From Promise to Plate: The Unmet Goals of Achieving Zero Hunger
Goal 2 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals was a call to action to achieve or make significant strides towards Zero Hunger by 2030. However, the stark reality is that the world now finds itself in a worse situation and grimmer predicament than when this call to action was first sounded. The goal now remains blurred and distant as global progress against hunger is almost at a standstill since 2015. Today, the key global risks confronting us are an unhealthy combination of old and new threats that roll back decades of hard-won progress and imperil future development. These include escalating climate crises and the failure of climate action, social unrest, geopolitical tensions, inflationary trends, trade wars, and capital flight from emerging markets, all of which have collectively contributed to food insecurity, supply chain disruptions, strained healthcare systems, unsustainable levels of national debt, low global investment and growth, de-globalization and, regrettably to a decline in human development. The Global Risk Report 2023 ranks ‘Cost-of-living crisis’ as the most severe global risk over the next two years, peaking in the short term.[1] ‘Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse’ is viewed as among the fastest deteriorating global risks over the next decade. The report highlights additional threats such as ‘Geo-economic confrontation’, and ‘Erosion of social cohesion’ and ‘Societal polarization’, alongside two new entrants to the top rankings: ‘Widespread cybercrime and cyber insecurity’ and ‘Large-scale involuntary migration’. The cumulative impact of these threats forebodes a challenging and difficult future to arrest the intergenerational cycle of poverty and malnutrition and to build resilience and adaptive capacity to economic and climate induced shocks. The statistics provide alarming reading and are a cause for serious concern. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2023[2] confirms that global hunger is still far above pre-pandemic levels. It estimates that between 690 and 783 million people in the world faced hunger in 2022 – a figure that is 122 million more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that nearly one in ten people sleep hungry each night. The Global Hunger Index 2023 corroborates that the prevalence of undernourishment, one of the key indicators used in the calculation of Global Hunger Index (GHI) scores, has been rising and the number of undernourished people has increased.[3] It is projected that over 600 million will be chronically undernourished in 2030. The GHI scores indicate that 43 countries (mostly covering Central Africa from east to west and almost all of South Asia), have alarming and serious levels of hunger. Poverty and hunger disproportionately impact women and children. Globally, 40% of all children aged 6-59 months and nearly half a billion women 15-49 years of age are affected by anaemia primarily on account of iron deficiency in their diets. Significant number of pregnant and lactating women are undernourished and this intensifies the health challenges faced by their children. In 2022, an estimated 148.1 million children under five years of age (22.3 percent) were stunted, 45 million (6.8 percent) were wasted, and 37 million (5.6 percent) were battling overweight issues. It is caused by inadequate nutrition and recurrent infections during the first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday. Stunting is irreversible and casts a dark shadow over a child’s future as it hinders cognitive and physical growth and amplifies the risk of diseases such as diabetes. The prevalence of stunting and wasting was higher in rural areas, while urban areas had a higher incidence of overweight issues. Stunting denies children their fundamental right to grow, thrive, and build prosperous futures. The implications extend beyond individual lives; they reach into the very fabric of economies developing and underdeveloped economies cannot afford to have nearly a third of their future workforce to be poorly qualified, physically challenged, and less efficient. A physically depleted workforce would find it very difficult to compete in a demanding labour market. Access, availability, adequacy and affordability of food and, more importantly, nutritious food remains a major challenge. We are confronted with a myriad of challenges that include easy availability of cheaper pre-prepared and fast foods that contain energy-dense fats, sugars and salt contributing to the problem of malnutrition. Add to that the insufficient access to vegetables and fruits required for daily healthy diets, the marginalization of small farm holders, that constitute the vast majority of farmers, from well-established market-based value chains and the increasing loss of arable land to urban expansion and extreme climate impacts – drought and flood. The disruption of global and local supply chains has added another dimension. It has brought food shortages to the fore and has constrained food producing nations to reduce exports thus posing an evolving threat that will push more people into poverty, hunger and malnutrition. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2023 report estimates that more than 3.1 billion people or 42% of the global population were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021 – an increase of 131 million people compared to 2019 prior to the COVID pandemic. The Cost of a Healthy Diet increased by nearly 9% in Asia and 8% in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2019 and 2021. Globally cereal, energy and fertilizer prices are at historic highs and recent geopolitical events and the threat of El Nino portent that there will be little respite from this inflationary trend. It is a complex battlefield that demands attention at more than one frontline to ensure a healthier and more sustainable future for all. The New York Times reported that 60 million children received “zero-dose” of vaccinations and have aged out of routine immunization programs as a consequence of the disruption caused by the pandemic.[4] Another 85 million are under immunized as they received only part of the prescribed course thus making them vulnerable to disease and a lifetime of poor health. This year, child deaths from diseases like measles have nearly doubled from 2022. Conflict situations in the Sub-Saharan and Central Africa and more recently in Gaza have led to displacement of people making it difficult
