FAO says no sustainable development without hunger eradication

Sustainable development cannot be realized unless hunger and malnutrition are eradicated, the UN Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said May 30, 2012 in a policy document prepared for the Rio+20 Summit to be held in June in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.

“We cannot call development sustainable while this situation persists, while nearly one out of every seven men, women and children are left behind, victims of undernourishment,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

Graziano da Silva further stated that the quest for food security can be the common thread that “links the different challenges we face and helps build a sustainable future”.

He added, “At the Rio Summit we have the golden opportunity to explore the convergence between the agendas of food security and sustainability to ensure that happens.”

One of the great flaws in current food systems is that despite significant progress in development and food production, hundreds of millions of people are hungry because they lack the means to produce or purchase the food they need for a healthy and productive life, according to the FAO’s report titled “Towards the future we want: end hunger and make the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems”

“Improving agricultural and food systems is essential for a world with both healthier people and healthier ecosystems,” it says.

The policy document therefore urged governments to protect rights to resources, especially for the poor as well as incorporating incentives for sustainable consumption and production into food systems.

Governments were also tasked, according to the report, to promote fair and well-functioning agricultural and food markets, reduce risks and increase the resilience of the most vulnerable and invest public resources in essential public goods especially innovation and infrastructure.

By Ekow Quandzie