LESSON 4

FOOD
SECURITY
Objectives:

1.To know and understand the relevance of

food.
2.To know and understand food security.
3.To know domains of food security system.
4.To know and appreciate the importance of
food security.
What is
Food?
Food
 The basic necessities of life.
 Products derived from plants or
animals that can be taken into
body to yield energy and
nutrients for maintenance of life
and the growth and repair of
tissues.
 It contains nutrients—substances
essential for the growth, repair,
and maintenance of body tissues
and for the regulation of vital
processes.
Mixtures of Chemicals
 Makes you happy, healthy and going.
 This includes how food nourishes our body and how food
influences or health.

Food Choices
 Preference and Economy
 Habit  Positive and
 Ethnic Negative
Heritage Associations
 Social  Emotions
Interactions  Values
 Availability,
Convenience
 What is
Food
security?
Food Security

 A multi-dimensional concept that is usually specialized in

addressing one aspect of the larger food security problem.
 When all people, at all times, have physical and economic
access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life. (1996 World Food Summit)
 It means the following: (4 Main dimensions)
- Availability
- Accessibility
- Utilization
- Stability
 Pillars of Food Security (4 Dimensions)

1. Availability

 Food availability addresses the

“supply side” of food security and
is determined by the level of food
production, stock levels and net
trade.
 The availability of food depends on
its production and distribution.
 To ensure food security, there must
be enough places to grow food
 The availability of food also
depends on successful production.
2. Accessibility

 An adequate supply of food at the national or

international level does not in itself guarantee household
level food security.
 Concerns about insufficient food access have resulted in
a greater policy focus on incomes, expenditure, markets
and prices in achieving food security objectives.
 Food being available does not guarantee that people
have access to it. Poverty prevents many households
from buying enough food.
2 Aspects of Accessibility B. Economic access
 It refers to the ability
A. Direct access to buy food.
(Physical)
 It refers to the ability to
grow and harvest food
for yourself.
Income and Education is the two (2) factors that
play a role in access to food. It has impact on the
following:

a)How much food can be bought

b)What type of food is bought (nutritious or less

nutritious) and

c)How food is shared within a household.

Gender can also play a role here.

3. Utilization

Commonly understood as the way the body makes the most

of various nutrients in the food.
Sufficient energy and nutrient intake by individuals are the
result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation,
diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of
food.
Combined with good biological utilization of food consumed,
this determines the nutritional status of individuals.
 The food must also be safe.
How food is stored and
prepared plays a role in this,
with health and hygiene being
important.
 Food quality is not adversely
affected by observing hygiene.
Poor quality food can have a
negative impact on a person's
health.
4. Stability (Adequate Access)

 Inadequate access to food on a periodic basis, risking a

deterioration of your nutritional status.

Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or

economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices) may
have an impact on your food security status.

This stability can be jeopardized by natural phenomena.

Wars, unemployment and inequality can also lead to food

insecurity if they result in young men not being available as
laborers or women not being allowed to work in the fields.
 FOOD SYSTEM APPROACH
In striving to improve food security we should not blindly
focus on one part of the problem. Any increase in the amount
of food that comes at the expense of the climate, for
instance, simply creates a new problem. (Wageningen
University)
FOOD SYSTEM
 It is the combination of all the factors that are important
for food security.
 Allows for a better alignment to various problems in the
organization, availability and distribution of the current
food system along with its effects on people and the
environment.
 4 ASPECTS (DOMAINS) of FOOD SYSTEM
APPROACH
(WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY)

1.Food security: sufficient food for everyone

• To organize food system to have enough supply of
food for everyone in a growing global population.
2. Ensuring a healthy diet
• A healthy diet is made up of a balance of nutrients
such as proteins, fats, minerals and fiber.
• At present, unbalanced diets are the cause of illness
in more than 3 billion people, either through
undernutrition or overnutrition (obesity).
3. Equitable distribution of costs and revenues
• Costs and revenues are not equitably distributed along the
food supply chain.
• There are also differences in the accessibility, price and
allocation of food.
• This raises questions about what is an appropriate price for
food (both for producers and consumers) and about
dependence on local or international food systems.
4. Sustainability: climate change, sustainable use of
soil, water and other resources and biodiversity.
• The only way to future-proof our food system is to make sure
it is adapted to climate change, that it uses resources in a
sustainable and circular way, that it takes our health into
account, and that it contributes to biodiversity.
Food insecurity

It leads to poorer health and restricted development.

