas are increasing in prevalence and affordability . Overconsumption leads to worse health outcomes, even in countries battling effects of undernutrition such as stunting and those with rapidly increasing obesity rates linked to noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Nutrition-targeted taxes are an effective fiscal tool with which to address the growing dominance of unhealthy foods and beverages by encouraging substitution of healthy alternatives. The main goal is to support healthy diets and population health, with a key co-benefit being the potential to raise additional tax revenue. These taxes can be even more effective when designed to encourage manufacturers to reformulate products, such as lower tax rates on low-sugar products or combined with measures to promote healthy foods and drinks, such as subsidies on fruits and vegetables.

Yemen’s second Joint Monitoring Report , published in March 2024, employs a sophisticated combination of quantitative modeling and qualitative analysis to provide comprehensive bimonthly monitoring of food and nutrition security (FNS), with a focus on identifying emerging crisis risks. This model, which uses data up to January 2024, provides a detailed analysis of the FNS situation in Yemen. The report highlights that approximately 2.5 million people in government- and Ansar Allah-controlled areas are living in areas at risk of deteriorating into Emergency or worse FNS conditions (IPC Phase 4+), consistent with previous modeling. Key indicators such as drought, exchange rates, displacement, and conflict risk have raised significant concern, underscoring the complex challenges facing the region.

Stakeholders in the FNS sector convened in Rome to foster collaboration between the World Bank and Rome-based agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development, and CGIAR. A key takeaway from the event was acknowledgment of the need to leverage partnerships and expand them beyond business as usual to facilitate strategic FNS engagements with client countries and private sector, bilateral, and multilateral partners.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, trade-related policies imposed by countries have surged. The global food crisis has been partially made worse by the growing number of food and fertilizer trade restrictions put in place by countries with a goal of increasing domestic supply and reducing prices. As of April 8, 2024, 16 countries have implemented 22 food export bans, and 8 have implemented 15 export-limiting measures.

World Bank Action

In May 2022, the World Bank made a commitment of making available $30 billion over a period of 15 months to tackle the crisis. We have surpassed that goal. The World Bank has scaled up its food and nutrition security response, to now making $45 billion available through a combination of $22 billion in new lending and $23 billion from existing portfolio.

Our food and nutrition security portfolio now spans across 90 countries. It includes both short term interventions such as expanding social protection, also longer-term resilience such as boosting productivity and climate-smart agriculture.

The Bank's intervention is expected to benefit 335 million people, equivalent to 44% of the number of undernourished people. Around 53% of the beneficiaries are women – they are disproportionately more affected by the crisis. Some examples include:

• In Honduras, the Rural Competitiveness Project series (COMRURAL II and III) aims to generate entrepreneurship and employment opportunities while promoting a climate-conscious, nutrition-smart strategy in agri-food value chains. To date, the program is benefiting around 6,287 rural small-scale producers (of which 33% are women, 15% youth, and 11% indigenous) of coffee, vegetables, dairy, honey, and other commodities through enhanced market connections and adoption of improved agricultural technologies and has created 6,678 new jobs.
• In Honduras, the Corredor Seco Food Security Project (PROSASUR) strives to enhance food security for impoverished and vulnerable rural households in the country’s Dry Corridor. This project has supported 12,202 extremely vulnerable families through nutrition-smart agricultural subprojects, food security plans, community nutrition plans, and nutrition and hygiene education. Within the beneficiary population, 70% of children under the age of five and their mothers now have a dietary diversity score of at least 4 (i.e., consume at least four food groups).
• The $2.75 billion  Food Systems Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa , helps countries in Eastern and Southern Africa increase the resilience of the region’s food systems and ability to tackle growing food insecurity. Now in phase three, the program will enhance inter-agency food crisis response also boost medium- and long-term efforts for resilient agricultural production, sustainable development of natural resources, expanded market access, and a greater focus on food systems resilience in policymaking.
• A  $95 million credit from IDA for the Malawi Agriculture Commercialization Project (AGCOM) to increase commercialization of select agriculture value chain products and to provide immediate and effective response to an eligible crisis or emergency.
• The  $200 million IDA grant for Madagascar  to strengthen decentralized service delivery, upgrade water supply, restore and protect landscapes, and strengthen the resilience of food and livelihood systems in the drought-prone ‘Grand Sud’ .
• A $60 million credit for the Integrated Community Development Project that works with refugees and host communities in four northern provinces of Burundi to improve food and nutrition security, build socio-economic infrastructure, and support micro-enterprise development through a participatory approach.
• The $175 million Sahel Irrigation Initiative Regional Support Project is helping build resilience and boost productivity of agricultural and pastoral activities in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. More than 130,000 farmers and members of pastoral communities are benefiting from small and medium-sized irrigation initiatives. The project is building a portfolio of bankable irrigation investment projects of around 68,000 ha, particularly in medium and large-scale irrigation in the Sahel region.
• Through the $50 million Emergency Food Security Response project , 329,000 smallholder farmers in Central Africa Republic have received seeds, farming tools and training in agricultural and post-harvest techniques to boost crop production and become more resilient to climate and conflict risks.
• The $15 million Guinea Bissau Emergency Food Security Project is helping increase agriculture production and  access to food to vulnerable families. Over 72,000 farmers have received drought-resistant and high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, agricultural equipment; and livestock vaccines for the country-wide vaccination program. In addition, 8,000 vulnerable households have received cash transfer to purchase food and tackle food insecurity.
• The $60 million Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Research for Africa (AICCRA) project has reached nearly 3 million African farmers (39% women) with critical climate smart agriculture tools and information services in partnership with the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR). These tools and services are helping farmers to increase production and build resilience in the face of climate crisis. In Mali, studies showed that farmers using recommendations from the AICCRA-supported RiceAdvice had on average 0.9 ton per hectare higher yield and US$320 per hectare higher income.
• The $766 million West Africa Food Systems Resilience Program is working to increase preparedness against food insecurity and improve the resilience of food systems in West Africa. The program is increasing digital advisory services for agriculture and food crisis prevention and management, boosting adaption capacity of agriculture system actors, and investing in regional food market integration and trade to increase food security. An additional $345 million is currently under preparation for Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
• A $150 million grant for the second phase of the Yemen Food Security Response and Resilience Project, which will help address food insecurity, strengthen resilience and protect livelihoods.
• $50 million grant of additional financing for Tajikistan  to mitigate food and nutrition insecurity impacts on households and enhance the overall resilience of the agriculture sector.
• A $125 million project in Jordan aims to strengthen the development the agriculture sector by enhancing its climate resilience, increasing competitiveness and inclusion, and ensuring medium- to long-term food security.
• A  $300 million project in Bolivia  that will contribute to increasing food security, market access and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.
• A  $315 million loan to support Chad, Ghana and Sierra Leone  to increase their preparedness against food insecurity and to improve the resilience of their food systems.
• A  $500 million Emergency Food Security and Resilience Support Project  to bolster Egypt's efforts to ensure that poor and vulnerable households have uninterrupted access to bread, help strengthen the country's resilience to food crises, and support to reforms that will help improve nutritional outcomes.
• A  $130 million loan for Tunisia , seeking to lessen the impact of the Ukraine war by financing vital soft wheat imports and providing emergency support to cover barley imports for dairy production and seeds for smallholder farmers for the upcoming planting season.

In May 2022, the World Bank Group and the G7 Presidency co-convened  the Global Alliance for Food Security , which aims to catalyze an immediate and concerted response to the unfolding global hunger crisis. The Alliance has developed the publicly accessible Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard , which provides timely information for global and local decision-makers to help improve coordination of the policy and financial response to the food crisis.

The heads of the FAO, IMF, World Bank Group, WFP, and WTO released a Third Joint Statement on February 8, 2023. The statement calls to prevent a worsening of the food and nutrition security crisis, further urgent actions are required to (i) rescue hunger hotspots, (ii) facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector, and (iii) reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency. Countries should balance short-term urgent interventions with longer-term resilience efforts as they respond to the crisis.

Last Updated: Apr 15, 2024

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Food Security Crisis Resolution Essay

Introduction, global governance, importance and aids by global governance, works cited.

Food is one of the fundamental needs of human. Food security is the ability to access food by those who need it. Every household is termed as secured food wise if it has access to safe and enough food hence freedom from hunger. The World Food Organization describes this security as access to nutritious, safe and sufficient food to cater for the basic human desires.

The rapid increase of population all over the world is the major result for food insecurity (Harman 18). To ensure the situation does not run out of hand, the global body Food and Agricultural Organization has been at the forefront since time immemorial to cater for issues related to this basic human need. Central to this organization is governance. This can ensure that even if there is increased population, there can be enough resources or produce to cater for the increase and even shortages.

Food security has become a complex task to achieve with the development of globalization. Initially the main focus of the governing body was on agriculture. This ensured carefully monitoring of production and even the surplus that are stored. Today, different issues of concern have cropped up. These are in terms of food processing, food distribution and food consumption. Governance of food security has become challenging with the forms of contradictory policies that exist.

Most third world countries have weak connections with the global governance (Harman 18). These countries are always the worst hit groups when there is hunger breakout. On the other hand America and most of its environs have high influence in the global governance. Their exports have greatly increased while other third world countries exports have reduced. These countries used to export in a massive way but have since declined in production.

These countries are not promising at all. Therefore they have less influence of the global investment kitties. One will find that those countries that are stable in terms of agricultural production and are also doing great in the processing have much attraction to investment and are therefore considered a priority by the governing bodies

Several methods have been employed to cater for increasing cases of food insecurity. One of these methods is research. The cases of reduced land for tenure have been the main cause of low agricultural production. Currently, researchers have introduced novel ways of producing crops.

This has been aided greatly by biotechnology. This new research concept has enabled the production of crops that can resist adverse conditions. In addition, other crops can also do well in green houses. Unfortunately, other countries cannot afford this. Although global governance has given out these good options, some countries cannot afford. This is because their government cannot afford the finances in one way or another (Harman 18). This paints a bad picture of the governance while it is evident that it is not their fault.

Other forms of governance that would improve food security include Rule of law, internal peace, improvement of infrastructure from rural areas and support from the government for research. These proposals are best when employed on the ground. Developed countries have already put these practices in place and are ahead. There have been problems caused by global warming and other related disaster but this has been solved by having alternative methods. This does not mean that the conventional methods have been neglected.

Adoption measures have been for the purpose of bridging the gap between production and consumption. There is need for all countries to be stakeholders of global food programmes and government. This will ensure that there is a legitimate process for handling problems and also providing solutions for future activities. Unfortunately, the developing countries do not take part in the same footing. This therefore calls for a better government that will have honor for legitimate, political and democratic process.

Current Global Economic Situation

This is an economy which comprises all the economies of the world. The issue of globalization brought a great revolution in the economy of the world. This revolution comprised of merging of trade markets, free trade in international stock markets and many more. Initially, this impacted nations in a positive way (Harman 18). There was expansion of markets and industries, creation of employment opportunities for both the young and old the people and a paradigm shift from job search to creation of jobs. More so was the issue of innovation that brought about great investment both in foreign and indigenous countries.

Developed and developing countries have had different effects due to the dynamic global economy. Currently, the economy is at its worst. The economic metrics stand at a free fall at the moment. Some are quite rapid that it has become so scary. The situation has continued to deepen day by day from banks bail out to individual country bail outs.

Central to this crisis is the unavailability of basic commodities such as food. In addition, oil prices have posed the hardest hit to most countries. The oil crisis was brought about by the unstable situation in Japan and Northern part of America. These unrests led to reduced production of oil from the main oil producing countries such as Libya. The rising oil prices have been due to the scarce in the commodity or the raw material. This crisis has also translated to the current energy crisis

On the other hand is food crisis. This has also arisen due to globalization of the economy. Increased industries led to the deterioration of the environment. This consequently led to global warming. Global warming has had a great impact on Agriculture. The climate of the globe has changed tremendously towards the negative. This has contributed to the accumulation of greenhouse gases hence global warming.

Therefore the climate has changed affecting the agricultural activities. This has directly affected food prices mostly for people living in poor countries and the Asian community. This has since resulted in high increase in food prices. For instance, in Asia the food prices have increased to 10%. This has affected about sixty five million people in the country.

Another factor that has put the current economy at risk is the weakening of the Dollar. This has led to the rapid rise in market prices. The American people have huge debts to pay hence this has greatly affected their economy and even the grand global economy. Goods traded across the global market are as expensive as has never been experienced before.

The most affected are the developing countries which have to add an extra coin to get goods across the global market. There has been cumulative unemployment for fresh college students in both developing and developed nations. Also there has been a rebound in the trade globally. In 2010 the increase in trade was about 12% which was positive.

Resolution for the Crisis

The main resolution strategy to the current economic crisis is the issue of changing policies. This can be achieved by using neutral bodies that can help save the matter starting with the matters that are of priorities. First of all the weakening of the Dollar is one crisis that should be resolved. It actually affects the global markets and hence touches every part of the world. The crisis in the economic sector unfortunately combines almost all international affairs from trade, agriculture, social status, political status and many more affairs.

This then means that there is need to restructure the financial operations. As mentioned above, a policy reform is the ways to go. International organizations dealing with specific global issues should sit down and allow room for policy interventions that will be able to advocate for the independence of countries in terms of control of each country resources (Pacula etal., 276).

For instance, every country should have the sovereign authority to strategize on self sufficiency. That is, every country should have the capacity to state their productivity, consumption and even surplus without being influenced externally. Central regulation has proven to lack transparency hence failure in the part of governance.

The issue of central control can be avoided by having each country regulate their resources and present what they have to the international organizations. This does not mean that the mandates of these international organizations are being neglected but it means that the essence of external interventions is nullified.

Another critical sector that needs quick salvaging is the financial sector. There are policies that were imposed by the World health organization, World Bank, international Monetary Fund and the regional and bilateral trade (Pacula etal., 276).

These policies have tremendously caused the current financial crisis that has been predicted to last for about two years before it picks up in a steady state. It is speculated that the years 2012 and 2013 will be bad years for more so the developed countries. Controls such as the forced quotas, regulated market prizes, control of imports should be solely left within the agreements by countries.

