We all want our families to have enough safe and nutritious food to eat. A world without hunger has the potential to benefit our economies, health, education, equality, and social development. It’s an important part of creating a better future for everyone. Furthermore, with hunger impeding human development, we will be unable to achieve other long-term development goals such as education, health, and gender equality.
Up to 828 million people worldwide do not have enough food, with 50 million facing emergency levels of hunger. Matter of fact, parts of Yemen, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria may be on the verge of or have already succumbed to famine. Therefore, one of the most difficult challenges of our time is to eradicate global hunger
The United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, with the goal of transforming our world by 2030. The second goal is to eliminate hunger, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. This initiative aims to help us rethink our global food infrastructure, from growing and harvesting food to consuming it. With a growing global population, we will need to implement innovative, long-term solutions to ensure equitable food access and eliminate hunger fears.
What is zero hunger?
Zero hunger refers to a state in which no one is hungry or malnourished. They have the ability to have year-round access to healthy and nutritious food with no waste. Zero hunger has two components. The first is simply ending hunger, which means no malnutrition or empty stomachs, and the second is providing access to an inclusive and sustainable food system, which means no overuse of fertilizers and chemical pesticides.
Challenges to achieve Zero hunger
Due to the environmental footprint of intensifying agricultural production across the continent, achieving zero hunger by 2030 frequently raises the issue of environmental protection or sustainable social development among policymakers.
Food scarcity has been exacerbated by poor harvesting practices and food waste. The challenge now is to feed the ever-growing population, which puts a strain on the limited available resources. Doubling small-scale farmers’ agricultural productivity by 2030 (SDG 2.3) remains a daunting task for researchers and policymakers to address on a continent that now relies heavily on food imports.
Climate change, which is expected to primarily affect poorer countries, poses challenges to the food system through increased disease and weather extremes such as floods and droughts.
Enhanced all-season road infrastructure and transportation services are effective ways to increase food security and reduce hunger because they enable farmers to sell their produce to a larger market more frequently throughout the year at competitive prices. The need for this arises because approximately 45 percent of low-income countries’ land area and 51 percent of lower-middle-income countries’ land area are located more than five hours away from the main market, severely limiting agriculture’s ability to help meet local food needs.
Policies related to zero hunger
The National Nutrition Strategy, published by NITI Aayog in September 2017, provided a microanalysis of the problems that persist in this area and outlined a comprehensive strategy for course correction. The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition, also known as the National Nutrition Mission or POSHAN Abhiyaan is the Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The Prime Minister launched the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2018 from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, directing the country’s attention to the problem of malnutrition and addressing it in a mission-mode.
The National Development Council (NDC) adopted a resolution on May 29, 2007, at its 53rd meeting, to launch a Food Security Mission to increase annual rice production by 10 million tonnes, wheat production by 8 million tonnes, and pulse production by 2 million tonnes by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12). As a result, in October 2007, the ‘National Food Security Mission’ (NFSM) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The Mission was a huge success, achieving the targeted additional production of rice, wheat, and pulses, which is another step towards zero hunger.
The Zero Hunger Programme aims to make farm interventions, which include, among other things, organizing the farming system for nutrition, establishing genetic gardens for biofortified plants, and initiating zero hunger training. The initiative aligns with India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which is to eliminate hunger by 2030.
To end world hunger, comprehensive efforts must be made to ensure that every man, woman, and child has the right to adequate food; women are empowered; and family farming is prioritized. It necessitates a renewed focus on how to respond to crises while also developing capabilities and resilience within individuals’ and communities’ long-term and proactive strategies that benefit people and the planet. Experience has shown that ending hunger and under nutrition is possible with the right mix of policies and political leadership, as well as the participation of all those who can contribute.
Article by: Jia Sachdeva- VONGLE, Orion Square
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