It can lead to poorer diet, less sleep, diabetes and
depression.
Rising food prices lead to a larger proportion of income
being spent on food. Households then have less
money to spend on other things such as health and
education.
 Why is food
security such a
major global
challenge?
 Food insecurity will become an increasing problem over the
coming decades due to the following main causes:
1. Growing World Population
 3 billion people on earth in 1960
 70,206,291 people from 2022,
 The World Population in 2023 is 8,045,311,447 (at mid-year,
according to U.N. estimates) (0.88% Increase)
 The World Population in 2024 is 8,178,501,592 as of
September 26,2024 from United Nation
 The current population of Africa 1,523,230,930 as of
Wednesday, September 25, 2024, based on the latest United
Nations estimates.
 The current population of the Philippines is 119,106,224 as of
September 2024, 1.51% Increase.
2. Changing diet
 When the income of a population increases, food
preferences also change.
 As a larger part of the world becomes wealthier in
the coming decades, the demand for processed
food, meat and dairy products will rise.

3. Climate Change
 As the earth warms, the area in which agriculture is
viable will become smaller.
 Some farmland will be in areas that are too hot or too
dry to grow crops, and some will be unsuitable for
farming due to flooding or other natural disasters.
 It is vital therefore to combat climate change as much
as possible and to learn to deal with the consequences
we are already experiencing.

What we can do to strengthen food security:

1. Reducing food waste and food loss
 Food waste is caused, for example, by inefficient
preparation methods and consumer preferences (ex.
slightly rotten fruit or oddly shaped vegetables).
 We can reduce food waste by introducing
improved methods of food preparation. One
example is the use of vegetable trimmings in
soups.
 Food loss is caused, among other things, by
crop failures and incorrect storage of food.
 We can reduce food loss by improving storage
and packaging.
 Packaging that indicates whether or not food
has gone off already exists
2. Improving Infrastructure
 Sufficient people or machines must be available for
sowing and harvesting, the crops must be protected
against weeds, diseases and pests, storage must be in
order, and good transport to markets or end users
must be available.

3. Promoting fair trading practices

 It is not just large commercial companies that need
access to food markets; small farmers must also be paid
a fair price for their products.
 Farmers working together in cooperatives have greater
leverage to negotiate their purchase and sales prices,
and thus make a better living from their produce.
4. Paying attention to diversification

 Focusing on a single type of crop (monoculture) can

exhaust the soil and
make the crop more vulnerable to diseases and pests.

 Farmers have a big problem

if their crop fails and they have no alternatives.
Moreover, this can reduce
the nutritional value of products.

 Diversification is important to guarantee

food security.
5. Reducing yield gap
 Inefficient production
methods mean that
agricultural land yields are
far less than should be
possible in some places.
 Crop rotation and the use
of sustainable production
methods and new
techniques increase
production on these
farmlands. This also
results in more nutritious
crops.
6. Combating Climate change
 Droughts and floods are major
causes of crop failure and in many
cases are consequences of global
climate change.
 Combating climate change will
reduce crop failures, by
introducing production methods
that use less water.
 Agriculture can make a positive
contribution to a better climate.
7. Addressing the indirect causes of food
insecurity

 Food insecurity is also caused by an imbalance

between imports and exports.
 Not every country will be able to grow all the food
it needs there must be sufficient capital available
to import food.
 Healthy food must also be financially available to
all population groups.
 Wars and social insecurity can also lead to food
insecurity.
Top 10 Countries Suffering from hunger (World food
Program USA as of 2023

10. Haiti ( Part of North

America)
Severe hunger: 4.7 Million

https://www.wfpusa.org/articles/global-food-crisis-10-
countries-suffering-the-most-from-hunger/
7. Sudan ( Northeast Africa)
Severe hunger: 15.8 Million

8. Somalia ( Eastern most of

Africa)
Severe hunger: 6 Million

9. Northern Ethopia (Horn of

Africa)
Severe hunger: 5.5 Million
4. Syria ( Middle East,
between Lebanon & Turkey
Severe hunger: 12 Million

5. Sahel ( Southern most

latitude of North Africa,
between Atlantic Ocean and
Red Sea
Severe hunger: 13 Million

6. South Sudan (bordered

by Ethopia, Sudan and
Central )
Severe hunger: 7.7 Million
1.Democratic Republic of
Congo ( Country in Africa)
Severe hunger: 26 Million

2. Afghanistan ( Central
Asia)
Severe hunger: 19.9 Million

3. Yemen ( Arabian
Peninsula)
Severe hunger: 17 Million
Top 10 Causes of World Hunger (Concern Worldwide)
1.Poverty
2.Food Shortages
3.War and Conflict
4.Climate Change
5.Poor Nutrition
6.Poor Public Policy and Political Instability
7.Bad Economy
8.Food waste
9.Gender Inequality
10. Forced Mitigation
THANK
YOU
 Dr. Abdirashid Ahmed
Hussein
 Wageningen University