In the case of finances, the issue of financial literacy needs to be worked out. The current crisis means that there has been inefficiency in management of money matters. It there was a well sophisticated system able to work out the financial problem and even speculate the trends in an actual way then the issue of global crisis could not be a pandemic at the moment. For example, the issue of high mortgage ownership in developed countries has led to the banks running in huge debts hence a need for bailouts.

If there were plans put in place to train the consumers who were taking credits then there would not be the issue of debt default. This would mean that the consumers would be aware of the steps they are taking and would only participate in taking debts that they are able to clear. This can also translate in the global credit acquisition by countries. There have been increasing complexities in the financial markets both in individual countries and globally. Having financial literacy would solve the issue of this crisis.

Approach to Crisis Resolution

Fortunately, these approaches are underway as there have been non partisan groups that are lobbying for reforms and policy change in international organizations. Having and ear for the cry of these lobbyists will be a good step taken by the developed countries and even the international organization in working out the crisis. Therefore, to have success, there should be great interest by these organizations and countries to take part in reforms especially on the issue of financial education which is very important.

Harman, Chris. “Financial and Economic Crisis”. The Guardian Weekly 3 Aug. 2007: 18. Print.

Pacula etal. “Politics of the United Nations”. Journal of Political Economy . 95.2 (2006): 107-300. Print.

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Food Security - List of Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Food Security is the condition where all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Essays might explore the strategies to achieve food security, challenges like climate change or political instability hindering food security, and the roles of individuals, communities, and nations in promoting food security. We’ve gathered an extensive assortment of free essay samples on the topic of Food Security you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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Exploration of Food Security Challenges towards More Sustainable Food Production: A Systematic Literature Review of the Major Drivers and Policies

Sabreen wahbeh.

1 Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai 20183, United Arab Emirates

Foivos Anastasiadis

2 Department of Agribusiness and Supply Chain Management, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece

Balan Sundarakani

Ioannis manikas, associated data.

Not applicable.

Food security is a central priority for international policy as one of the world’s most significantly urgent targets to achieve. It is considered one of the most pressing issues in many countries, the degree of food security representing the level of self-sufficiency and well-being of citizens. In particular, in the current COVID-19 pandemic era, it has more than ever become a mission-critical goal. In this research, we report on the food security drivers and the current state of recommended policies addressing chronic food insecurity aimed at ensuring the sustainability of future food production. Mapping the determinants of food security contributes to a better understanding of the issue and aids in the development of appropriate food security policies and strategies to enhance the sustainability of food production in all facets; namely environmental, social, and economic. Adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) data screening and selection guidelines and standards, we carried out a comprehensive, reliable, systematic, and rigorous review of research from the last ten years in order to identify the most frequently mentioned drivers and policies of food security in the literature available in two databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). The number of extracted articles was 141 papers in total. An analysis revealed 34 drivers of food security and 17 most recommended policies for the mitigation of food insecurity. The existence of food loss and waste (FLW) policies was the primary driver of food security, followed by food security policies (FSP) in their different forms. However, FSP were the most recommended policies, followed by FLW policies. The identified food security drivers and recommended policies should be used by policy-makers to improve food security, thus contributing to sustainable food production. Our research findings, reflected in the latest version of the Global Food Security Index (GFSI), resulted in more tangible policy implications, suggesting the addition of two dimensions regarding food security. We also identified elements not listed under the GFSI that could be considered in its future revision, including environmental policies/indicators, consumer representation, and traceability throughout the entire supply chain. Overall, it can be concluded that food security is a complicated and multi-faceted issue that cannot be restricted to a single variable, necessitating the deeper integration of various multi-disciplinary interventions.

1. Introduction

Food security (FS) is “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” [ 1 ] p.3. It is a significant priority for international policy [ 2 ], and has been perceived as being among the key challenges worldwide [ 3 ] as it represents a country’s degree of self-sufficiency and the well-being of its citizens [ 4 ]. Securing a nation’s self-sufficiency has become a top priority in the context of the current COVID-19 global epidemic era, even more so than earlier [ 5 ]. Economic expansion, rising incomes, urbanization, and growing population are driving up the demand for food, as people adopt more diverse and resource-intensive dietary habits [ 2 , 6 ]. The world’s current population is steadily increasing, placing significant pressure on the available natural resources to feed the growing population [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]; however, this dramatic growth in the global population is anticipated mainly in developing countries, which already suffer from devastating hunger and food insecurity [ 7 ]. One of the biggest obstacles to ensuring global food security is the need to roughly double food production within the coming few decades, particularly in the context of the developing world’s rapidly increasing demand [ 10 , 11 ]. The natural resources such as land, water, energy, and other resources used in food production are all subject to increasing competition [ 12 , 13 ]. Climate change poses difficulties for agricultural production [ 14 ], mainly in developing nations, while some existing farming practices harm the environment and contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) [ 15 , 16 ]. There is a real danger that less developed countries may be forced to reverse direction. The FAO’s statistics on world hunger in 2009 showed a dramatic rise to 1.023 billion people, demonstrating precisely such a situation. When commodity prices fell the following year, this number dropped to 925 million, which was still more prominent than in 2007 (i.e., before the price spike) [ 17 ]. According to recent data published by the Global Hunger Index, the number of malnourished people grew from 785 million in 2015 to 822 million in 2018. Moreover, 43 out of 117 countries reported extreme hunger [ 18 ]. Approximately 20% of developing countries lack the resources and physical access necessary to provide their citizens with the most basic food. Children in developing countries face vitamin and nutritional deficiencies and being underweight, which puts them at risk for various sicknesses due to food insecurity [ 12 ]. National and global imbalances brought on by food insecurity are expected to worsen human suffering and make it harder for people to survive [ 12 ]. Despite the efforts of multiple global organizations such as the FAO and the UN, the problem of food insecurity is worsening [ 19 ], which means that more effective and sustainable solutions must be provided to ensure the alleviation of food insecurity and the sustainability of food production. Hence, policy-makers must understand that in a world that is becoming more globalized, food insecurity in one region could have significant political, economic, and environmental impacts elsewhere [ 2 ].

Throughout the twentieth century, policy-makers used the concept of food security as a key notion in formulating food-related policies [ 17 ]. Lang and Barling [ 17 ] have proposed two main schools of thought on food security: the first focused on increased production as the primary solution to under-consumption and hunger, while the second is a newer one that is more socially and environmentally conscious and accepts the need to address a wide range of issues, not just production. The former is primarily concerned with agriculture, while the latter is concerned with food systems. One approach to solve the food security challenge is to intensify agricultural production in ways that impose much less environmental stress and do not jeopardize our long-term ability to continue producing food [ 2 ]. The above sustainable intensification strategy comprises a policy agenda for several governments worldwide, but has also drawn criticism for being overly production-focused or incoherent [ 2 ]. The central mission of the twenty-first century is to establish a sustainable food system, which calls for a more concrete policy framework than that which is currently in place [ 17 ]. This mission has been disrupted by competing solutions for policy focus and policies that have, so far, failed to incorporate the complex array of evidence from social, environmental, and economic components into such an integrated and comprehensive policy response [ 17 ]. Millions of people are being pushed into a cycle of food insecurity and poverty due to climate change; however, we can combat both food insecurity and climate change by implementing climate-friendly agricultural production methods [ 12 ]. Tsolakis and Srai [ 20 ] have stated that any comprehensive food security policy should entail multi-dimensional policies considering aspects such as resilience, trade, self-sufficiency, food waste, and sustainability. As it is traditionally understood, food security concerns individuals, while ecological and environmental concepts operate locally and at supra-national, regional, and international levels [ 1 ]. According to Guiné, Pato [ 21 ], the four pillars of food security—availability, access, utilization, and stability—should be reconsidered to include additional factors such as climate change. Clapp, Moseley [ 22 ] has also stressed that it is time to officially update the existing food security definition to involve two further dimensions—sustainability and agency—containing broader dynamics that have an impact on hunger and malnutrition [ 23 ]. Sustainability relates to the long-term ability of food systems to ensure food and nutrition security in a way that does not jeopardize the economic, social, and environmental foundations that generate food and nutrition security for upcoming generations [ 22 , 23 ]. Agency represents the ability of people or groups to decide what they consume, what they produce, and how they produce, process, and distribute their food within food systems, as well as their capacity to participate in processes that shape the food system’s policies and governance [ 22 , 23 ]. Instead of dismissing food security as being insufficient, Clapp, Moseley [ 22 ] has contended that the inclusion of two extra dimensions—agency and sustainability—into food security policy and assessment frameworks will help to guarantee that every human has access to food, not just now but also in the future. Sustainability can be viewed as a pre-requisite for long-term food security [ 1 ]. Environmental aspects—particularly climate and the availability of natural resources—are pre-requisite for food availability and biodiversity protection [ 24 ]. The availability of food for everybody depends on economic and social sustainability. Food utilization, too, is influenced by social sustainability. The three components of sustainability—social, economic, and environmental—ensure the continuity of the three food security dimensions and the food system stability on which they rely. As confirmation of the vital relationship between food security and sustainability, “The International Food Policy Research Institute” has launched a 2020 Vision of Food Security to achieve food security, stating that “a world where every person has economic and physical access to sufficient food to sustain a healthy and productive life, where malnutrition is absent, and where food originates from efficient, effective, and low-cost food and agricultural systems that are compatible with sustainable use and management of natural resources” [ 12 ] (p357). Many policies, priorities, technologies, and long-term solutions must be developed and implemented worldwide to achieve the 2020 food security vision [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. However, there is a scarcity of systematic studies analyzing the food security drivers and the recommended policies to improve food security.

Following a review of the academic literature, we discovered a scarcity of research that systemically summarizes the major drivers of food security, outlines the recommended policies to improve food security, ensures the sustainability of future food production, and provides policy recommendations to enhance food security based on a country’s context. In response to this gap in the literature, we carried out a comprehensive, reliable, systematic, and rigorous review of previous research from the last ten years in order to identify the most frequently mentioned drivers/policies in the scanned literature. The rationale behind this study is to identify and list food security drivers and the current state of recommended policies that address chronic food insecurity to ensure the sustainability of future food production, utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. Moreover, we hope to identify drivers/policies in order to aid policy-makers in selecting the most appropriate policies based on each nation’s context (e.g., agricultural production, natural resource availability, climate, political stability, and so on). Most importantly, policy-makers can use the identified drivers of food security and the recommended policies in the literature to customize appropriate policies that ensure the sustainability of future food production and, hence, ensure food sustainability for future generations. Based on the evidence reported in the literature, the identified food security drivers and recommended policies will aid the policy- and decision-makers of various countries in sustainably improving the food security situation. The need to identify the main drivers of food security arises from the notable increase in households and individuals suffering from food shortages and insecurity globally [ 25 ]. Finally, the findings of this research will be used to inform the GFSI developers in order to include more comprehensive indicators expected to contribute to the sustainability of future food production.

2. Materials and Methods

This research aims to report on food security drivers and the current state of recommended policies that address chronic food insecurity in order to ensure the sustainability of future food production through the use of a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. We highlight existing food security drivers and outline recommended policies to alleviate food insecurity following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) data screening and selection guidelines [ 26 ]. The extraction process was meticulously documented in order to ensure the transparency and replicability of this systematic literature review [ 27 ]. A panel of researchers was formed, following the systematic review guidelines [ 26 ], to define the research field and questions, select keywords and the intended databases, and develop the sets of inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The research began by formulating the research questions to guide this systematic review based on identified gaps in the literature, guiding us in an attempt to answer the following research questions:

• Q1. What are the main drivers of food security?
• Q2. What are the main recommended policies to alleviate food insecurity?

By answering these questions, this paper provides a reference that policy-makers and practitioners can use to identify the main drivers of food security and the recommended policies in the literature in order to customize and choose appropriate policies that ensure the sustainability of future food production. The identified food security drivers and recommended policies are expected to aid policy- and decision-makers in improving the state of FS. This study also provides a roadmap for future research based on the evidence reported in the literature.

A specific research criterion was used to ensure that the research sources selected were sufficient and comprehensive enough to capture all of the significant and salient points to adequately answer the research questions [ 26 ]. To this end, we provide a critical review of the existing literature that has been published in two databases—Scopus and Web of Science (WOS)—between 2010 and 15 March 2021, to answer the abovementioned research questions. The time limit was set to cover the period following the global financial crisis of 2008/2009 and its effect on rising food prices, increased unemployment rates, and increasing food insecurity worldwide [ 28 , 29 , 30 ]. This period allows for consideration of policies designed to ensure global food security following the food shortage crisis. The use of Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases helped us to include most potential published works in a broad scope of journals, thereby limiting the risks of bias and possible exclusions associated with the use of fewer journals.

We employed a set of identified keywords, which are summarized in detail in Table 1 . A critical analysis was conducted regarding the most relevant concepts that are available in the literature and which affect each of the four dimensions of FS: Food availability, food access, food utilization, and food stability. For instance, the research string “Agrifood supply chain” OR “Agri food supply chain” OR “Agri-food supply chain” was added as a secondary search string, because food availability is highly dependent on the food supply chain and how well its activities are managed. The food supply chain is exposed to many factors that can negatively impact the country’s food security level, such as severe weather conditions [ 31 , 32 ]. Therefore, it is critical to consider some characteristics of the food supply chain, such as biophysical and organoleptic features, shelf life, transport conditions, production time, and storage, to efficiently and effectively manage it [ 33 ]. Effective supply chain management is seen as a significant contributor to gaining and enhancing industrial competitive advantage and efficiency at the company level, possibly impacting food security positively [ 34 ]. “MENA Region” OR “Middle East and North Africa” OR “Middle East” OR “North Africa” research string was added due to the severity of food insecurity there and to ensure the inclusion of papers that address the problem in these countries and propose strategies to overcome food insecurity. According to the GFSI data [ 25 ], MENA region countries are experiencing a decline in food security; moreover, the number of households and individuals suffering from food shortages and insecurity is dramatically increasing.

Primary and secondary search strings used in this research.

