16 October, 2024
Feature article by Adelaida Pérez Milán, Incatema’s Consulting Director, on the occasion of World Food Day.
16 October commemorates the World Food Day, a date fostered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to raise awareness of the importance of adequate and accessible food for all. In 2024, the theme “Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future” highlights the urgency of ensuring that all people have access to adequate, nutritious food.
The right to food is a fundamental right recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, despite global efforts, millions of people around the world continue to face food insecurity. According to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report from the United Nations, some 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, severely affecting their health and well-being.
Humanity faces global challenges to make the right to food a reality. Governments, organisations and citizens have an obligation to work together to ensure that no one is left behind in the fight against hunger. Collaboration is necessary to develop agri-food projects in the most disadvantaged countries, such as those developed by Incatema in Africa, aimed at improving food security, a fundamental pillar for sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.
One of the main problems is armed conflict, causing an increase in the number of displaced people, which leads to the abandonment of homes and agricultural land, interrupting food production and generating serious humanitarian crises.
Economic downturns further accentuate inequality and poverty, as they continue to be the barrier to food access. Economic and social inequalities prevent many people from obtaining nutritious food, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
The climate crisis is also affecting food production through extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and severe storms. These weather events decrease food availability and increase prices, affecting the most vulnerable communities, many of them agricultural households.
Policies to support smallholder farmers to increase productivity and resilience
There are no simple solutions to such complex phenomena. However, at Incatema we have witnessed, wherever we provide technical assistance to agricultural development programs, that the implementation of policies that support small farmers and promote sustainable food systems actually works. With private partnerships investing in innovative and sustainable rural infrastructure, we are witnessing increased productivity and resilience of the farming communities.
If we add thereto training programs on nutrition and sustainable agricultural practices, these communities can be empowered to improve their food security. Raising awareness of the importance of a balanced diet is also critical in combating malnutrition.
Last but not least, to increase access to nutritious and sufficient food can only be achieved through the adoption of innovative technologies in agriculture. Precision agriculture and biotechnologies can expand efficiency and food production. Information technologies also facilitate the access to markets and new resources.
Much remains to be done, therefore, to make the right of access to food universal. And it will remain so as long as small farmers in developing countries have difficulty accessing land, water and other natural resources needed to produce food sustainably. This can only be achieved by addressing the challenges in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, with the joint efforts of governments, international organisations, civil society and the private sector. The intention is there, but you have to have the real will to make it happen.