The Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations says 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.”
Broad though
this definition may be, it must be underlined that food security is primarily related
whit hunger and malnutrition. FAO hunger statistics estimate that some 805 million
people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That
is about one in nine people on earth. The vast majority of these hungry people live
in developing countries where 13,5% of the population is undernourished.
Africa and Asia are the two continents that sadly “compete” in this issue: whereas
Asia counts the higher number of undernourished people, Sub-Saharan Africa is
the region with the highest percentage of population (one person in four) suffering
hunger.
Nevertheless,
if we analyse further the FAO explanation, especially focusing on the need for
food to be “safe and nutritious”, we can easily understand that also developed
countries may have to deal whit food insecurity cases. Apparently, over 15 million
people leaving in reach and developed countries can be classified as food insecure.
It follows from this that having food security as a nation does not necessarily
mean that all individuals living in that nation will be food secure.
For
example, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that 14,5 % of
American households were food insecure at least some time during 2010, certain
groups being particularly vulnerable: women (especially low income pregnant and
lactating women), victims of conflict, the ill, migrant workers, low-income
urban dwellers, the elderly, and children under five.
US food
security problems are obviously different from those developing countries daily
face. However, they must be taken equally seriously by the local
administrators. In spite of its debated meaning, the American expression “food
desert” can help us understand what we are talking about. It describes a location
that has limited access to healthful, nutritious food, especially in low-income
neighbourhoods, where people may have easier access to fast food and junk food
than to fruits and vegetables. These are the food-related problems that many
reach countries have to handle, together with guaranteeing the appropriate use
of food, based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care.
As different
are the effects and the type of food insecurity around the world, causes are
likewise various. As we may expect, poverty and natural disasters are fasten
bounded whit hunger and malnutrition. But other driving factors have to do with
food distribution, political will and agriculture practises. The common thought
that food is not enough to feed the whole world population is apparently false.
Actually, hunger seem to be caused by some wrong food distribution rather than food
by insufficient production. That is why there is a concrete possibility to fight
food insecurity. It is mainly a matter of political will.
Sources:
http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/
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