The research string “Sustainable supply chain” OR “Resilient supply chain” was added due to much research that stressed the impact of designing a proper supply chain structure due to its significant impact on the future improvement of its performance [ 33 ]. The central mission of the twenty-first century is to establish a sustainable food system, which calls for a more concrete policy framework than what is currently in place [ 17 ]. Sustainability can be viewed as a prerequisite for long-term food security [ 1 ]. The environment, particularly climate and the availability of natural resources, is a prerequisite for food availability and biodiversity protection [ 24 ]. The availability of food for everybody depends on economic and social sustainability. Food utilization, too, is influenced by social sustainability. The three components of sustainability—social, economic, and environmental—assure the continuity of the three food security dimensions and the food system stability on which they rely. Moreover, food security is increasingly considered a prerequisite for long-term sustainability [ 1 ]. Adopting a “sustainable production and consumption approach throughout the global food supply chain” is a solution that will help reduce the amount of food waste along the food supply chain [ 35 , 36 ]. Cooper and Ellram [ 37 ] argued that building a resilient supply chain has many advantages such as decreasing inventory time, which will lead to cost and time savings, increasing the availability of goods, reducing the order cycle time, improving customer service and satisfaction, and gaining a competitive advantage. Stone and Rahimifard [ 38 ] stressed the importance of having a resilient agricultural food supply chain to achieve food security due to the incremental increase in volatility across the supply chain.

The research string “Food Safety” OR “Food diversity” OR “Food quality” OR “Food standards” OR “Micronutrient availability” was added due to one of the food security dimensions: utilization, which is concerned with all aspects of food safety, and nutrition quality [ 39 ]. According to FAO (2019), the utilization dimension should assess food diversity, food safety, food standards, and micronutrient availability. It is inadequate to provide enough food to someone unable to benefit from it because they are constantly sick due to a lack of sanitary conditions. It indicates that in the country, individuals are taking advantage of the food they receive or have access to, with extra emphasis on the dietary quality that contains nutritious ingredients such as vitamins (vitamin-A) and minerals (Iron, Zinc, Iodine) [ 40 ]. According to the World Health Organization, people diagnosed with malnutrition usually suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, protein deficiency, obesity, or undernutrition. The lack of micro-ingredients can increase the risk of developing severe chronic and infectious diseases for people in general and children in particular (toddlers 9–24 months). These diseases have an irreversible negative impact on people’s health, which enhances the persistence of poverty and food insecurity. It is critical to invest in the health and nutrition elements on a global scale by ensuring safe drinking water, immunization, enhancing sewage discharge, improving public health services, and reducing poverty levels [ 41 ].

The research string “Agricultural infrastructure” OR “Agricultural production volatility” OR “Vulnerability assessment” was chosen because much research has emphasized the importance of investing in a strong agricultural infrastructure to improve food security levels, especially in light of current challenges such as climate change, increased urbanization, water scarcity, and the shift away from using cropland for non-agricultural activities [ 7 , 8 , 41 ]. Food security is vulnerable to severe weather conditions, whereas harsh weather conditions may adversely impact the food supply chain in weak areas [ 31 , 32 ]. Therefore, it is critical to assess the vulnerability level of each country to protect the food supply chain. The use of the “Food loss” OR “Food waste” OR “Food waste and loss” research string was due to the general agreement among researchers on the importance of reducing food waste to improve food security [ 35 , 42 , 43 ]. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2013), around one-third of the food produced globally (1.3 billion tons) is wasted or lost. Most wasted food is either fresh and perishable or leftovers from eating and cooking [ 36 , 42 ]. Basher, Raboy [ 43 ] argued that eliminating just one-fourth of the food waste would be enough to feed all the currently undernourished people. One of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations, “SDG 12.3 Food Waste Index” stresses that decreasing the amount of food loss and waste will help reduce hunger levels, promote sustainable production and consumption, and enhance food security [ 44 ].

The use of “Policy description” OR “Policy assessment” OR “Policy recommendation” OR “Policymaking” OR “Policy-making” OR “Policy making” research string was due to the impact of adequate and proper policy formulation on food security ( Table 1 ). Establishing effective and efficient food policies that ensure that each individual has an optimal level of food security is critical in every country because it directly enhances the country’s competitive advantage and efficiency [ 34 , 45 ]. Timmer [ 46 ] emphasized that designing the proper set of policies to end hunger based on each country’s context is challenging and requires collaborative participation from multiple stakeholders. Murti Mulyo Aji [ 34 ] stressed the role of the government’s policies in developing a collaborative supply chain that creates value throughout the supply chain by improving information, logistics, and relationship management. Effective and efficient supply chain management significantly impacts managing long-term partnerships and corporations among a wide range of firms that vary in size and sectors (public or private). This collaboration will enhance prediction of changes in customer demands in domestic and international markets. If previous policies were insufficient to ensure that country’s true competitive advantage, it could cause market distortion [ 34 , 47 ]. Countries are encouraged to gradually reduce the adoption of inequitable trade policies to focus on enhancing their true competitive advantage, demonstrating fair competition, and increasing economic efficiency, particularly in the spirit of trade liberalization [ 34 ].

The selection of research sources was accomplished in March 2021, and the search for keywords was enabled for titles, abstracts, and full texts in both electronic search engines (i.e., Scopus and WOS). Several keywords were identified to retrieve the available literature, and search strings consisted of primary and secondary keywords. The primary search string used was as follows: “food security” OR “food insecurity” OR “food availability” OR “food affordability” OR “food access” OR “food utilization” OR “food stability”. The reason behind including these multiple strings was to cover the maximum number of articles that handle the topic of food security or any of its four dimensions.

Specific exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied in order to develop high-quality evidence [ 26 ]. A reasonable number of articles were limited for deep analysis by following the specific exclusion and inclusion criteria to control the quality of the review in the food security field, as detailed in Table 2 above. Only peer-reviewed journal articles were included within the time frame (2010–15 March 2021) and only those written in English. Furthermore, due to this study’s nature and to ensure consistency with the topic area, the most common and effective approach for examining drivers and recommended policies were limited to the business, management, accounting, and agricultural fields [ 48 ]. We have used the “business, management and accounting” research field in the Scopus database to ensure that all the included articles were business-related. Then, we restricted the research field to” Economics, business, and agriculture Economics” in the WoS database to ensure the inclusion of agriculture-related papers and maximize the inclusion of a diverse range of articles. Another round of retrieval was applied using a set of secondary keywords in order to narrow down the search to specific areas of food security. For this purpose, the primary keywords were escorted each time with “AND” and other secondary keywords, as listed in Table 2 .

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

The initial search using the primary keywords (“food security” OR “food insecurity” OR “food availability” OR “food affordability” OR “food access” OR “food utilization” OR “food stability”) revealed a total of 113,709 documents (Scopus, n = 63,860; WOS, n = 49,849). Strict selection criteria were applied to the first search pool in order to maintain transparency and guarantee the selection of relevant material that answers the research questions. To ensure academic rigor, the search was restricted to including only peer-reviewed publications [ 49 ] (Scopus, n = 47,673; WOS, n = 40,305). The research was then restricted by publication date to between 2010 and 15 March 2021 (Scopus, n = 34,789; WOS, n = 31,278). Only journal articles published in English were selected (Scopus, n = 33,292; WOS, n = 30,313). Then, advanced research was conducted by combining the primary keywords with one of the secondary keywords. The results and the number of articles identified in each search step are detailed in Figure 1 . After removing duplicate articles from each database, a total of 281 journal articles (Scopus, n = 140; WOS, n = 141) were revealed. After combining both databases, 248 journal articles were obtained. These collected 248 journal articles were scanned by reading their abstracts in order to check their applicability to answering the research questions. At this point, 107 articles were excluded as they were considered irrelevant and outside the scope of the research. Finally, the total number of extracted articles was 141, as can be seen in Figure 1 . Data extraction and analysis were performed by a single reviewer (SW), and all extracted data and revealed results were double-checked by three researchers (FA, IM, and BS) to enhance the research and reduce bias in study selection. A complete description of the validity threats (Construct, Internal, External, and Conclusion Validity) following the validation process of Zhou, Jin [ 50 ] is provided in detail in Table 3 .

Research protocol following the PRISMA guidelines.

A reporting of validity threats in this systematic literature review.

Among the selected 141 articles, 28 (19.86%) were published in the Journal of Cleaner Production , 20 (14.18%) were published in Food Policy , and 5 (3.55%) were published in Quality-Access to Success . The rest of the journal names are visualized in Figure 2 .

The most popular journals publishing the 141 included articles. Others denotes journals that were cited once or twice.

After the 141 articles have been extracted, they were analyzed and summarized individually by listing all the discussed food security drivers, as well as the recommended policies for the improvement of food security and sustainable food production. Then, we synthesized the extracted information from all sources in order to identify the gaps, list the similarities between all the resources, and extract significant insights regarding the main drivers of food security and the recommended policies [ 26 ].

3.1. The Major Drivers of Food Security

Analysis of the retrieved literature revealed 34 different drivers of food security, as visualized in Figure 3 . Detailed information, along with a full citation list for all the drivers, is provided in Appendix A .

Summary of the major drivers of food security.

Most papers discussed food loss and waste (FLW) and emphasized its impact on food security [ 6 , 19 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 ]. Around one-third of the food produced globally (1.3 million tons) is wasted or lost [ 96 ]. Basher, Raboy [ 43 ] has argued that, if we could save just one-fourth of the wasted food, it would be enough to feed all the world’s undernourished people, contributing positively to FS. The previous finding supports our research findings that FLW is the primary driver of FS. To reduce FLW, Halloran, Clement [ 6 ] has argued that effective communication, more efficient food packaging, and a better consumer understanding of food packaging could lead to solutions. To decrease food loss, Garcia-Herrero, Hoehn [ 62 ] has suggested improving food labelling, enhancing consumer planning, and developing technological advances in packaging and shelf life for perishable products. Morone, Falcone [ 83 ] has suggested the repetition of large-scale research to help define a set of policies encouraging the transition to a new model for consumption that promotes sustainably procured food and dramatically reduces the amount of waste (more details are provided in Section 3.2 ).

Additionally, several authors have considered food security policy (FSP) as a driver of food security in its different forms [ 56 , 63 , 65 , 69 , 70 , 74 , 79 , 85 , 94 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 ]. The primary goal of establishing food security policies that consider the factors influencing individuals and groups is to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger. One example is safety-net programs or public food assistance programs (FAPs). The main goal of providing safety-net programs is to increase food consumption among poor people and improve food security [ 102 ].

Many papers have discussed the importance of technological advancement as an enabler of food security [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 63 , 69 , 71 , 74 , 77 , 85 , 90 , 94 , 95 , 109 , 116 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 ]. The use of technology to promote behavioral changes has increasingly become a vital instrument to reduce food waste and indirectly improve food security [ 130 ]. Mobile applications offer households helpful guidance on increasing shelf life and experimenting with dishes using leftovers [ 58 ]. Shukla, Singh [ 130 ] has elaborated that, at present, farmers have access to mobile applications that provide them with reasonably and timely priced information.

Some authors have discussed sustainable agricultural development and practices as enablers of food security [ 56 , 57 , 59 , 64 , 71 , 73 , 94 , 97 , 105 , 109 , 111 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 124 , 130 , 132 , 134 , 136 , 137 , 139 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 , 147 ]. Some authors have discussed local production enhancement as a driver of food security to enhance the self-reliance of countries [ 57 , 69 , 85 , 87 , 89 , 94 , 98 , 103 , 105 , 109 , 112 , 117 , 120 , 134 , 137 , 144 , 148 , 149 ]. For example, Ahmed, Begum [ 98 ] has emphasized how, following the GCC ban, Qatar took several successful steps to foster local production, support domestic businesses, and promote the consumption of locally produced food by its citizens. Some authors have argued that building the capacities of small farmers is essential to achieving FS. Education policies are critical for educating farmers, building their capacities, and increasing their human capital; moreover, educational programs should also include food preparation and health education programs in order to ensure the safety of consumed food [ 101 ].

The government’s role in managing a country’s agriculture can also be seen as a driver of food security [ 67 , 75 , 84 , 86 , 100 , 109 , 116 , 117 , 119 , 121 , 137 , 138 , 147 , 150 , 151 , 152 ], as it is responsible for various aspects such as designing, testing, and implementing the right policies to ensure the welfare of its citizens, while providing the necessary assistance to small-scale farmers and ensuring their safety and security in all aspects of life. Governments in developing nations must focus on R&D, agriculture infrastructure (e.g., technologies for irrigation and soil preservation), expansion services, early warning systems, or subsidized farm income in order to alter the production function of the population [ 101 ].

Many authors have discussed the importance of food safety policies as an enabler of food security [ 61 , 64 , 69 , 103 , 105 , 111 , 112 , 129 , 149 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 ]. Food safety policies include food and water safety at several points throughout the supply chain where food-borne diseases might develop [ 69 ]. Environmental policies are also seen as a fundamental enabler of food security [ 59 , 73 , 121 , 124 , 130 , 135 , 139 , 147 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 ]. Regardless of the various approaches discussed by the authors, they all agreed that environmental protection would help to ensure food availability for current and future generations. According to some authors, trade policies [ 69 , 94 , 95 , 103 , 111 , 112 , 114 , 123 , 129 , 141 , 146 , 161 , 164 ] and import policies [ 69 , 95 , 100 , 103 , 120 , 124 , 126 , 129 , 146 ] are enablers of food security. Regulating international trade can help to ensure food security. Lowering trade barriers, for example, has been proposed as a way to mitigate the adverse effects of market regulation caused by climate change [ 141 ].

Many authors have recognized policies that promote consumer education on sustainable consumption and increase consumer awareness and knowledge of the environmental impact of their purchases as a driver of food security [ 52 , 60 , 67 , 69 , 86 , 133 , 144 , 151 , 163 , 165 , 166 , 167 ]. Others have stressed proper communication among all stakeholders as a driver of food security [ 6 , 56 , 68 , 69 , 84 , 92 , 129 , 130 , 156 , 157 , 168 ]. Some authors have considered risk management as an enabler of food security [ 94 , 117 , 118 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 145 , 154 , 155 , 157 ]. For example, the aims of building a disaster risk reduction framework in the Pacific include boosting resilience, protecting investments (e.g., in infrastructure, operations, and FS), and decreasing poverty and hunger [ 169 ].

