The FAO report ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019′ is dedicated to the world’s children. Undernutrition, rickets and childhood obesity-which often coexist in the same areas, in Africa and Asia especially-are getting worse. The decline of civilization.
Zero hunger, distant goal
The annual report ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019’ was presented in New York, 7/15/19, by five UN agencies. (1) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The scenario described is indeed bleak. Not only because of the absolute numbers and prevalence of malnutrition in its various forms, but especially because of their growing trend. Over the past decades, undernutrition had been gradually declining, with a negative peak in 2014. Instead, the hunger vortex has returned to growth since 2015, with a regression to the levels reached in 2010-2011.
‘Our interventions to address these worrying trends will need to be more decisive not only in terms of scope, but also in terms of multi-sectoral collaboration‘ (FAO, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019, preface).
The most affected regions are East and Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia. The situation is ‘very alarming’ in Africa, where malnutrition has shown a steady increase in all regions since 2015. In Latin America and the Caribbean, malnutrition rates have also increased in recent years, partly due to extreme right-wing political drifts that have favored oligarchies at the expense of policies to support the disadvantaged social classes (e.g., the Fome Zero and Bolsa Familia programs in Brazil). In contrast, the situation in Asia, while still critical, has been gradually improving.
Extreme hunger, 821 million people
Extreme hunger in 2018 afflicted more than 821 million people, according to an inevitably rough estimate due to a lack of censuses in remote areas. Up from 811 million in the previous year. There are over 500 million hungry in Asia, over 250 million in Africa, and 42.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. The African continent has the highest rates of malnutrition, which in East Africa affects nearly one-third of the population (30.8 percent). Africa and Asia are the epicenters of all forms of malnutrition globally.
‘Zero Hunger’ – the second of theSustainable Development Goals(SDGs) set by the United Nations General Assembly for 2030 – is an increasingly distant goal, demonstrating the hollowness of the commitments so far made only in words by its member states. While maternal and child undernutrition remains to date the primary cause of 45 percent of deaths in children under five.
Food insecurity, 2 billion cases
A new indicator was introduced, in the 2019 annual report, to measure the ‘prevalence of moderate and severefood insecurity in the population.’ This index is based on data obtained through surveys of population samples, interviewed about their access to food in the past 12 months(Food Insecurity Experience Scale, FIES). (1) Experiences gathered from individuals and households in 2018 show that 2 billion people – or 26.4 percent of the world’s population, 8 percent in North America and Europe – suffer from ‘severe and moderate food insecurity.’
‘In addition to the challenges of rickets and wasting, Asia and Africa are also home to nearly three-quarters of all overweight children in the world, predominantly due to poor nutrition.’ (FAO)
In addition to severe and chronic food insecurity, there is ‘moderate’ food insecurity, i.e., the inability or uncertainty of obtaining nutritious and necessary food on a daily basis. Hence the need to reduce the quality of daily food. Thus, while there are 49.5 million (7.3 percent of the total) deprived children under age 5, there are 40 million (5.9 percent) overweight children in the same age group. And childhood obesity is concentrated precisely in countries with the highest occurrence of moderate food insecurity. There where the cheapest and most readily available foods are junk food, that which best swells the margins of Big Food.
Childhood malnutrition
in all its forms-from rickets and stunting to overweight and obesity- thus confirms the relevance of the
Global Syndemic
. The global epidemic caused precisely by the deadly mix of undernutrition, obesity and climate change. We are all responsible, for not having demanded public and private policies consistent with essential human needs. Equitable distribution of resources, nutritional prevention, environmental protection.
Economic crisis and inequality
Inequality is the key word, the emblem of the degradation of modern civilization. Even when it refers to food security. Indeed, hunger increases in tandem with income inequality and marginalization. ‘Ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030 will require greater efforts and integrated approaches to eradicate extreme poverty, ensure decent work and inclusive economic growth, and reduce inequality. (…) Surprisingly, most countries’ where deepening economic crises and social disparity affect hunger, ’44 out of 65, are middle-income countries. Only 19 (out of 65) are low-income countries, of which 17 are in Africa’. The relationship between economic crisis, poverty and inequality is thus more complex than it may appear. Why?
‘First, it is not always true that robust economic growth helps reduce poverty and improve food security and nutrition. Economic growth, although necessary, may not be sufficient to ensure poverty reduction, food security and nutrition.
Second, poverty, food security and nutrition do not always move in unison. Countries can achieve robust economic growth and poverty reduction, but this does not always translate into improved food security and nutrition.
Third, when poverty reduction results in increased food security, this does not necessarily mean that nutritional status will also be improved‘.
#Égalité! Bringing balance back to income distribution, access to food, to water and sanitation infrastructure is the only solution to humanity’s most unbearable problems. As is logical, as well as reiterated in the same report under review. ‘The greater the inequality in the distribution of resources such as land, water, capital, finance, education and health, the harder it is for the poor to participate in economic growth processes’.
Supply chain equity-in the food sector, as in all economic sectors-cannot wait any longer. And it is our job to foster it, choosing only those products that guarantee decent remuneration for all workers involved in every stage of the supply chain wherever based, including intermediate stages (e.g., logistics). Greenwashing disguised as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has had its day, it is time to demand effective participation of economic actors in social values, according to the CSV(Contributing to Social Values) paradigm. #Ivotocolportfolio!
Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini
Notes
(1) Cf. FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO. (2019) The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019, http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/.
(2)
Sustainable Development Goals
, SDGs, Indicator 2.1.2, ‘prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Scale‘ (
Food Insecurity Experience Scale
, FIES). This indicator provides internationally comparable estimates of the share of the population facing severe or moderate difficulties in accessing food. Based on the lived experiences of individuals or families, gathered through direct interviews. The indicator will measure the desired progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG Target) 2.1
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Journalist. Consumption, rights, nutrition, social, environment. Head of Consumers Help. She collaborated with ResetDOC, Il Riformista, La Nuova Ecologia, IMGPress.
