Food Security:
- High food security (old label=Food security): no reported indications of food-access problems or limitations.
- Marginal food security (old label=Food security): one or two reported indications—typically of anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no indication of changes in diets or food intake.
Food Insecurity:
- Low food security (old label=Food insecurity without hunger): reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.
- Very low food security (old label=Food insecurity with hunger): reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.
USDA requested the review by CNSTAT to ensure that the measurement methods USDA uses to assess households' access—or lack of access—to adequate food and the language used to describe those conditions are conceptually and operationally sound and that they convey relevant information to policy officials and the public. The CNSTAT panel that conducted this study included economists, sociologists, nutritionists, statisticians, and other researchers. One of the central issues the panel addressed was whether the concepts and definitions underlying the measurement methods—especially the concept and definition of hunger and the relationship between hunger and food insecurity—were appropriate for the policy context in which food security statistics are used.
Food insecurity affects over 820 million people all over the world, and no region is exempt from it. Being a global challenge, governments and international institutions have employed all possible means to defeat food insecurity.
The United Nations, for instance, posed 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which ought to be achieved by 2030. Achieving food security, improved nutrition, ending hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture is the second goal.
It is, therefore, up to every individual, family, group, organization, corporation, institution and government to achieve food security before 2030. Not much has been done by most institutions and countries, but there are hopes for a food secure future.
What are some potential solutions to Food Insecurity? For starters, food is wasted mainly because of inefficient preparations, bumpy or bad roads, over-selective customers, and inadequate storage facilities. If storage facilities are improved and there are adequate preparations for how the food will be used, less food will be wasted, and there will be a more food secure community. As mentioned earlier, FAO reports that each year, the food wasted globally is about 1.3 billion tonnes.
If food is grown to feed the community or nation, food insecurity levels will go down. Farmers can produce more food crops and will be able to produce cash crops when there are enough food crops in the market.
11