Some authors have proposed the effective gleaning process as a driver of food security [ 70 , 72 , 74 , 80 , 84 , 92 , 142 , 170 ]. Gleaning is the collection of the remaining crops in agricultural fields after their commercial harvest, or just in crop fields where their harvest is not cost-effective. Some old cultures have fostered gleaning as an early form of social assistance [ 80 ]. Some authors have considered the management of government food reserves to be a food security driver [ 64 , 104 , 112 , 117 , 118 , 124 , 136 ]. Despite the high cost of storing food, any country must maintain adequate food reserves to serve the country in case of a crisis scenario [ 171 ]. Some authors have considered integrative policies (i.e., food–water–energy, food–energy, or water–food) as a driver of food security due to their impact on environmental improvement through natural resource handling efficiency [ 56 , 73 , 133 , 139 , 172 , 173 ]. Some authors have considered establishing dietary standard policies as an enabler of food security [ 69 , 151 , 163 , 174 ]. The government should impose policies on healthy food consumption to prevent obesity, such as prohibiting trans-fats. Moreover, they should restrict trans-fat usage in food outlets, establish institutional food standards, implement menu labelling regulations for chain restaurants, and ensure that disadvantaged people have better access to healthy meals [ 151 ].

Authors have highlighted various additional arguments or policies that are considered drivers for FS such as establishing public programs to influence diets in a healthy manner, reducing yield volatility [ 85 , 94 , 105 , 119 , 124 , 126 , 175 ], the country’s natural resources [ 85 , 105 , 119 , 124 , 137 , 145 , 162 , 163 , 176 ], geopolitical and political stability [ 69 , 98 , 104 , 117 , 123 , 124 , 142 ], agricultural infrastructure [ 64 , 114 , 116 , 118 , 142 , 146 , 175 ], food distribution infrastructure [ 71 , 75 , 76 , 112 , 177 , 178 ], economic integration [ 109 , 112 , 123 , 179 , 180 ], collaboration among all supply chain stakeholders [ 75 , 130 , 134 , 157 ], proper measurement of food security dimensions [ 123 , 181 , 182 , 183 ], urban agriculture policies [ 56 , 147 , 148 ], adjustments in dietary structure [ 59 , 86 , 163 ], establishing employment programs for poor household representatives [ 110 , 152 ], customer engagement in designing public policies [ 158 ], and trust in public institutions [ 166 ].

3.2. The Recommended Policies to Alleviate the Food Insecurity

Analysis of the 141 retrieved papers revealed 17 major recommended policies, as visualized in Figure 4 . We also determined sub-policies under each category which were grouped based on common characteristics, relevance, and how they were categorized in the papers. The complete list of sub-policy categories and related references is provided in Appendix B .

The main 17 recommended policies and statistics.

Most authors recommended establishing FSP, in general, as a primary solution for food insecurity in developing and developed countries [ 56 , 57 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 69 , 81 , 85 , 87 , 89 , 91 , 94 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 126 , 127 , 130 , 131 , 133 , 134 , 137 , 142 , 144 , 145 , 148 , 149 , 151 , 152 , 175 , 177 , 180 , 182 , 184 , 185 ]. Many authors have suggested food consumption policies that offer safety-net programs or public food assistance programs (FAPs) such as food price subsidies, cash-based programs, structural pricing adjustments, or micro-credits as enablers of FS. The main goal of providing safety-net programs is to increase food consumption among poor people and improve food security [ 102 ]. Given the solid bidirectional causal link between poverty and malnutrition, FAPs have been recognized as critical components of the overall poverty reduction strategy. Food aid policies and initiatives can fill the gaps left by the for-profit food system and the informal (non-profit) social safety nets, ensuring food security for disadvantaged individuals, families, and communities [ 108 ]. Several authors have recommended establishing policies to enhance the performance and asset bases of small-scale farmers, such as loans, subsidies, access to information, and knowledge-sharing, to address food insecurity. Governments should adopt direct interventions such as structural price adjustments and targeted food subsidies to enhance the food access of farmers by lowering market prices and stabilizing consumption during high food price inflation [ 116 ]. Others have recommended establishing government input subsidy programs (input subsidy policies) that provide farmers with subsidies for investment into high-yielding technology (e.g., automation, fertilizers, high-yield seed). They all claimed this as an effective policy instrument for agricultural development, but each focused on a different mechanism. Shukla, Singh [ 130 ], for example, has discussed public distribution programs; Sinyolo [ 131 ] has emphasized policies aimed at increasing the amount of land planted with enhanced maize varieties among smallholder farmers; Wiebelt, Breisinger [ 124 ] has suggested investments in water-saving technologies, while Tokhayeva, Almukhambetova [ 137 ] have proposed the development of an agricultural innovation system. Others have recommended rural development policies to reduce yield volatility and improve the agricultural infrastructure (e.g., irrigation and water-saving technologies). Governments in developing nations must focus on R&D, agricultural infrastructure (technologies for irrigation and soil preservation), expansion services, and early warning systems [ 101 ]. Technological advancement, in general, is seen as a vital element in reducing yield volatility [ 85 ]. Capacity-building policies (e.g., educational, training, and technical support) have received considerable attention in the literature as a fundamental component of urban farming initiatives, and as attempts to promote self-reliance and networking. Capacity building in many areas connected to urban agriculture is essential for equipping residents with knowledge and expertise [ 148 ]. To enhance FS, some researchers have suggested policies supporting locally produced food, diversified agricultural production policies, policies that impact farm-level commodity pricing, food stock policies, establishing policies to increase the income of farmers, buffer stock policies, and resource allocation policies (for a complete list of references, see Appendix B ).

Many authors have proposed different policy recommendations to reduce food waste and, thus, food insecurity [ 6 , 19 , 51 , 52 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 103 , 130 , 138 , 144 , 150 , 160 , 167 , 168 , 170 , 177 ]. Many have agreed on the importance of policies that promote information and education campaigns that spread awareness at household and public levels by improving meal planning and management in consumers. However, each author suggested a different approach. For example, Schanes, Dobernig [ 58 ] have discussed face-to-face door-stepping campaigns (online and in traditional newspaper leaflets), word-of-mouth, and television shows or movies. However, Septianto, Kemper [ 66 ] have highlighted the importance of social marketing campaign design and framing (having vs. not having) in conveying the intended message to consumers. Tucho and Okoth [ 73 ] have asserted the advantages of producing bio-wastes and bio-fertilizers from food waste and human excreta (in a food–energy–sanitation nexus approach), and also advocated for educating families on how to do so at the household level. Xu, Zhang [ 86 ] has argued that governments should help society to develop a logical perspective on food consumption and aggressively promote the habit of eating simple meals, particularly in social catering. Von Kameke and Fischer [ 52 ] and Zorpas, Lasaridi [ 60 ] have emphasized the importance of teaching customers about efficient meal planning to reduce food waste. Von Kameke and Fischer [ 52 ] have proposed using the Nudging tool rather than campaigning. Xu, Zhang [ 86 ] have suggested initiating suitable policy instruments to nudge individuals to adopt sustainable consumption habits, with important implications for decreasing food waste and increasing food security in China. Smart (innovative) food packaging and labelling policies have received significant attention in the literature, as they are critical in reducing food waste and, thus, improving FS. The nature, size, and labelling of the packaging impact the lifetime of the food. Smart packaging innovations and new technologies are steadily penetrating markets, thus increasing the shelf-life of foods through enhanced protection, communication, convenience, and control [ 58 ].

Food banks, food sharing, and food rescue policies have also received significant attention in the global literature, as they help reduce food waste and improve FS. Food banking is a critical long-term rescue policy for re-distributing surplus food to those in need and reducing poverty and food insecurity [ 80 , 92 ]. Several authors have recommended positive sanctions such as financial rewards, tax credits, federal and state funding, vouchers, or reduced taxes to decrease food waste and improve FS. Positive sanctions consist mainly of financial incentives to encourage restaurants and grocery retailers to donate their leftover food [ 60 ]. Addressing liability concerns might be one incentive, as the research participants have highlighted this as a universal barrier and that this issue, in particular, must be handled [ 51 ]. Negative sanction policies have received considerable attention in the literature as a tool for reducing food waste and improving FS. These include fines and fees imposed on companies and individuals accountable for food waste [ 58 ]. Taxes and fines are a potential way to manage and motivate restaurants and retailers to donate their leftover food to charities and community centers [ 65 ].

The establishment of policies that regulate the sharing of information and knowledge among supply chain stakeholders has received some attention in the literature in terms of reducing food waste and improving food security. Comprehensive food waste legislation has been discussed as a potential enabler of food security. A possible regulatory tool would be to revise and remove unnecessary food safety requirements that result in excessive food waste levels [ 58 ]. According to Halloran, Clement [ 6 ], food waste increased due to European food safety regulations and standardization. Food waste recycling policies have been used as a method to reduce food waste. Food waste can be utilized for value generation at any point of the food supply chain process through efficient techniques, then reincorporated into the cycle [ 77 ]. Food waste has a long history as a source of ecologically friendly animal feed [ 61 ].

A few authors have highlighted the impact of technological advancement (e.g., mobile applications) as a strategy to reduce food waste. Some authors have proposed implementing gleaning operation policies that provide tax incentives and government assistance to gleaners in order to decrease food waste. Some authors have proposed implementing peak storage reduction policies, such as stock-holding incentives. Nudging tools (which nudge people toward forming sustainable consumption behaviors) have been mentioned by a few authors.

Food safety policies received significant attention in the retrieved literature [ 61 , 64 , 69 , 70 , 103 , 105 , 111 , 112 , 120 , 125 , 129 , 130 , 137 , 138 , 149 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 ]; however, they have been discussed in various different forms. Few authors have discussed food quality and food hygiene compliance certifications. Compliance with sanitary standards is required to maintain the best practices for preventing food-borne diseases and food security threats [ 155 ]. Other authors have discussed the importance of food safety standards. Meanwhile, few authors have emphasized the importance of food safety throughout the supply chain, but each proposed a different strategy to achieve it. For example, some authors have suggested using an effective IT system [ 130 ], RFID [ 138 ], or developing food safety training policies [ 155 ].

Many authors have advocated for the implementation of trade policies to address food insecurity in developing and developed countries [ 94 , 95 , 101 , 103 , 111 , 112 , 119 , 123 , 129 , 136 , 141 , 146 , 148 , 149 , 152 , 157 , 161 , 164 , 178 , 180 ], but in different contexts. For example, some have suggested establishing infrastructure development policies that target agricultural logistic infrastructure, or improving the speed and quality of shipping logistics. In contrast, some authors have agreed on the importance of state trading and private trade-supporting policies. Others have suggested the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, while a few authors recommended reliable marine connection and transportation logistics policies.

Environmental policies are a fundamental enabler of food security [ 59 , 73 , 94 , 120 , 121 , 124 , 130 , 135 , 139 , 141 , 145 , 147 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 166 ]. However, authors have focused on many different aspects of these policies. Some authors, for example, have emphasized the importance of establishing policies to mitigate the effects of climate change. Others were too specific, suggesting greenhouse gas reduction policies, and proposed penalizing non-compliance. Due to the strong links between climate change, poverty, and food insecurity, some authors have proposed establishing coordinating policies among the three. Other authors have stressed the consideration of policies that encourage the optimization of fertilizer use.

Many authors have considered food import policies as a solution to food insecurity [ 94 , 95 , 100 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 109 , 112 , 116 , 117 , 119 , 120 , 124 , 126 , 134 , 146 ]; however, most authors provided different opinions regarding the most effective policy to implement. For example, some authors have stressed the importance of policies that provide direct government financial assistance to local agriculture, or the importance of policies that sustain local agricultural product prices compared to imported products. Some have recommended providing temporary tax benefits for agricultural investment, while others recommended import ban (substitution) policies. A few authors have recommended direct budget subsidies, subsidized loan interest rates, and strategies for the diversification of imported food origin.

Many authors have discussed the importance of establishing a common agricultural policy (CAP) to address sustainable agriculture [ 56 , 57 , 64 , 89 , 109 , 111 , 118 , 119 , 132 , 142 , 143 , 149 , 161 , 172 , 184 , 186 ]. Others have stressed the importance of food surplus policies in enhancing a country’s food security status [ 51 , 58 , 70 , 72 , 75 , 76 , 79 , 82 , 84 , 90 , 91 ]. Some authors have suggested strategies to regulate a company’s liability regarding the donation of surplus food. A few authors have proposed food policies that subsidize the purchase of surplus food—also known as “ugly food”—by controlling for prices and surplus item characteristics. Some authors have suggested establishing food loss policies. However, few authors have specified the need for policies promoting food loss quantification.

Many authors have discussed the policies that promote traceability across the whole supply chain as an enabler for food security [ 56 , 69 , 103 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 137 , 138 , 168 , 178 ]. However, the different authors discussed different technologies such as investment into information technology such as RFID, effective IT systems, ICT systems, and blockchain technology. Government policies should promote investments into traceability systems that focus on rapid withdrawal in unsafe food scenarios such as product recall regulations, fines imposed on hazardous product distributors, and food-borne food risk monitoring [ 129 ]. Many authors have discussed various risk management strategies to improve a country’s food security [ 94 , 117 , 118 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 145 , 154 , 155 , 157 ]. However, each considered a different approach to overcome the risk. Specifically, they have discussed food scandal policies, the COVID-19 pandemic, programmed risk identification, proactive policy measures to handle flood crises, early warning systems for natural disasters, or risk management throughout the food supply chain. Some authors have highlighted water quality policies such as efficient water-use policies, improving water resources policies, using water-efficient crops, investments into water-saving technologies, and food and water safety throughout the supply chain.

Some authors have discussed the management of government food reserves as an enabler of food security [ 64 , 104 , 112 , 117 , 118 , 124 , 136 ], and others have discussed integrative and coherent policies between food, water, and energy (as a nexus) [ 56 , 73 , 133 , 139 , 172 , 173 ]. Meanwhile, other authors have discussed policies that promote consumer education on sustainable consumption, improving consumer status awareness and knowledge regarding the ecological impact of their purchases [ 60 , 69 , 133 , 144 , 163 , 165 ]. Few authors have addressed the importance of dietary standard policies [ 69 , 151 , 163 , 174 ], urban agriculture policies [ 56 , 147 , 148 ], and food-aid policies [ 118 , 150 ].

Some policies were suggested in one paper only such as devising the right population policy in China [ 85 ], flexible retail modernization policies [ 158 ], policies that facilitate short-term migration [ 187 ], policies to stimulate equitable economic growth through manufacturing and services [ 95 ], and sound research governance policies [ 140 ].

4. Discussion

In this section, we discuss the polices and drivers in the greater areas, then compare them based on specific contexts. This approach serves to provide better understanding, thus informing decision-makers about the importance of choosing the right policies through considering many food security dimensions. By looking deeply at the extracted food security drivers and policies and the way in which they can be applied to each country’s context, we take an example from the MENA region. The MENA region includes a diverse range of nations, including low-income and less-developed (e.g., Sudan, Syria, and Yemen), low–middle-income (e.g., Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, and Tunisia), upper middle-income (e.g., Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya), and high-income (e.g., the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia) countries [ 126 ]. As food availability is a serious problem in the MENA region low-income countries (Syria and Yemen), due to war and violent conflicts [ 188 ], policies aimed at increasing food availability continue to pique the interest of policy-makers. In these countries, where citizens are incapable of fulfilling their basic food needs [ 189 ], the existence of food security policies in different forms is crucial for achieving food security [ 53 , 97 , 98 , 124 , 184 ], more than FLW policies. Policy-makers should focus on ensuring the availability of either locally produced or imported food, which requires appropriate trade policies to deal with food shortages and improve the availability dimension in these countries. Trade policies should focus on creating infrastructure development policies that target agricultural logistic infrastructure, improve the speed and quality of shipping logistics, and establish reliable marine connections and transportation logistics policies that remove tariff and non-tariff barriers.

Policy-makers should establish import policies that sustain local agricultural product prices compared to imported products, provide direct government financial assistance to local agriculture, and provide temporary tax benefits for agricultural investment.

Additionally, the governments should improve food access in the MENA region low-income countries by reducing or stabilizing consumer and producer food prices. To enhance food access, FSPs (e.g., education policies in general and capacity-building policies) may help to improve individual human capital. Governments also must provide supplemental feeding programs, typically targeting vulnerable groups in need of special diets, such as pregnant women and children [ 101 ].

Moreover, the government should improve credit access through the following means: policies that enhance the performance and asset base of small-scale farmers; the existence of policies that impact farm-level commodity pricing, thus retaining farmers and increasing local production; the existence of government input subsidy programs for individuals, and the existence of policies supporting locally produced food. These are all possible policies to improve the MENA region FS. Governments and global health organizations should promote food utilization in MENA low-income countries through the development of policies that monitor overall food quality, such as access to clean water and micronutrient fortification, or through individual educational programs on safe food preparation [ 155 ]. Finally, enhancing food quality can optimize the individual nutrient absorption [ 101 ].

In contrast, discussions of food security in the MENA region high-income countries have indicated that food availability, access, and utilization are generally higher and not a problem. However, food stability is low, which requires the attention of policy-makers to improve FS. Food stability impacts the other food security pillars (access, availability, and utilization). Moreover, it requires the economic, political, and social sustainability of food systems, which are vulnerable to environmental conditions, land distribution, available resources, conflicts, and political situations [ 190 ]. Food stability necessitates increased efforts and expenditures to achieve food security in the sustainable development goals, especially in light of increased academic and governmental interest in incorporating sustainability values into policies.

As food waste is prevalent in these countries, FLW policies are more critical than FSP, which is in alignment with our findings regarding food security drivers. FLW makes it difficult for the poor in developing countries to access food by significantly depleting natural resources such as land, water, and fossil fuels while raising the greenhouse gas emissions related to food production [ 115 ]. Addressing food loss and waste in these countries can hugely influence the reduction of wasted food and indirectly enhance food security. The number of food-insecure individuals may be reduced in developing regions by up to 63 million by reducing food loss, which will directly reduce the over-consumption of cultivated areas, water, and greenhouse gas emissions related to food production [ 115 ]. According to Abiad and Meho [ 189 ], food waste produced at the household level differs across MENA-region countries. For example, it ranges from 68 to 150 kg/individual/year in Oman, 62–76 kg/individual/year in Iraq, 194–230 kg/individual/year in Palestine, and 177–400 kg/individual/year in the UAE. It is critical to take more aggressive but scientifically sound initiatives to minimize FLW, which will require the participation of everyone involved in the food supply chain such as policy-makers, food producers and suppliers, and the final consumers [ 191 , 192 ]. Food waste reflects an inefficient usage of valuable agricultural input resources and contributes to unnecessary environmental depletion [ 191 , 193 ]. Furthermore, food loss is widely recognized as a major obstacle to environmental sustainability and food security in developing nations [ 194 ]. Preventing FLW can result in a much more environmentally sustainable agricultural production and consumption process by increasing the efficiency and productivity of resources, especially water, cropland, and nutrients [ 115 , 191 , 192 , 195 ]. Preventing FLW is crucial in areas where water scarcity is a prevalent concern, as irrigated agriculture makes up a sizeable portion of total food production, and yield potential may not be fully achieved under nutrient or water shortages [ 191 , 196 , 197 ]. According to the study of Chen, Chaudhary [ 197 ], food waste per capita in high-income countries is enough to feed one individual a healthy balanced diet for 18 days. Chen, Chaudhary [ 197 ] also found that high-income countries have embedded environmental effects that are ten times greater than those of low-income countries, and they tend to waste six times more food by weight than low-income countries. Consequently, implementing proper FLW policies in high-income countries can help to alleviate the food insecurity problem while maintaining the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of future food production.

Implementing effective food storage techniques and capacities is considered a key component of a comprehensive national food security plan to promote both food utilization and food stability; furthermore, proper food storage at the household level maintains food products for a more prolonged period [ 198 ]. Encouragement of economic integration between MENA region countries is very applicable considering the heterogeneity of these countries. For example, countries with limited arable land and high income, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, can invest in countries with a lower middle income, such as Egypt, and use its land to benefit both countries. On the other hand, Boratynska and Huseynov [ 101 ] have proposed food technology innovation as a sustainable driver of food security and a promising solution to the problem of food insecurity in developing countries. Due to the higher food production demand to support the expanding urban population while having limited water and land availability, higher investments in technology and innovation are needed to ensure that food systems are more resilient [ 190 ]. Boratynska and Huseynov [ 101 ] have argued that, in general, using innovative technologies to produce healthy food products is frequently a concern. However, improving the probability that innovative food technology will enable the production of a diverse range of food products with enhanced texture and flavor while also providing a variety of health advantages to the final consumer is essential. Jalava, Guillaume [ 193 ] have argued that, along with reducing FLW, shifting people’s diets from animal- to plant-based foods can help to slow environmental degradation.

The MENA region example described above can be adapted to different regions based on their food security situation, and relevant policies can be devised to improve food security more sustainably.

5. Conclusions

Food security is a complicated and multi-faceted issue that cannot be restricted to a single variable, necessitating the deeper integration of many disciplinary viewpoints. It is essential to admit the complexity of designing the right policy to improve food security that matches each country’s context [ 46 ] while considering the three pillars of sustainability. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to implement climate-friendly agricultural production methods to combat food insecurity and climate change [ 12 ]. Mapping the determinants of food security contributes to better understanding of the issue and aids in developing appropriate food security policies to enhance environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

This research contributes to the body of knowledge by summarizing the main recommended policies and drivers of food security detailed in 141 research articles, following a systematic literature review methodology. We identified 34 food security drivers and outlined 17 recommended policies to improve food security and contribute to sustainable food production. Regarding the drivers, one of the foremost priorities to drive food security is reducing FLW globally, followed by food security policies, technological advancement, sustainable agricultural development, and so on (see Appendix A ). Regarding the recommended policies, most studies have detailed the contents and impacts of food security policies, food waste policies, food safety policies, trade policies, environmental policies, import policies, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), food surplus policies, and so on (see Appendix B ).

5.1. Policy Implications

We assessed the obtained results in comparison to the latest version of the GFSI. Using the GFSI (2021) indicators as a proxy resulted in the identification of gaps and specific policy implications of the results. The idea was to identify which of the policies and drivers have been already implemented and which have not (or, at least, have not been very successfully implemented). We used the GFSI as it is a very well-established benchmarking tool used globally by 113 countries to measure the food security level. We examined the indicators mentioned under each of the four dimensions of food security, and listed associations with the identified policies and drivers found in the literature. Accordingly, we suggest the addition of two dimensions to the current index:

• Sustainability

The first dimension relates to measuring the sustainability dimensions that each participating country adopts in its food production process. We noticed that many authors stressed the importance of the existence of clear environmental policies that drive long-term food security. However, the current GFSI lacks indicators measuring this dimension. The reviewed literature suggested environmental indicators considering optimized fertilizer use, carbon taxes, aquaculture environment, bio-energy, green and blue infrastructure, gas emissions reduction policies, policies to reduce the impacts of climate change, and heavy metal soil contamination monitoring.

• Consumer representation

The second dimension is related to consumer voice representation within the GFSI. The reviewed literature suggested implementing policy measures that promote consumer education on sustainable consumption and improve the consumer status, consciousness, and knowledge regarding the ecological impact of their purchases. Any sustainability initiative should be supported and implemented by the final consumer.

Additional gaps in the policies and drivers of food security were identified and allocated under the relevant indicators in the GFSI based on the four dimensions of food security. Under the affordability dimension, we found a lack of policies in the reviewed literature addressing the Inequality-adjusted income index. Regarding the Change in average food costs indicator, we observed that the policies that exist in the literature concern the farmer level only (e.g., policies that impact farm-level commodity pricing and policies supporting locally produced food), and not all of the citizens at the national level. Additionally, policies that promote traceability across the whole supply chain were missing. There were no policies in the reviewed literature under the food quality and safety dimension representing the following: the dietary diversity indicator; micronutrient availability (e.g., dietary availability of vitamin A, iron, and zinc); regulation of the protein quality indicator; the food safety indicator (specifically the two sub-indicators of food safety mechanisms and access to drinking water), and illustration of the national nutrition plan or strategy indicator. Therefore, future research should pay more attention to and emphasize the importance of such policies, particularly in developed countries seeking to improve their food security status and score high on the GFSI.

Moreover, the reviewed literature suggested “developing food safety training policies” to improve food safety and FS; however, no indicators or sub-indicators within the GFSI represent such training policies. The GFSI developers should pay more attention to safety training practices and include them in the index’s future development. Under the availability dimension, the reviewed literature suggested establishing a food loss policy that promotes the quantification of food loss under the food loss indicator. This indicator should be enhanced through well-articulated policies that address the problem of food loss and attempt to mitigate its impact. However, while there were various policies concerning food waste or surplus, there were no indicators within the GFSI that represented food loss. As food loss and waste was identified as the primary driver of food security in this study, we recommend expanding the GFSI to include food loss quantification and reduction policies under the availability dimension. Finally, under the political commitment to adaptation dimension, some policies were identified in the reviewed literature in two sub-indicators: early warning measures/climate-smart agriculture (e.g., proactive policy measures to handle flood crises, programmed risk identification, and early warning systems for natural disasters) and disaster risk management (e.g., food scandals, COVID-19, and risk management throughout the food supply chain). However, under the other two relevant sub-indicators—commitment to managing exposure and national agricultural adaptation policy—there were no identified policies.

5.2. Contributions of the Study

The key contributions of this study to the existing literature are threefold. First, we identified the (34) main food security drivers and the (17) most-recommended policies to improve food security and enhance the future food production sustainability. Several studies have partially covered this area, but none have employed a systematic literature review of 141 papers covering such an scope in this topic. The gravity of food security worldwide is well established; hence the contribution of this work. Second, we provide a reflection of policies/drivers on the latest version of the GFSI, resulting in more tangible policy implications (see Section 5.1 ). Third, through a systematic literature review, we identified elements not listed under the GFSI that could be considered in its future revision. Examples include environmental policies/indicators such as optimized fertilizer use, carbon taxes, aquaculture environment, bio-energy, green and blue infrastructure, gas emission reduction, policies to reduce the impact of climate change, and heavy metal soil contamination monitoring; consumer representation, as the reviewed literature suggested policy measures that promote consumer education on sustainable consumption, as well as improving consumer status, consciousness, and knowledge regarding the ecological impact of their purchases; and traceability throughout the entire supply chain.

5.3. Study Limitations and Future Research

In this study, we identified the major drivers and the recommended policies to improve food security and enhance the future food production sustainability based on the reviewed literature. However, we recommend conducting a Delphi research study in consultation with policy-makers and industry experts. A Delphi study can be used to validate the findings of this systematic literature review based on a specific country’s context. This research was conducted using only 141 articles from two databases; therefore, we suggest replicating this research using different databases, which will allow for the inclusion of more related papers. Moreover, this research included only peer-reviewed articles, which may be considered, based on the guidelines of Keele [ 185 ], as a source of publication bias. Future research may consider including gray literature and conference proceedings. This research did not include the three sustainability pillars within its research string; therefore, we recommend considering the inclusion of the three pillars in future research. Future research should also investigate the use of alternative protein food technology innovation, such as plant-based protein, cultured meat, and insect-based protein, as a sustainable solution to the food security problem. Additionally, understanding the factors influencing acceptance of various technologies by the final consumer is particularly important given some regional characteristics such as harsh arid environments and the scarcity of arable land, freshwater, and natural resources.

Appendix A. Summary Table of Major Drivers of Food Security

Appendix b. summary table of most-recommended policies, funding statement.

This research was funded by the UAE Ministry of Education, Resilient Agrifood Dynamism through evidence-based policies-READY project, grant number 1733833.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.W., F.A., B.S. and I.M.; methodology, S.W., F.A., B.S. and I.M.; validation, S.W., F.A., B.S. and I.M.; formal analysis, S.W.; investigation, S.W., F.A., B.S. and I.M.; resources, I.M. and B.S.; data curation, S.W.; writing—original draft preparation, S.W.; writing—review and editing, F.A.; visualization, S.W.; supervision, F.A., B.S. and I.M.; project administration, B.S. and I.M.; funding acquisition, B.S. and I.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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There is enough food in the world for everyone. Locally-sourced solutions will ensure that everyone has enough to eat and families can build their communities without worrying about securing one of our basic human rights. Let's build a world without hunger.

Malnutrition is associated with over a third of child mortality. Nutrition is an excellent investment—it empowers people and communities. In doing so, nutrition fuels the development process and leads to poverty reduction.

