In next 25 years, agriculture will meet huge pressure in our plant. With rapid increasing of global population, which may reach 9 billion in 2050, challenges show up: land shortage, clean water access, climate change, energy contention and survival threat. To support this exaggerated population, food production need to rise from 8.4 billion currently to 13.5 billion tons per year.
On 25th September 2015, a new global goals for the next 15 years is addressed by UN’s 193 Member States in New York called “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” which includes 17 sustainable goals (SDGs), 169 targets and 230 indicators.
Food and agriculture are completely engaged in all goals and targets. Goal one: end poverty, goal two: end hunger, goal fourteen: oceans and marine resources and goal fifteen: ecosystem explain intensive relationship with food and agriculture.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) play a very important role in achieving process. Food security is recognized as key issue linked to future challenges to build sustainable world. FAO pointed fourteen specific area to contribute for sustainable goals.
Food security and the right to food
Over 842 million people (2015) suffered from hunger in their daily life. Like poverty, food insecurity continually impacts both rural and urban regions. In rural area, poor farmers and agricultural workers do not have access to food. Citizens although have relatively sufficient food apply, reprocessing and disease control threat healthy food. Food security is related to economic growth, decent employment, social protection, health and natural resources management. Moreover, gender inequality opposes sustainable development including food security. First challenge comes from environment. With development of global business, food system has changed. Because of land degradation, extreme weather, urbanization and global market issues, food productivity and price went through fluctuation. FAO suggested that explicit political commitments need to be pushed. They should understand common underlying causes with data and information. Besides, appropriate governance mechanisms need to be established at reginal and country levels. Department in different level, projects and programs should feed demands with cooperation that ensure relevance and purposeful action towards the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Accountability mechanism and monitoring capacities need to be strengthened in all area of sectors.
Nutrition
Malnutrition including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and diet impact both individual’s health and national economy particular in developing countries. For people, malnutrition affects body growth and cognitive development of baby and young children, undermining the capacities and capabilities of individuals and communities. FAO estimated that 12% of the world population go through hungry with undernourishment. 26% children in the world approximately under five years old are stunted. The cost of malnutrition put emphasis on importance for seeking solution that loss of productivity and direct health care spending can account for as much as five percent of the global gross domestic product. Nutrition is a complicated context that access to safe, diverse, nutritious food, lack of access to clean water, poor sanitation and health care participate in. In developing countries, some people living in higher standard are suffering from obesity under over consumption while others are facing problem of undernutrition. That is a problem of food supply and should not happen. This need integrated action through sectors to solve challenge. Agriculture and health department should enhance nutrition of food. FAO pointed that producing food, generating income and supporting livelihoods is fundamental is the role of nutrition. To effectively increase nutrition, agriculture programs and policies have to set up index of nutrition and supervision department at the mean time need to check how much these indexes approached. In global view, international standard should be promoted. Countries follow and ensure food supply and quality. This will achieve only be realized if strategies are supported by investment plans and social activities connected with promoting diversification of livelihoods and diet. In the past few years, there has been far more concerns paid to the multiple burdens of malnutrition, with national and international initiatives rising to the challenge. The launch of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition can also refocus attention on opportunities to maximize the contribution of agriculture and food systems to improve nutrition.
Poverty eradication
People living less than USD 1.25 per day are defined as extreme poverty. Nowadays about 1.2 billion people in developing countries are experiencing extreme poverty. Moderate poverty, however is deducing in a very low pace. And more than 75% of the extreme and moderate poverty in rural area relies on agriculture. There are many issues coming with poverty. Children are forced to go into labor market which is illegal. Kids work in hard conditions with poor salary and is harmful for their health. Poverty reduction has been processed around the world. However, in order to enhance economic growth, government increases production with high-tech and modern facilities. Local producers don’t failed to access improved construction. Besides, extreme weather and climate change heavily impact environment plants grow and demand of stocks aggravates land degradation. To shift current situation, policy priorities need to change. The major of the rural poor are small-scale farmers which contribute most of productivity of food in the whole. Helping them access sustainable resources and advanced technology to increase production. Reducing poverty requires ecological and resource sustainability. Increased food production will exacerbate land degradation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss unless production methods and consumption patterns become more sustainable. So farmers need affordable access to technologies. Another method is to distribute employment into board area. It could reduce waste of labor force as well as ascend local economy. About market, facilities and road construction should follow the step of production. Investment in other part related to local residents such as education, health care and social welfare are essential. It is a long time running program that young people would learn skills to work in non-agriculture areas.
Here I explain three sectors of FAO actions in blog one, please explore more in blog two.