FOOD SECURITY - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 32

with an enormous agenda, including more and better-targeted investments, techno-
logical innovations and policy interventions - supported by in-depth understanding
of the dynamic factors that influence people's access to food (Von Braun et al. 2005).
As most of the world's hungry live in less-endowed rural areas (Roetter et al.
2007), strategies to reduce hunger and poverty in rural areas must be tailored to the
specific regional biophysical, economic and socio-cultural settings. In the following
we present examples from Sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia, regions on
which the DLO International Cooperation programme concentrated, to illustrate the
required regional differentiation in responding to the complex problems related to
food security.
NUTRITION AND HUMAN HEALTH
Food security and quality, nutrition and health
In addition to the problem of access to food, food quality and safety have entered the
debate on food security, implying that food should be of sufficient diversity to meet
all dietary needs (for both the macro-nutrients and the micro-nutrients), and
sufficiently safe, both hygienically and toxicologically. Food safety also relates to
the absorption of nutrients from food, and thus to the physiological use that the
human body can make of food and nutrients.
Translating food security into nutrition security is yet another step. Where food
security is usually defined at the national, district, community or household scale,
nutrition security always refers to an individual. Food security at the household scale
should translate into balanced meals and meal preparation that enhances absorption
of nutrients and minimizes potential food safety hazards. Intra-household distribution
of food should be such that all members of the household, also the more vulnerable,
receive food in such portions and diversities that their dietary needs are met, whereas
their health situation should allow optimal absorption of nutrients from food, which
may be hampered by intestinal parasites and/or the presence of diarrhea. Adequate
health services, but also the availability of safe drinking water and a clean environ-
ment are crucial in ensuring a good health situation (UNICEF 1998).
Hunger and malnutrition
Hunger and malnutrition persist in the world (Figure 3), despite the pledges of the
international community, through the World Food Summit and through ratifying the
Millennium Development Goals, including the target to half hunger by 2015.
According to the State of the World Food Insecurity (SOFI) of 2005 (FAO 2005), by
2015, only Latin America and the Caribbean will achieve MDG 1 for reducing
hunger, if eradication continues at the current pace. However, reducing hunger is
crucial to other developmental processes, as food security and a good nutritional
status provide the physical and mental strength necessary to fully pursue develop-
ment. Nutrition has been called the foundation for development (ACC/SCN 2002).