Improved nutrition is central to improved income generation, poverty reduction, and more rapid development. Well-nourished mothers are more likely to give birth to well-nourished children who will attend school earlier, learn more, postpone dropping out, marry and have children later and give birth to fewer and healthier babies, earn more in their jobs, manage risk better, and be less likely to fall prey to diet-related chronic diseases in midlife.

The consequences of malnutrition for well-being and for socio-economic development are far-reaching. In infants and young children, undernutrition and growth retardation are associated with reduced physical activity, impaired resistance to infection, impairment of mental development and reduced educational capacity, and increased morbidity and mortality.

However, despite clear evidence of the disastrous consequences of childhood nutritional deprivation in the short and long terms, nutritional health remains a low priority. It is time for nutrition to be placed higher on the development agenda.

A number of simple, cost-effective measures to reduce undernutrition in children are available. These measures include improved maternal nutrition and care, breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and timely, adequate, safe and appropriate complementary feeding and micronutrient intake in the following 18 months. Urgent, accelerated and concerted actions are needed to deliver and scale up such interventions so as to extend the gains made thus far.

In adults, undernourishment can lead to poor health and diminished productivity through reduced physical performance and can hinder community and national development. Improvement of the nutritional conditions of the poor and undernourished is an investment which can help raise the productive capacity of both present and future generations.

What goes wrong?

1)    Food prices spiked in 2008/2009 which led to riots in 40 countries across the world.  Global increases in food prices directly affect smaller countries, and can lead to food scarcity. For example, food scarcity has gotten worse in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.  But larger countries in Asia were able to protect their markets by bringing in strict trade policies and protect consumers. As a result, while the number of undernourished increased sharply in sub-Saharan Africa, it remained constant in Asia.

2)    Natural disasters lead to food scarcity. Population growth is placing a strain on a limited natural resource base, but changing weather patterns are creating more droughts and floods, which dramatically decrease crop yields.

3)    Conflict affects food security by reducing availability, access and agricultural output through the destruction of the environment, health and health care, education, and other social infrastructure. Moreover, conflict adversely affects a country’s openness to trade. 

VIDEO CREDITS  Originally aired at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City on September 29th, 2012.

DIRECTED BY Jonathan Olinger and Michael Trainer SERIES CREATIVE DIRECTOR Michael Trainer  WRITERS Lindsay Branham, Jonathan Olinger NARRATED BY Rachel Brosnahan PRODUCED BY DTJ ( www.dtj.org ) PRODUCER Lindsa y Branham EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Michael Trainer CINEMATOGRAPHY Julian Tovar ORIGINAL SCORE Ryan O'Neal ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Adam Butterfield LEAD EDITOR Lindsay Branham EDITORS Jonathan Olinger, Austin Peck VISUAL EFFECTS Dan DiFelice MOTION GRAPHICS Dan Johnson COLOR Matt Fezz SOUND DESIGN Ben Lukas Boysen SOUND MIX Charles de Montebello, CDM Studios, NYC VOICE OVER RECORDING CDM Studios, NYC VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO Jane Rosenthal, Nancy Lefkowitz, World Food Program Guatemala

Defeat Poverty

Introduction to food security

Oct. 15, 2012

• Open access
• Published: 22 April 2021

Exploring the link among food loss, waste and food security: what the research should focus on?

• Fabio G. Santeramo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9450-4618 1  

Agriculture & Food Security volume  10 , Article number:  26 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Food loss and food waste are highly debated topics and likely to stay in the research agendas for the next decades. Their relevance is not only important for developing economies, but also for developed economies, especially due to the impact that loss and waste have on the status of food security. In the present editorial, I comment on how research agendas should be shaped in order to focus on emerging issues, and put emphasis on the topics closely connected to the emerging literature on the circular economy.

During the last decades the growth of the agri-food sector has been parallel to several other dynamics, such as countries’ specialization, trade openness, and socio-economic inequalities. These changes have not eliminated the threats for food insecurity, a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon [ 15 ]. Indeed, they have added further challenges on the global agenda: the share of food-insecure people is still high, with an estimate (before the pandemic) of 680 million people being food insecure [ 6 ] that are expected to increase after the pandemic.

Among the major threats that the global changes are imposing on food security, it is important to mention the increase in the amount of food lost and wasted. Wasting food is a relevant issue for (at least) two reasons: it emphasizes the need for economic efficiency, the necessity to produce foods for those who need it without losing (significant) shares of produced goods due to spoilage of inefficiencies in logistic; it calls for a reflection on the ethical concerns that the current production system imposes on our society.

The terms “food loss” and “food waste” are frequently used as synonymous, while they refer to different aspects of the same problem as suggested in Schuster and Torero [ 23 ]. Food loss, both production and post-harvest losses, refers to the accidental reduction in the quantity and quality of food before consumption. Potential food losses are also associated with food lost, due to pests and diseases, limited harvesting techniques, price volatility, or food not produced, due to the lack of agricultural inputs [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Differently, food waste refers to the intentional discard of food suitable for the human consumption.

To put all these issues in one term, food waste and food loss are detrimental for the status of food security, and, by implying sustained prices [ 17 ], impact on the compositions of diets [ 3 ], that are sensitive to income and price changes [ 18 , 24 ]. While the global demand for food grows, millions of people suffer from undernourishment worldwide [ 1 ]. About 1.3 billion tons of edible foodstuffs (one-third of the global food production) are lost or wasted along the food supply chain [ 9 ].

Food loss and waste may occur during production (e.g., pre-harvest, harvest, breeding), post-production procedures (e.g., handling, storage, transport), processing (e.g., canning, packaging, transformation), distribution (e.g., retail, transport), and consumption (e.g., preparation, table) [ 23 ]. The inefficient use of resources within the agri-food systems impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability: from the environmental perspective, food loss and waste contribute to natural resource depletion and environmental pollution; at the economic level, the impacts of food waste are substantial especially at the consumption and retail stages; from the social point of view, food loss and waste, by reducing food access and availability may undermine food security [ 4 , 10 ].

The reduction of food loss and waste along the supply chain, from production to consumption, is essential to improve food security while reducing pressure on natural resources [ 9 ], as stated for the Sustainable Development Goals envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [ 25 ]. The global food losses and waste are constantly monitored Footnote 1 on the basis of the Food Loss Index (FLI) and the Food Waste Index (FWI). While the FWI comprising the retail and consumption levels is still under development, the FLI considers food losses occurring from production up to the retail level.

What the literature has already emphasized and what needs to be further investigated

The first author that has investigated the connections between food loss and food security is likely to have been Nyambo [ 12 ], with the important claim farmers in Kenya, by reducing food losses (due to post‐harvest grain handling technology) are capable of enhancing food security.

After this pioneering study, the linkages between food loss and waste and food security have remained under-debated for a couple of decades. At the beginning of the new millennium Marsh et al. [ 11 ] focused on the impact that food losses along the global food supply chains have on food security and concluded that food losses are consistent for the vast majority of traded agricultural commodities. These studies have legitimated the strand of literature devoted to exploring how food losses increase food insecurity in developing countries, the most dependent on trade and in need of innovations.

More recently, Eikenberry and Smith [ 5 ] pointed out that food recovery and donation programmes may help reducing the amount of wasted food, and thus contribute to improve the status of food insecurity in most developed countries.

Containing losses and waste would help cutting the use of resources (i.e. water, energy) used for food production, with benefits for the environment and for the status of food security. In order to reduce food loss and food waste, governments are adopting legislative and non-legislative initiatives and consumer awareness campaigns [ 23 ] to favour the transition towards sustainable agri-food systems and supply chains that ensure food security in a green and circular economy perspective. For instance, countries in the European Union are committed to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains by 2030, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, since 2015, the European Commission took actions to prevent food losses and waste under the Circular Economy Action Plan, based on three major principles: reduce, reuse, and recycle (e.g., [ 14 ]).

Efficient containment policies along the entire agri-food supply chains may contribute to save water and energy and to implement an integrated resource use in a green economy [ 2 ]. Several topics are promising and should be explored more and more in order to follow new trends observed in the food industry [ 19 , 20 ]: the development of improved food harvest, storage, processing, transport and retailing processes, the adoption of new technologies; the organization of farmers in cooperatives or professional associations; the promotion of awareness campaigns for retails and consumers; the development of communication strategies among all participants in food supply chains; the promotion of reuse and recycle strategies in a circular and green economy perspective. The recognition of sectoral interconnections may help to improve cross-sectoral collaborations to achieve long-term economic, environmental, and social goals [ 22 ].

Another issue that should be on the research agenda is the relationships linking water and energy use to the status of food security. The global agri-food systems consume large shares of water and energy for food production and supply chains. Agriculture accounts for 72% of all water withdrawals [ 26 ] and food production and supply chains are responsible of about 30% of total global energy consumption [ 6 , 7 ]. In addition, in the global energy mix, the fossil fuel production (highly water-intensive) is still dominant with respect to renewable energy sources (less water-intensive).

Understanding the water–energy–food security nexus is crucial to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals: the domains “water”, “energy”, “food” are strictly interrelated and the achievement of social, economic and environmental goals in a perspective of sustainable development depends on an efficient management of these resources [ 8 ]. Global projections indicate that—due to a growing population, a rapid economic development and the urbanization, the changes in diets and the climate change [ 8 ]—the demand for water is expected to increase by 55% by 2050 [ 13 ], the energy consumption is expected to grow by up to 50% by 2035, and demand for food is expected to increase by 50% to feed the more than 9 billion people projected by 2050 [ 6 ]. Focusing on the nexus between water, energy, and food would help facing the global challenges that the globe.

To sum up, it is advisable to wisely orient the future research on understanding the interrelations between food loss and waste and food security. To this aim, scenario analyses would be useful to explore strategic decisions (e.g., policy, investment, technical intervention) planned or adopted to contain food loss and waste. In order to analyse the food loss/waste-food security nexus and assess the implications of containment policies, reliable, relevant and timely data is needed. Evidence-based analyses of the implications of food loss and waste on food security, supported by high-quality and available data, would provide key information to policymakers aimed at promoting environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable development.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

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Santeramo, F.G. Exploring the link among food loss, waste and food security: what the research should focus on?. Agric & Food Secur 10 , 26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-021-00302-z

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• Agri-food supply chain
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• Water–energy–food nexus

Agriculture & Food Security

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2020 CASE STUDY 3

Promoting food security, resilience and equity during climate-related disasters.

The U.S. is often viewed as a nation of abundance , yet paradoxically, one in ten households were “food insecure” in 2019, meaning that they struggle to get the proper nutrition to keep their family healthy. CS_77

These challenges are not borne equally. Rates of food insecurity were nearly three times higher for low-income and single mother-headed households and nearly twice as high for Black and Latino households than for White households.

Early research has found a doubling of the average food insecurity rate across the U.S. linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, with even greater increases among vulnerable populations. CS_78 , CS_79 , CS_80 , CS_81 Disruptive events, whether climate-related disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic, can exacerbate existing barriers to securing healthy food for vulnerable populations and further widen food and health disparities. CS_82

Food insecurity has clear health implications. Adults who are food-insecure may be at an increased risk of health problems, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, and increased susceptibility to COVID-19. CS_83 , CS_84 , CS_85 Food insecurity also puts children at a higher risk of asthma, anemia, and obesity, as well as behavioral, developmental, and emotional problems. CS_83 , CS_86

Climate-intensified extreme events are compounding existing food insecurity

Climate change is anticipated to worsen existing food insecurity as climate-related disasters, such as drought and flooding, become more frequent and severe and as agricultural pests become more persistent. CS_72 , CS_87 In 2019, there were fourteen climate-related disasters within the U.S. that each caused over a billion dollars in damages. CS_52

Historic floods in the Midwest destroyed millions of acres of agriculture and caused widespread infrastructure damage ( see  the Case Study ). In addition, an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season inundated coastlines with unprecedented rainfall, high winds, and storm surge; and wildfires in California and Alaska caused widespread energy disruptions, compromising the health and well-being of residents. CS_52

The mechanisms of food system disruption

Disasters such as these threaten all aspects of food production, distribution, and accessibility, with subsequent impacts for affordability that can further exacerbate food insecurity for vulnerable populations. When food is not consumed where it is produced, it must be processed, stored, transported, and then sold or donated. These processes involve complex interdependent, and at times, international systems. Roads, bridges, warehouses, airports, energy grids, and other transportation or telecommunication infrastructure are at risk of direct damage from climate change, severely disrupting the food system as a whole. CS_88 , CS_89

For example, following the 2019 floods in the Central states, the flood waters caused more than forty state and federal highways to close, hydroelectric dams to be breached, and threatened nuclear power stations (see Case Study). CS_90 , CS_91 These disturbances limited the movement and storage of goods throughout the region and prevented consumers from accessing food sources. CS_91 , CS_92 In the midst of an extreme fire season in California that same year, utility providers turned off power to millions of homes and businesses, plunging low-income households into hunger and financial crisis as their food spoiled. CS_93

Recent climate disasters decreased food security

Climate disasters can lead to acute food insecurity in the short-term and exacerbate chronic food insecurity in the long-term (see Table 1). Populations already struggling from chronic insecurity, or those who are only marginally food secure, are particularly vulnerable to the socioeconomic impacts of disasters, such as loss of livelihood, rising food prices, forced migration, loss of social support, and health-related impacts. Data from the aftermath of 2019 disasters is still scarce, but the impacts from previous disasters that are similar in nature are well documented.

Individual, household and community level risk factors to food insecurity following climate-related disasters.

For example, nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina, many of the households heavily impacted by the hurricane in Louisiana and Mississippi remained food insecure. This was especially true for women, Black households, and those living with chronic illness, mental health issues, or low social support. CS_94 Similar impacts were demonstrated in New York City following Hurricane Sandy, where one-third of surveyed households in the heavily impacted Rockaway Peninsula reported difficulty obtaining food due to economic hardship, disruption of public transportation, and long-term closure of grocery stores months after the storm. CS_95

A path towards equitable food security

Learning from baltimore.

In the era of complex disasters, community-level resilience is essential, as federal relief is often too slow and under-equipped to meet the immediate needs of individuals and households. A growing number of U.S. cities are working to protect and improve food security in the aftermath of climate-related disasters and help build climate-resilient local and regional food systems.

