Food Insecurity Issue

Janine Kandall N. SalinasIII-6

FOOD SECURITY

Definition: A concept including both physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs as well as their food preferences

Meaning it exists if:

“when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”

Three Pillars of Food

Security

Food availability

Sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.

Food access

Having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.

Food use

Appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

The Problem:

The Food Insecurity

of Today

SIX MILLION CHILDREN DIE OF HUNGER EVERY YEAR-17,000 EVERY DAY

ISSUEUnited Nations estimates there are

840 million undernourished people in the world. The majority of undernourished people(799 million) reside in developing countries, most of which are on the continents of Africa and Asia. This figure also includes 11 million people located in developed countries and 30 million people located in countries in transition.

Despite many similar political promises, the number of people lacking access to the minimum diet has risen from 824 million in the MDG baseline year 1990 to 925 million in 2010.

The proportion of children under five years who are underweight in relation to their age in the developing countries has reduced only from 31% to 26% in the period of 1990-2008.

Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia the regions most affected. In Sub-Saharan Africa the incidence of hunger is 30%. While in South Asia 46% of young children are underweight.

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 60 percent of all childhood deaths in the developing world associated with chronic hunger and malnutrition.

Causes

NEGLECT OF AGRICULTURE

POVERTY

Top 10 Poorest Countries in the World

Country GDP Per Capita ($)

Democratic Republic of Congo 300

Zimbabwe 500

Liberia 500

Guinea-Bissau 600

Somalia 600

Comoros 600

Solomon Islands 600

Niger 700

Ethiopia 700

Central African Republic 700

POPULATION GROWTH

CLIMATE CHANGE

NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS

EFFECTS

SOLUTIONS

THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL:

Goal 1:Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

GOAL 1A:TARGETHalve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

GOAL 1B: TARGETAchieve, full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people

GOAL 1C:TARGETHalve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE The funding is intended to support national

action plans on hunger, framed within a coherent global strategy for food security. This strategy is the responsibility of the Committee on Food Security (CFS) which pools the views of UN food agencies, civil society, donors and industry.

Delivery of the funding promise is far from certain. The US Obama administration had been praised for a transparent commitment to its $3.5 billion share. However, there are serious doubts as to whether the newly elected Congress will authorise the full amount.

WORLD FOOD PRICES When the FAO Cereal Price Index

doubled in the year to April 2008, food security became a global crisis. As the world’s poorest households spend 60%-80% of their incomes on food, they have no mechanism to cope with rising prices other than to reduce the volume or nutritional quality of their consumption. The crisis temporarily pushed the global hunger count above one billion and led to food riots in 23 countries.

FOOD AID

Food aid is not a sustainable solution to hunger but it has a vital humanitarian role to play in the most critical circumstances.

Monitoring the balance of food supply and demand throughout the world is the core mandate of the FAO, delivered by its Global Information and Early Warning System. Based on this information the World Food Programme (WFP) prioritises regions where the depth of hunger is most serious, typically delivering food aid for school children, expectant mothers, work-for-food programmes and camps for refugees or internally displaced people. The agency aims to support 86.4 million people in 72 countries in 2011, requiring a budget of $5.0 billion. About the same number is assisted by international aid agencies, leaving over 700 million people beneath the hunger threshold, dependent on highly variable or non-existent domestic safety net arrangements.

BIOTECHNOLOGY & GM

Genetically-modified (GM) crops, in which a gene of desired characteristic is transposed from one plant to another, are the most extreme and controversial output of the biotechnology companies. Claiming higher yields, and lower chemical inputs, GM crops sound like the answer to global food security. Although the technology has so far concentrated on overcoming weeds and pests, it has potential to respond to nutritional needs or drought and salinity brought on by climate change.

THE PHILIPPINES The Philippines is an agricultural

country with a land area of 30 million hectares, 47% (14.1 million hectares) of which is agricultural land.

1998: –7.2% agricultural production drop due to El Niño and La Niña phenomena.

“The rice price and supply crisis, coupled with the run-away prices of fuel in both global and local markets, present a clear and present danger of more Filipinos being hungry and in the long run, more undernourished.”

(Maria Bernadita-Flores, executive director of the National Nutrition Council)

PHILIPPINE PROGRAMS: School Feeding Livelihood Support Improving Health and Nutrition

Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons