Food security and nutrition

Against the background of a growing world population, finite natural resources and numerous threats such as climate change and political conflict, securing world food supplies remains the challenge that the international community of states faces.

Articles:

• The worldwide food crisis is taking a dramatic turn for the worse
• Food security is more than production volumes and high yields
• “Diversity is the fundamental principle to use”
• Is conflict-hit Kashmir heading for food crisis?
• Towards a world without hunger: research points the way
• Once again, Africa is used as a justification to push for bad legislative change in Europe
• The impact of Ebola on food security in West Africa
• Cereal banks in The Gambia – a case study
• A conflict-sensitive approach is needed
• Skyfarming: Staple food for growing cities!?
• Strategies to feed the nine billion mouths

Food losses

Roughly one third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted – 1.3 billion tons per year. Even if these estimates are subject to numerous uncertainties, one thing is beyond doubt: every kilogramme of food that is produced but not consumed is one too many. For it embodies valuable, wasted resources such as land, water, agricultural inputs and energy, unnecessary CO2 emissions have been released into the atmosphere, farmers have lost not only income but also a valuable part of their nutrition, and consumers pay the increased prices that result. Our authors analyse the dimensions of these losses and the underlying complex web of causes and show how approaches have to be designed against the background of global challenges such as climate change and food security.

Articles:

• Simple technology, big impact
• Tackling food losses: New approaches needed
• Who does what in post-harvest loss reduction?
• Post-harvest agriculture in a changing climate
• How losses in maize and manioc value chains impact on the environment
• Tackling post-harvest cereal losses in sub-Saharan Africa
• Better income through improved milk hygiene standards
• Handling fresh vegetable produce from urban gardens
• Technical know-how is only one side of the coin
• New developments in stored product protection
• No chance for aflatoxins

Nutrition

In its 2019 publication Food in the Anthropocene, the EAT-Lancet Commission described the link between nutritional targets and environmental sustainability. In brief, the study argues that diets and food production will need to change in order to improve health and avoid damage to the planet, emphasising that people will have to eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes and whole grains while reducing the consumption of ruminant meat in particular. Setting out from this, the authors presented a proposition for a global reference diet. Whereas it is undisputed that the recommendations of the Lancet Commission point in the right direction, the question remains how the world population can be urged to take precisely this course.

Articles:

• Changing times, changing diets
• Healthy diets – a privilege of the rich?
• Towards sustainable diets and planetary health: lessons from early research and knowledge gaps
• Tackling the double burden of malnutrition
• Reducing malnutrition levels calls for concerted efforts
• Civil society’s engagement for better nutrition – the case of Namibia
• Helping ‘local favourites’ join the race for healthier diets
• Insects for dinner?
• Small fish with a big potential
• The trend towards healthy diets – an opportunity for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs
• Nutrition and health: farming women in Kenya’s Murang’a speak out
• Eat less meat: if only it were that simple
• How ‘supermarketisation’ affects nutrition and health in Kenya
• Remembering forgotten crops – developing new value chains
• How agriculture can boost nutrition
• A Little Nutrition Glossary
• What should seed systems look like?
• Market access and farm household dietary diversity
• Gendered pathways to better nutrition
• “We must highlight the pluses of pulses”
• Seizing the opportunity
• “All measures must bring tangible benefits for smallholder farmers”
• Walking the talk in nutrition-sensitive agriculture
• Combining efforts to end hunger and malnutrition - The SUN Movement
• Completing the revolution through biofortification
• Fitter and healthier with traditional varieties
• Sprouts and microgreens for a nutritious diet