A plan to end hunger

The importance of food to human well-being cannot be overstated: it provides nourishment to the body, lets people prosper through livelihood, and connects communities. Despite food being a basic human need, many people cannot escape hunger due to a variety of causes, such as poverty, catastrophes, conflict, and inequality.

In 2020, an estimated 768 million people - or almost 10% of the Earth's population - were undernourished, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies, job markets, and supply chains while inflating food prices. The latest edition of a UN food security report shows that that number rose sharply by 118 million people since 2019 when only 8.4% of the global population was undernourished.

Undernourished people are chronically hungry, which means that they haven't eaten enough food to live a normal, healthy, and active life for at least one year. For children, this condition can be particularly severe, resulting in long-term consequences. By 2014, worldwide progress toward reducing this problem had already faltered, after many years of progress. Sadly, famine has now loomed in many parts of the world, in addition to the economic problems caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. The number of people experiencing food insecurity is on the rise, as more people do not have access to food constantly.

Those who suffer from hunger for several years as children are more likely to die before they reach adulthood. Even those who survive may suffer many health problems and cognitive problems throughout their lifetime. Hence, when children are not given adequate nutrition, they are said to be "stunted," meaning that their brains and bodies do not develop fully. Stunting can negatively affect someone's ability to maintain attention, multitask, and regulate their mood. In particular, reducing hunger among children worldwide is a priority because, unfortunately, the chance of recovering from nutritional deficits diminishes with time. 

The causes of hunger vary from conflicts to poverty and from climate change to natural disasters.

The International Labor Organization estimates that workers worldwide will lose the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs by 2020, making the economic impact of the pandemic much greater than the financial crisis in 2009. Despite this, the simple end of the Coronavirus pandemic wouldn't reverse this trend since hunger had already been increasing before 2020.

Moreover, as climate change intensifies, crops that are sensitive to heat and extreme weather events will certainly lose out. It will be even harder to sharply reduce the number of people who are hungry if we do not take adequate measures to reduce the pace of climate change and to adapt to the damage already done.

Plan to end hunger:

Start with the most vulnerable:

The nation's government must expand social protection schemes to protect the most vulnerable in our globalized economy if we are to realize its full potential. The provision of this opportunity for equitable economic growth will enhance the purchasing power of the poorest people, thereby generating new jobs and boosting local economies. The right thing to do is to invest in inclusive development, but it also makes good business sense.

From farm to market: 

It is vital that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. Our supply chains must be optimized through innovation and investment to develop sustainable durable markets. As a result, we must improve rural infrastructure, including roads, storage, and electric power, to help farmers reach a wider audience of consumers.

Reducing food waste is key:

In India itself we waste nearly a third of the 4 billion metric tonnes of food we produce every year, costing the global economy more than 750 billion dollars a year. Food is wasted on the plate in developed countries, but the food is lost during the production process in developing countries, where crops go unprocessed or unused due to poor storage systems or because farmers cannot get their goods to market.

Promote diversity in crops:

Currently, four crops account for 60% of all calories consumed around the world (rice, wheat, corn, and soy). We need to help farmers explore and identify a more diverse range of crops in order to combat the challenges of climate change, food availability, and access. Agricultural crop diversity could provide communities with the nutrients needed for a healthy lifestyle. In order to achieve this goal, we must provide farmers with the tools and skills needed for the cultivation of these crops. Educating communities about the nutritional importance of eating a variety of foods is just as important as building the market for these diverse foods.

Invest in nutrition: 

For a child's development, nothing is more important than good health and nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life (between conception and age 2). The right nutrition is essential for preventing stunting and for promoting healthy development.

There should be no hunger in a world of plenty. The global population will reach 9 billion by 2050, so we must ensure that everyone has access to adequate food. We are now calling on everyone to join hands to end hunger in our world, including governments, businesses, civil society, farmers, and individuals. Zeroing out hunger opens up a world of possibilities.