Files
Abstract
Although enough food is being produced today for nobody to have to go
hungry, about 840 million people are chronically undernourished, around 185
million pre-school children are seriously underweight for their age, and illnesses
resulting from, or exacerbated by, hunger and malnutrition are widespread
(FAO, 1996a). As the world's population will also increase by an expected 80
million people every year over the next quarter-century (UN, 1996), attaining
food security will be the central global challenge. Will there be enough food to
meet the needs of current and future generations? And even if enough food is
available, will all people have access to sufficient amounts to lead healthy and
productive lives? Can, and will, global food security be attained or will food
surpluses continue to coexist with widespread hunger and malnutrition, further
destabilizing and polarizing the world? What will it take to ensure a world of
food-secure people?
Following a brief discussion of food security concepts and an assessment of
the current food security situation, this paper examines the major challenges to
realizing a food-secure world, considers the prospects for global food security
with special attention to whether Malthusian predictions may come true for
sub-Saharan Africa and identifies key actions required to ensure global food
security.