Within the framework of the celebrations of World Food Day and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty this week, experts from several countries convened by the NGO Manos Unidas have met in Madrid to reflect on the incidence of hunger in the world and the challenges to achieve the SDG “Zero Hunger” in a world in which, according to the FAO, 673 million people (8.2% of the world’s population) will still go hungry in 2024, a figure which remains above pre-pandemic levels. The professor, philosopher and expert on sustainable food issues Marco Gordillo was one of the moderators.
What is the outlook for the fight against hunger in the world?
Hunger is possibly the most radical expression of poverty and that is why it is crucial in any effort to fight it. FAO data tell us that there are currently almost 700 million people with chronic malnutrition. It is a very large number, equivalent to one and a half times the entire European population or more than 13 times that of Spain and to which we must add some 2,000 million people who are in a serious level of lack of access to food. A large part of the world’s population is in a situation of real and daily hunger, which should not leave us indifferent. But the photo is completed with another reality that specialists have been addressing for some time and that is the overproduction of food. Hunger is not a production problem, because we do not lack food, but rather accessibility. Many communities do not have access to what would allow them to generate food; land, water, seeds, fertilizers or credits.
What role does technology and climate change play?
The deterioration of the environment makes food production difficult… droughts, erratic rains, erosion processes, etc., make it increasingly difficult for people to produce. Some have come to need to plant monocultures, which have better yields in the market, such as coffee, corn or soybeans, and that ends up undermining their possibilities of creating their own food. 80% of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas. These families have to dedicate more than 70% of their income to purchasing food alone. In countries like Spain, we do not dedicate more than 10-11%. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the growth of food production capabilities thanks to technology, but there is a concentration in countries and corporations of control over food production and distribution. In fact, we do not find more than 10 large multinationals behind each step of the food chain.
How do governments face the fight against hunger?
The first thing that should be said is that feeding the population is not a privilege for rich people and it is not a favor that we do for poor people, it is a right that must be guaranteed. In this sense, there are a series of interesting initiatives: In Latin America, for example, the Parliamentary Front against Hunger was created, which has united parliamentarians from all countries with the sole purpose of reflecting in their national regulations, food as a right, which provides a framework of reference for when the time comes for the budgets. The EU, for its part, a couple of years ago launched the famous European Green Deal, with the “From farm to fork” strategy, which proposes a 50% reduction in the use of chemicals in cultivation or allocating 25% of the area to organic farming. At a global level, food systems contribute almost 40% to greenhouse gases, and if we want to comply with Paris, at least 20% of the financing would have to be dedicated to agri-food systems (today it is no more than 4%). There is also deforestation and the loss of biodiversity… For Manos Unidas, family farming is a strategic option. A FAO study said that in the world there were about 500 million small properties (10% of arable land) – 200 million in China alone – which account for more than 20% of the total food produced in the world without large investments or infrastructure that is harmful to the environment.