This archive report was first published on 24 October 2021.
As we celebrate World Food Day, it is essential to acknowledge the ongoing struggle to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, particularly among children in developing countries.
According to the UN, nearly one-fourth of children under the age of five are stunted, and more than nine out of ten stunted children live in Africa and Asia.
Climate change, population pressure, loss of biodiversity, and land-use changes are some of the factors limiting the poor and vulnerable communities from achieving their right to food.
As the UN's International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, mooted in 1966, emphasizes, every person has the right to food, making access to and affordability of adequate food a universal human right.
The responsibility of ensuring the right to food lies with the authorities of each country, and international cooperation plays a key role in guaranteeing a fair distribution of food.
However, the UN projects that hunger will not be eradicated by 2030 unless bold actions are taken to address inequity in access to food.
According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 report, nearly a third of the global population (2.37 billion people) did not have access to adequate food in 2020, a sharp increase of almost 320 million people in one year.
The drivers of this rise are care lockdowns and limited freedom of movement imposed to contain coronavirus as well as rising prices of food products in the global market.
Vi Agroforestry believes that the solutions lie in the empowerment of smallholder farmers to produce and distribute food, making it accessible and affordable in local markets.
Agroforestry can sustainably help solve most of the challenges to food production posed by the effects of climate change, and governments should harness its potential by improving the coordination of national activities.
It is time for the world to shift from words to actions in eradicating hunger, and we urge governments and donors to increase development funding to sustainable food production, including agroforestry.
— Joy Kivata is the Regional Communications Officer at Vi Agroforestry.
