Commentary: Walk the Talk

This post is part of a series produced by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, marking the occasion of its annual Global Food Security Symposium in Washington, D.C., which will be held on May 21st. For more information on the symposium, click here. Follow @globalagdev and #globalag on twitter to join the conversation on May 21st.

The global food system remains vulnerable. Progress to combat global hunger and malnutrition remains fragmented, as nearly 870 million individuals—about 1 in every 8 people on the planet—are undernourished and more than 2 billion suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Moreover, hunger and malnutrition is disproportionately felt throughout the world, as roughly 98 percent of these individuals live in developing countries. As we move forward and the 2015 Millennium Development Goals deadline draws closer, progress toward halving the proportion of individuals suffering from hunger is not on track.

Although many notable commitments to agriculture and food and nutrition security have been made in recent years by various actors—including developing country governments, members of the international community, and other key stakeholders—progress in fulfilling these commitments remains mixed. It will be essential for actors to “walk the talk” and move from rhetoric to action.

Several important actions will be needed including:

• Investing in agricultural science and technology. These investments should include technologies for improved crop and livestock breeding; advanced biofuels derived from non-food feedstock; low carbon agriculture; resource-use efficiency which saves water and energy, as well as reductions in food losses and waste; and safe food systems. Technologies must be smallholder friendly and regionally applicable.
• Advancing a “nexus” approach in policy planning and implementation that takes into consideration the agriculture, nutrition, and health nexus and the food, water, and energy nexus. Sectoral synergies must be explored that promote win-win solutions while minimizing trade-offs at the same time. Environmental sustainability goals, for example, should not come at the expense of achieving food and nutrition security.
• Strengthening the capacities of developing countries through increased technical and financial support. These efforts should build the capabilities of national institutions to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate programs, initiatives, and policies. Experiences from Asian countries, like China and India, have shown that returns from these types of efforts are high.

The post-2015 development agenda must focus on poor people and build the resilience of global and national food systems. The agenda should also integrate coherent sustainable development goals. Unlike previous goals, the measurement of hunger should be redefined to include dietary quality and nutrition. With appropriate planning, investment, and actions, we can end hunger sustainably by 2025—a feasible goal when considering progress already seen in emerging and developing countries like Brazil, China, Ghana, and Vietnam.

Talk about overcoming hunger and malnutrition has gone on long enough, it is time to walk the talk.