Food security

• Food Security

  Physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
• Food Insecurity

  When individuals or households lack access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food because of financial, social, or environmental factors, which may impact their health, well-being, and ability to participate in society.
• Malnourished


  Not enough of the right types of food (nutrients / vitamins, etc.).
• • Undernourished


  Not enough food
• Food security is determined by:

  1. AVAILABILITY: in sufficient quantities through production, stores / stocks and the ability to import through trade or aid.
  2. Access: Can people, groups / areas acquire it through either purchase, own production / farming, or aid
  3. UTILISATION: Foods must have a positive nutritional impact. This includes cooking, storage, hygiene, water, sanitation, and feeding/sharing within a household.
• The discussion on food security:

  1. There is enough food globally to feed everyone adequately, but it is not evenly distributed geographically.
  2. Debate exists on whether current production levels can meet future food demands.
  3. Views differ on the necessity of national food security due to global trade.
  4. Globalisation's role in sustaining food insecurity and rural poverty is contested.
  5. Households may have enough food, but its distribution and nutritional adequacy for all members remain uncertain.
  6. Divergent opinions influence strategies to ensure food security.
• Large spatial variations exist in food security

  • The greatest risk of food insecurity is in sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and Haiti
  • North America, Europe, Japan, and Australasia are the regions considered the  most food-secure
• Physical/natural reasons for food insecurity include:

  1. Too high/low temperatures
  2. Drought: lack of or too much rainfall
  3. Global warming
  4. Natural disasters
  5. Physical features such as relief
  6. Pollution
  7. Overgrazing
  8. Infertile soil
• Human reasons for food insecurity:

  1. Population growth — or ageing population
  2. Corrupt governments
  3. Civil war/war
  4. Poverty
  5. Diseases – human and crops
  6. Lack of farmers / increase in rural-to-urban migration
  7. Economic crash
  8. Debt
  9. Exporting too much
  10. Remote areas – away from trade links
  11. Rapid urbanisation
• Sustainable development: Goal 2: Zero Hunger (UN strategy to minimise hunger effects)

  • The proportion of undernourished people globally has fallen by 50% since 1990.
  • Hunger has risen slightly since 2015; the world is no longer on track to achieve zero hunger by 2030.
  • As the population increases, climate change worsens and crop yields fail, placing a further ¼ of a billion at risk of starvation
• • Around 0.8 billion (8.9%) of the world’s population are estimated to be undernourished, with 90 million of these being children.
• Increasing the supply of food: Improving agricultural productivity through technology


  1. Green revolutions has introduced new crop varieties with higher yields, more mechanisation, better irrigation techniques, and new fertilisers and pesticides
  2. Global rice yields have tripled since 1961
  3. Development of hydroponics to allow food to be grown in new places
  4. Genetic modification of plants to make them more resistant to drought, pests, and disease
  5. Sustainable farming practices introduced and encouraged by NGOs and governments to improve the longevity of food supply in vulnerable areas
• Stragies to ensure food security: Reducing food consumption and waste


  • Improving storage, packaging, and refrigeration facilities to make food last longer
  • Educating farmers about crop loss prevention
  • Encouraging consumers to cook and buy only what they need and to donate leftovers to food banks
  • Better education about diet to tackle the growing obesity crisis in the developed world
• Strategies to ensure food security: Increasing access to food


  • Free and fair trade rules to allow poorer countries to import food at fair prices
  • Improving infrastructure to allow food to be transported to markets more efficiently and cheaply
  • Social protection measures from governments and NGOs to reduce food poverty
  • Grants and food vouchers to vulnerable households
  • Free school meals for the most disadvantaged children