For example, officials from Baltimore, Maryland worked with researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in 2017 to assess the resilience of the city’s food supply to climate-related disruptions and to identify ways to support communities at risk of experiencing food insecurity both before and after disasters. CS_96 This is a wonderful example of the power of academic and public partnerships.

Baltimore also designated a food liaison to sit within the Office of Emergency Management during crises. This city received funding from FEMA to coordinate a collaborative regional food and water resilience plan with surrounding jurisdictions. When COVID-19 spread to Baltimore in early 2020 — closing schools and many businesses — the city quickly put its food resilience planning into action and convened a group of food assistance stakeholders to better coordinate responses supporting food access for residents.

Adaptive actions for health and equity

Local and state governments across the country can take similar steps to incorporate food insecurity risk analysis and adaptive planning into emergency management and climate adaptation planning ( see Table 2 ). Local governments and community partners can ensure food assistance programs provide well-balanced meals and are targeted to reach vulnerable individuals and communities.

It is critical to support federal and state assistance programs during non-disaster times, such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and school lunches. As an example, SNAP and WIC services have been pathways to try to meet the rise in food insecurity during the pandemic, and many schools have attempted to continue to provide meals to children most in need. CS_97 , CS_98 Thus, ongoing support can ensure that these programs are even more adaptable, optimally funded, and able to be rapidly mobilized during a disaster of any kind, thus reducing vulnerability and supporting food security in the short- and long-term.

Simultaneously, addressing food insecurity in the wake of disasters goes hand in hand with combating the root causes of food insecurity and health disparities, such as poverty and food deserts. CS_99 Structural racism is also deeply interconnected through complex pathways, including through the creation of disadvantaged social and economic factors that contribute to food insecurity. CS_100 Yet, even when these factors are removed, some evidence suggests food insecurity remains for people of color, highlighting the need for further research. CS_100 Finally, applying a food systems approach to food security after disasters, such as production of and access to healthy foods, and supporting diverse, local, and regional agriculture, is an important long-term strategy with clear benefits for both health and climate change.

Suggested adaptive actions for communities and organizations.

Adaptive actions for communities and organizations.

• Identify and address the impact of systematic racism and discrimination in food insecurity and food distribution systems CS_100 , CS_114
• Assess and consider public access to food for people with limited capacity to travel CS_94
• Promote policies and practices to enhance access to affordability of nutritious foods, including food diversion programs that reduce food waste CS_115
• Increase flexibility and access to emergency food for vulnerable populations (D-SNAP, WIC, food banks, and school meals)
• Screen for food insecurity in the healthcare setting
• Address food sovereignty for tribal and Indigenous people116
• Identify and address food deserts within communities CS_99
• Foster partnerships with local food producers through community cooperatives in order to promote food access and local economic resilience
• Create community collaborations for resource sharing CS_117
• Strengthen social support networks among vulnerable populations CS_117
• Undertake risk assessments to understand climate change threats and the current state of preparedness, specifically with regard to food supply CS_118
• Undertake food vulnerability mapping to understand risk profiles among neighborhoods CS_119
• Promote resilient local and regional agricultural practices, including urban agriculture and community gardens CS_120
• Urban food chain supply resilience CS_121
• Local food system resilience and food insecurity CS_122
• A food systems approach to climate change preparedness CS_103

Introduction Compounding Food Insecurity Mechanisms of Food System Disruption Decreased Food Security A Path Towards Equitable Food Security – Table 1: Food Insecurity Risk Factors Adaptive Actions for Health and Equity – Table 2: Adaptive Actions

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Reflections on food security

Wow, first term sure flew by! I really enjoyed what I studied this term, and even though I’m glad to have finished with exams, I’m a bit sad that my classes are over. I took a diverse blend of courses this term, ranging from food and resource economics, to soil and environmental sciences, to land and food systems.  I was surprised to find that there was quite a bit of overlap in the material covered across my courses, with several key topics emerging again and again. Food security was one such recurring theme. Although it was covered extensively across my course load, each course approached food security from a different perspective and offered unique insights. I feel that approaching food security in such an interdisciplinary way allowed me to develop a more holistic understanding of the issue, as I was challenged to explore it in many different ways.

Looking back on what I’ve learned this term, I realize that my understanding of what food security means has gained depth and breadth. However, global food security is a highly complex issue, and the more I learn about it, the less confident I am in any one approach to resolving it. I had the privilege of attending the Global Youth Agricultural Summit in Calgary this summer, during which young leaders from around the world convened to discuss how to feed a growing and “hungry” world. As part of the application process, each candidate was asked to discuss the issue of food security locally and around the globe, and suggest solutions.

I recently revisited my application essay, and took the opportunity to compare my perspectives on food security then and now. I realize that although I feel the same about some fundamental principles, my opinion regarding several issues has shifted. Looking back, I see that I had a somewhat superficial understanding of the causes of food insecurity; I now understand that the root causes of hunger stem from exclusive political and institutional systems, which operate in favor of an upper class elite.  Of course, this is a vast oversimplification of the root cause of food insecurity, however I do believe that weak governance and institutions are formidable barriers to the realization of food security around the globe.

I’ve posted my original essay below, as a sort of baseline for my understanding of and perspective on food security. It will be interesting to see how my opinions continue to change as I learn more, and as global conditions continue to evolve and flux.

Presenting at the Youth-Ag Summit

 Sustainable Solutions to Feeding a Growing World

My name is Mikaela Hudson, and I am currently studying Food, Nutrition, and Health in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. I’ve lived in Vancouver, British Columbia for my entire life, and have witnessed first hand the effects of food insecurity on my community. From my perspective, unequal food distribution and limited food availability are the main causes of food insecurity and under-nutrition, both locally and globally. I believe that the development and institution of sustainable agriculture practices on a global scale will ensure food security in the present and for future generations.

I’ve lived in Vancouver, British Columbia for my entire life, and have witnessed first hand the effects of food insecurity on my community. From my perspective, unequal food distribution and limited food availability are the main causes of food insecurity and under-nutrition, both locally and globally. I believe that the development and institution of sustainable agriculture practices on a global scale will ensure food security in the present and for future generations.

From my point of reference, poverty is the leading cause of food insecurity in my community. Almost 10% of British Columbians are food insecure, meaning that they lack access to appropriate quantities of acceptable, nutritious food. Although there is no shortage of food for those who can afford it, people living near or below the poverty line often struggle to keep up with the high cost of living and rising food prices. In my opinion, food security can be obtained through developing sustainable food systems. Localization of the food supply, maximizing the efficiency of land use, reducing food waste, and increasing individuals’ involvement in the food supply chain are all components of the development of sustainable food systems.  I believe that the implementation of these strategies is the key to the establishment and maintenance of food security in my community.

The broader effect of food insecurity can be seen globally: one sixth of the world’s population is undernourished, and one out of every five people in the developing world is chronically undernourished. However, food availability data indicates that over 3600 calories are available per person per day, and that there is more food available globally than ever in history. As such, the main cause of under-nutrition is not an insufficient quantity of food produced, but the unequal distribution and limited availability of food internationally.

Although international food-aid is a valuable tool in handling food emergencies, it is neither a stand-alone nor a long-term solution to the global food security crisis. Lasting, sustainable solutions are needed in order to ensure the health of all individuals and communities. Sustainable agricultural practices will enable communities to use the available land to grow adequate quantities of nutritious, life-sustaining food. As a result, communities will no longer be dependent on foreign or government aid, and consequently will be able to achieve both food sovereignty and food security. Therefore, the development and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices is essential to the establishment of food security worldwide.

There are many ways in which sustainable agriculture can cultivate food security internationally. I believe that the development of sustainable agriculture programs in at-risk and aid-dependent countries is a key component of the solution to the world hunger epidemic. Such programs would educate communities about the importance of crop rotation and variety, how to maximize the efficient use of available land, and the importance of respectful treatment of the environment, the land, and all living things. Furthermore, the sustainable agriculture programs would be highly involved in the development and distribution of adaptive crops (that are resistant to harsh climactic conditions), and ensure the ethical treatment of those involved in the food systems and those who rely on them. The implementation of such programs would promote food sovereignty and food security, strengthen communities, and ensure the security and sustainability of food supply chains.

The Youth Agricultural Summit is an ideal opportunity for young agricultural innovators, advocates, and enthusiasts to share their unique perspectives on the issue of world hunger, and work together to create sustainable solutions. Through attending Youth-Ag, I will be able to collaborate with youth from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and will gain a more holistic view of the problem of global food insecurity. When I think about the amazing potential that Youth-Ag has to have a significant impact on global food security, I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Margaret Mead. She said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. In my mind, there is no doubt that the Youth-Ag delegates will create positive change in the global food system. I am incredibly passionate about working with the international community towards ending world hunger, and would be honored to represent my community at the Youth-Ag 2013 Summit. Thank you so much for your consideration.

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In the discussions of food insecurity, one controversial issue has been the prevalent misconception of why people are suffering from obtaining nutritious food on a consistent basis. On one hand, Frank Eltman, a writer for the Business facet of the Huffington post, argues that university students are facing food insecurity due to college expenses exponentially rising within the past decade. On the other hand, Adam Appelhanz, a police officer featured in the documentary “A Place at the Table,” contends that due to budget constraints he has not received a pay raise in the last four years, and is now inevitably utilizing a local food bank in order to ensure that he has something to eat each month. Others even maintain that food insecurity is synonymous

Stuffed And Starved Summary

In the world, there are one billion people undernourished and one and a half billion more people overweight. In this day and age, where food has become a means of profit rather than a means of keeping people thriving and healthy, Raj Patel took it upon himself to explore why our world has become the home of these two opposite extremes: the stuffed and the starved. He does so by travelling the world and investigating the mess that was created by the big men (corporate food companies) when they took power away from the little men (farmers and farm workers) in order to provide for everyone else (the consumers) as conveniently and profitably as possible. In his book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel reveals his findings and tries to reach out to people not just as readers, but also as consumers, in hopes of regaining control over the one thing that has brought us all down: the world food system.

4.1 Explain The Impact Of Poor Diet On Children Essay

Parizad Batty-Avari EYE11-4.1 Explain the impacts of poor diet on children's health and development Nutritious food is of paramount importance for a healthy mind and body. Childhood is a time of critical growth in which proper nutrition is absolutely necessary. Children who have poor diets either due of a lack of food or because of bad eating habits and patterns, leads to inadequate intake of nutrients and are prone to significant short-term and long-term health impacts and diseases. Short-term impact on children’s health:

Argument Essay On World Hunger

World hunger is a major problem going on in the world. It is happening all over the world it isn 't just happening in one place. The people that are going through world hunger can not help it. A big part of it is that they can not afford food or it is that they are living in a really poor part of the world where there are not any resources of food. World hunger changes many families lives and it would be awesome if we could be one to make a difference.

Thesis Statement On Nutrition

According to Northoff (2007), nutrition is critical for a healthy and active life, but many people around the world still have no access to sufficient and nutritious food because of poverty and lack of nutrition education. Moreover, Riddle (2005) stresses that nutrition education is a key for developing the skills and motivation needed to eat well, and is especially important in situations where families have limited resources. The benefits of nutrition education and counselling can directly influence nutritional status, consequently, helping in attaining the millennium development goal (MDG) to reduce the prevalence of hunger and malnutrition (Garcia, 2008). In a recent preliminary study conducted by ENDESA in 2007, the way in which the mother’s educational level influenced malnutrition was observed. Statistics reveal that 15.4 percent of children of mothers with no education suffered from chronic malnutrition, while 9.4 percent and 4.7 percent in children of mothers with secondary or higher education levels respectively (Acevedo & Menendez, 2006).

Food Insecurity In Africa

Introduction. Food security is one of the biggest problems facing the African content in the world today. Due to climate change, rapid population growth and various other factors, many citizens living in Africa cannot maintain a healthy eating diet due to inadequate access or lack of income, this causes a high percentage of individuals to live way below the required amount of food needed to be consumed on a daily basis in order to be healthy and productive. A lack of food security can lead to malnutrition, diarrhoea and foodborne which worsen the problem of food security and becomes a problem on its own.

Theoretical Approach To Food Security

Literature Review: Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Studies, Analytical Concepts and Legal Frameworks Theoretical Approaches towards food security With respect to the theoretical approaches to food security, there are three theories developed in 1970s and 1980s as cause to food insecurity. The first one is Climate theory; this theory explains food insecurity as caused by climatic phenomena. Cox, related this theory with the concept of “famine belt” in which he directly links climate condition to food insecurity. This theory argued that in the national or local level, climate linked phenomena such as drought, floods and others are a major factor causing food insecurity (Cox, 1981, cited in Steven Engler,

Essay On Right To Food Human Right

Thus, the causes of undernourishment and of death from hunger and malnutrition of children are immensely complex, and they cannot be simply attributed to war or natural catastrophes. They are primarily due

Literature Review Environmental Issues

Review of Literature Environmental issues began to be discussed and debated only towards the end of the 20th century. Since then significant amount of literature has been penned down raising awareness about issues of pollution, deforestation, animal rights and several others however it has failed to result in major changes, ideas or even actions to save the environment. Several species of animals have become extinct; pollution level is at an all-time high, global warming is leading to severe climate changes all across the globe but these problems do not seem to alarm the decision makers. Leydier & Martin (2013) also states that, “despite the increasing expression of concern in political and media debates about issues such as climate change, pollution and threats to biodiversity, “political ecology” (operating at the confluence of scientific developments, political engagement and ethical debates) is still trying to find its bearings” (p.7). It is quite evident that environmental issues are not treated in equivalence to political, economic, social or even religious issues.

Essay On Hunger And Malnutrition

Hunger problem exists mostly in underdeveloped countries. Hunger could be transmitted from mother to child. Every year, million of children are born underweight because their mothers are also

Food Insecurity Essay

Food, along with shelter & clothing, has always been considered as a basic need for life. Food insecurity has been defined as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” (Andersen, 1990). Food insecurity is a phenomenon that is widespread in India. While India is self-reliant in terms of cereals but there is a deficit in production of pulses and oilseeds in the country.

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Food Security : Essay, Article, Speech, Paragraph, Composition

Food security means the situation in which people of all backgrounds at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dieter needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.When it comes to the issue of food security in India, it is important because more than one third of the population is poor and children are malnourished according to some statistics. India have varying climatic and economic conditions all over the country. Therefore the matter of food security have to be taken into account very properly and with a proper plan. There are four main dimensions of food security: Availability, Access, utilization, stability.

The first step towards food security is to make proper and sufficient availability of food to meet the demands of the population. Food have to be sufficiently available for distribution to the public. Now there are many challenges against the availability of food grains in India. First of all farming is becoming a non viable occupation. Due to increase in population, agrarian areas are occupied for housing and other activities. Further scope for increase in net sown area is limited. Environmental conditions like depletion in soil fertility, erosion and water logging also creates hindrance in smooth running of the agricultural activities. Decline in surface irrigation rate and decrease in level of ground water by overuse are also one of the factors for decreased productivity. There is a great disparity in production of crops between rain fed and irrigated areas. Farm sizes are shrinking too. So first of all it is important that the agricultural sector is taken into account seriously. Developing this sector is the backbone of the country . Most of people involved in agriculture, unless they are helped by the government to be gainfully working, the economic conditions will not improve. Distribution of proper high yielding varieties of seeds, proper assistance in fertilizers and manure usage, improving the handling of harvested crops and storing them in safe and dry place will ensure proper availability till a great extent. The green revolution and yellow revolution were two such schemes taken by the government to ensure food security. The cost of food grains per quint should be improved too so that the farmers do not give up their occupation to do something easier and also to earn more money. Buffer stocks must be build up by the government more to provide food security.

Now when it comes to making those food grains available, its the duty of public distribution systems. They should be setup more in number by also keeping in mind that those stocks are not leaked unscrupulously. Till now we talked about only food grains like rice and wheat. Pulses , vegetables and fruits are also a thing that gets included when discussing food security. Perishable food like tomatoes and all can be gainfully processed into sauces. Actually food processing industries should also be an initiative to be taken into account. Food factories provide employment  both upstream and downstream. That is; both traders and farmers are benefited and in the factory the workers are also getting chance to be employed.There is sometimes surplus of production of those perishable items. So, even after meeting demands in the market, the rest gets wasted. And moreover poor people who cannot afford them without money, don’t get them for free also. Those could have been successfully processed into some packed food and preserved. Those could have been sold to other parts also. It is not surprising that the system of food production till that food reaches our plates is very cumbersome. Stores have surplus stock lying unused and degrading while so much of the population is malnourished. So first of all public distribution systems must be increased and there must be measures to check corruption in illegal selling of those stock at other markets. Farmers must be given chance to profit more by delivering proper yield . Seasonal unavailability of food must be checked by releasing food grains from government buffer stock . And safe transportation must be ensured when transporting food grains from one places to another. Prices must be in control and proper subsidies must be provided to the poor.

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Food Security in India

Last updated on December 10, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Food security in India has been a significant policy concern for many years. India’s economy may be the one that is booming most rapidly in the world, but it is also seeing an increase in food price inflation. Read here to understand the food insecurity in India.

The price of food began to rise rapidly in 2019 and has continued to grow ever since. Annual inflation in July 2023 hit 11%, which was the highest level in a decade.

A portion of the population may have difficulty obtaining food with sufficient nutritional content as a result of the ongoing high food price inflation.

The term “food security” refers to the availability, accessibility, and affordability of safe and nutritious food for all individuals in a country.

Table of Contents

Food insecurity in India

Food insecurity in India has been a longstanding and complex issue, despite significant improvements in food production and distribution over the years. Several factors contribute to food insecurity in the country:

• Poverty: A significant portion of India’s population lives below the poverty line. Low income and lack of economic opportunities can limit people’s access to nutritious food.
• Unequal Distribution: While India produces enough food to feed its population, the distribution of food is unequal. Food often doesn’t reach those who need it the most, leading to food shortages in certain regions.
• Price Fluctuations: Price fluctuations in essential food commodities, such as rice and wheat, can make them unaffordable for many people during times of high inflation.
• Agricultural Challenges: India’s agriculture sector faces challenges such as unpredictable weather patterns, water scarcity, soil degradation, and inadequate infrastructure. These factors can lead to lower crop yields and affect food production.
• Land Ownership: Unequal land ownership patterns can limit small-scale farmers’ access to land and resources, making it difficult for them to produce sufficient food for their families.
• Food Wastage: A significant amount of food is lost or wasted during production, storage, and distribution. This wastage contributes to food scarcity.
• Malnutrition: Food insecurity is often linked to malnutrition. Even when food is available, it may lack the necessary nutrients for a balanced diet, leading to malnutrition issues, especially among children.
• Urbanization: Rapid urbanization has led to changes in dietary habits, with a greater reliance on processed and less nutritious foods, contributing to health-related food insecurity issues.
• Natural Disasters: India is prone to natural disasters like droughts, floods, and cyclones. These events can disrupt food production and lead to food shortages in affected areas.
• COVID-19 Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns further exacerbated food insecurity by disrupting supply chains, affecting livelihoods, and increasing the vulnerability of marginalized populations.

While India has implemented various food security programs like the Public Distribution System (PDS) , the National Food Security Act (NFSA), and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, there are often challenges in their effective implementation, including issues related to leakages and corruption.

Also read: Global Food Security Index 2021

Food security in India

India has made significant progress in improving food security, but challenges still exist.

• Food Production: India has made remarkable progress in increasing food production, particularly in staple crops like rice and wheat. The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s played a crucial role in boosting agricultural productivity.
• Buffer Stocks: India maintains strategic grain reserves, known as buffer stocks , to stabilize food prices and meet emergencies. These stocks are managed by agencies like the Food Corporation of India (FCI) .
• Addressing Malnutrition: India has implemented programs to address malnutrition, particularly among children and pregnant women. These programs focus on improving nutritional intake and health outcomes.
• Containing Pandemic Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in India’s food security system, as lockdowns disrupted supply chains and livelihoods. The government implemented relief measures, including distributing free food grains to vulnerable populations.
• Nutrition Quality: While food availability has improved, the focus is shifting toward improving the quality of food and addressing issues of hidden hunger, where people lack essential vitamins and minerals in their diet.
• Sustainable Agriculture: There is a growing emphasis on sustainable agriculture practices, including organic farming, to ensure long-term food security while protecting the environment.
• Climate Change Resilience: Building resilience to climate change is a priority for ensuring food security in the face of changing weather patterns and extreme events.
• Role of Technology: Technology is being increasingly harnessed for better crop management , weather forecasting, and food distribution, which can enhance food security efforts.

Government initiatives

National Food Security Act (NFSA):

• The NFSA, enacted in 2013, is a landmark legislation aimed at providing legal entitlements to food for a large section of India’s population. It aims to ensure that a specified quantity of food grains is made available to eligible beneficiaries at affordable prices.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

• The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which began on October 2, 1975, is one of the Government of India’s flagship programs and one of the world’s largest and most innovative early childhood care and development programs.

Public Distribution System

• It is defined as the system in which food procured by the FCI is distributed among the weaker or poorer sections of society.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

• This scheme was launched in December 2000. Under this scheme, one crore of the poorest among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system was identified. In this scheme, the State Rural Development Department has identified poor families through the Below poverty line survey.

Other schemes and initiatives:

• Eat Right India Movement
• POSHAN Abhiyan
• Food Fortification
• National Innovations Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

Way forward

Improving food security in India is a multifaceted challenge that requires a combination of policies, programs, and initiatives aimed at increasing food availability, access, and utilization.

Enhance Agricultural Productivity:

• Invest in agricultural research and development to develop high-yield and climate-resilient crop varieties.
• Promote sustainable farming practices, including organic farming and precision agriculture.
• Improve access to modern farming technologies, such as improved seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation systems.

Increase Crop Diversification:

• Encourage diversification of crops to reduce dependency on a few staple crops and improve dietary diversity.
• Promote the cultivation of nutritious crops, fruits, and vegetables to address malnutrition issues.

Support Small-Scale Farmers:

• Provide small-scale farmers with access to credit, affordable crop insurance, and agricultural extension services.
• Promote farmer cooperatives and self-help groups to enhance collective bargaining power.

Water Management:

• Invest in water conservation and management techniques to address water scarcity issues.
• Promote efficient irrigation practices, such as drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting.

Infrastructure Development:

• Improve rural infrastructure, including roads, storage facilities, and markets, to reduce post-harvest losses and connect farmers to consumers.

Food Distribution and Supply Chain Enhancement:

• Strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other food distribution networks to ensure efficient and equitable access to food.
• Address issues related to food wastage during storage and transportation.

Nutrition Education:

• Launch public awareness campaigns to educate people about balanced nutrition and healthy eating habits.
• Implement school-based nutrition programs to improve the health and nutrition of children.

Social Safety Nets:

• Expand and strengthen social safety net programs like the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme to provide subsidized food to vulnerable populations.

Support for Women in Agriculture:

• Empower women in agriculture by providing training, credit, and land rights.
• Recognize and value the crucial role of women in food production and household nutrition.

Climate Resilience:

• Develop climate-resilient farming practices and provide support to farmers to adapt to changing climate patterns.
• Promote agroforestry and sustainable land use practices.

Reduce Food Loss and Waste:

• Implement measures to reduce food loss and waste at all stages of the supply chain, from farm to fork.
• Encourage food donation and redistribution programs to redirect surplus food to those in need.

Research and Innovation:

• Invest in research and innovation to find solutions to food security challenges, including crop diseases, pests, and climate-related issues.

Policy and Governance:

• Strengthen governance and transparency in food-related policies and programs to reduce corruption and ensure effective implementation.
• Monitor and evaluate food security initiatives to assess their impact and make necessary improvements.

International Cooperation:

• Collaborate with international organizations and neighboring countries on food security initiatives, trade agreements, and disaster response.

Also read: Malnutrition in India

Addressing food insecurity in India requires a multi-pronged approach that includes improving agricultural practices, ensuring equitable distribution, reducing food wastage, enhancing access to social safety nets, and addressing poverty and malnutrition.

Government policies and programs, as well as international cooperation and support, play crucial roles in mitigating food insecurity and improving food access for all segments of the population.

India has made significant strides in improving food security, but challenges such as poverty, inequality, and the impacts of climate change continue to influence the nation’s efforts to ensure that all its citizens have access to adequate and nutritious food.

Addressing these challenges requires ongoing policy measures, investment in agriculture and rural development, and a commitment to social safety nets and nutrition programs.

Also read:  Biofortification

-Article by Swathi Satish

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Food security required for national security

Through the years, food security and self-sufficiency especially in rice has been a cherished dream of the Philippines. Since the inception of Masagana 99, which made the country self-sufficient in rice for a while in the late 1970s, the government has launched a succession of programs aimed at attaining self-sufficiency in the staple.

Public awareness of the urgent imperative of national food security was recently heightened by media coverage of the issue of rice importation. This burning issue emerged with President Duterte’s statement on the National Food Authority’s procurement from Filipino farmers at a time of peak harvest. Rice importation was highlighted by the clamor of food security experts to shore up the country’s buffer stock of the staple especially for the coming lean months.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization states that “food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” When this access is denied, social unrest can be sparked. (For instance, in 2008 when there was a spike in food prices, there were riots and unrest in various parts of the world.) Thus, aside from terrorism and other external challenges, food insecurity is a significant threat to national security. Sustainable food security is therefore an indispensable requisite to national security.

At the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996, heads of states reaffirmed everyone’s right to access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right to be free from hunger. They pledged political will and common and national commitment to achieving food security for all and to supporting an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate objective of reducing the number of undernourished people to half its level.

Poverty is the root cause of hunger and food insecurity, so increasing people’s income is indispensable in improving their access to food. Ensuring national food security should thus be undertaken in the context of improving the income and livelihoods of the people especially those in the rural areas.

Sustainable food security should equitably benefit smallholder farmers and consumers. Climate-change-related events have damaged farms of major food-producing countries, decreasing global food stocks to all-time lows. As a result, there is less food for export as countries move to secure domestic demand. Moreover, the Asean common market poses a tremendous challenge in making Filipino farmers competitive with their counterparts in the region.

Amid the substantial increase in food supply, it is intolerable that more than three million Filipino families do not have enough food to eat. The Philippines imports about 37 percent of its cereal requirements which include rice and corn. It also imports 98 percent of milk and other dairy products. Although it is a net exporter of fish in terms of value, it imports more fish by weight. While it earns $3.14 billion from its top agricultural exports, it spends almost double the amount on top agricultural imports.

Despite available technology and top-caliber personnel, the Philippines is prevented from attaining sustained food security by short-term domestic food production programs, rising food prices, and reduced global food supply, as well as natural and manmade disasters aggravated by climate change.

The country needs to harness strong political will to move forward and erase its global reputation as one of the world’s largest rice importers amid the presence of reputable agricultural research institutions and a critical mass of highly trained scientists.

A rising “perfect storm”—a confluence of climate change, rising food prices, energy crisis, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and population explosion—is the biggest threat to food security and global agriculture in this century. Filipino farmers  will be the hardest hit due mainly to increasing water scarcity, frequent droughts, rising temperatures, new pests and diseases, shorter growing seasons and degraded natural resources especially in rain-fed and upland areas. Moreover, they spend about 60 percent of their income on food. Thus, the challenges of hunger and food insecurity are likely to persist, unless urgent, determined, coordinated and sustained action is taken.

There is a need to adopt supportive policies and sustained investments supporting food production, postproduction and procurement. Accompanying these, agriculture must be modernized in order to synergize linkages of the whole value chain from preproduction, production, processing, marketing and consumption. This will maximize productivity and add value to benefit all the players in the system.

The main drivers of agriculture modernization are programs propelled by science-based innovations, policy reforms, sound management and governance systems, a new breed of entrepreneurs, empowered farming communities, and market-oriented agro-based industries.

Together with providing food assistance to the poorest Filipino families, effective contingency systems should be established for smallholder farmers and their communities. This will enable them to be prepared at all times, to be resilient vis a vis the effects of natural calamities, and to be able to meet transitory food and seed needs.

Propelled by a strong political will, we need to modernize agriculture now to fulfill the country’s cherished  dream of achieving  food security and national security for all times.

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Dr. Rex L. Navarro is a member of the Coalition for Agriculture Modernization of the Philippines and former director of strategic marketing and communication at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Andra Pradesh, India.

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