1. Nearly 110 million people into extreme poverty in 2010-2011
2. 44 million more are added to the undernourished segment.
3. Nearly one is six people around the world do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life – most of them living in developing countries

Are these the only hard statistical figures used by the academicians or we as a young brigade of the green earth need to analyse and do something?

As per the latest 'Global Hunger Index', 26 countries are in alarming or extremely alarming zone, with the worst affected being Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Eritrea in Africa.
 

Food prices have increased in last decade drastically and if this trend continues, analysts see a red zone ahead of the entire mankind.
 

 

As per UN report ('The Environmental Food crisis' - A UNEP RAPID RESPONSE ASSESSMENT), major reasons for this food shortage and rise in food prices are :

 

• Speculation in food stocks,
• Extreme weather events,
• Low cereal stocks,
• Growth in biofuels competing for cropland
• High oil prices.

 

Among all these reasons, we can easily understand that the impact of Climate change has a great impact on the basic need for the mankind, i.e food and this is the significance today while 'World Food Day' is being celebrated around the world on 16th. Oct.

The growth in food demand and need is the result of the combined effects of the following:

 

a. World population growth to over 9 billion by 2050 : Each day 200,000 more people are added to the world food demand. The world's human population has increased near fourfold in the past 100 years

b. Rising incomes : Increased incomes, such as in Asia, generally lead to higher consumption of meat and, hence, increased demand for cereal as livestock feed.

 

 

a. Dietary changes towards higher meat intake: The global production of cereals (including wheat, rice and maize) plays a crucial role in the world food supply, accounting for about 50% of the calorie intake of humans. Now, out of this 50% calorie intake for humans, as nearly half of world?s cereal production is used to produce animal feed. It takes, on average, 3 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of meat. So we can understand that the dietary proportion of meat has a major influence on global food demand. With the present trend, meat consumption projected to increase from 37.4 kg/person/year in 2000 to over 52 kg/person/year by 2050. Meat production, however, also has many detrimental effects on the environment, apart from being energy inefficient when animals are fed with food-crops:

• The area required for production of animal feed is approximately one-third of all arable land.
• Dietary shifts towards more meat will require a much larger share of cropland for grazing and feed production for the meat industry
• Currently, 33% of the cropland area is thus used for livestock
• About 16,000 litres of virtual water are needed to produce 1 kg of meat

 

Hence, an increased demand for meat results in an accelerated demand for water, crop and land area.

While talking about food demand, we should not forget the fact that huge amount of food is being wasted around the world each year for various reasons. In India, 23 million tonnes of food cereals, 12 million tonnes of fruits and 21 million tonnes of vegetables are lost each year, with a total estimated value of 240 billion Rupees. A recent estimate by the Ministry of Food Processing states that agricultural produce worth 580 billion Rupees is wasted in India each year.

 

 

The impact of food waste is not just financial. Environmentally, food waste leads to:

• Wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides
• More fuel used for transportation
• More rotting food, creating more methane – one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change. Methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
• The vast amount of food going to landfills makes a significant contribution to global warming.

 

 

While one billion poor people go hungry, the rich world wastes shameful amounts of food 25% to 33% of the food purchased in America, United Kingdom and Japan is thrown away. "If Western waste could be halved and the food distributed to those who need it, the problem of feeding 9 billion people would vanish," calculated The Economist magazine early in 2011.
Organised by the United Nations, World Food Day aims to draw attention to initiatives intended to increase the quality and availability of food across the planet. In particular, the people behind World Food Day hope that it will have a lasting impact in the quest to feed those in poverty and unable to support themselves with a balanced and nutritious diet.
The theme for 2012 is the importance of agricultural cooperatives. The UN believe that this is the key to feeding the world in a sustainable, ethical way.

 

 

Now what we can do in a small way? Let us take oaths on World Food day:

1. We will take maximum nos of vegetarian meals (at least once in a day)
2. We will go for locally produced food as far as possible.
3. We should not waste any food at any point of time.
4. We will consume fresh foods/vegetables as far as possible and avoid frozen food/processed food.
5. We will educate at least 10 people on the issues related to food crisis and it's environmental impact.
I am sure together we can do it for our own future?..

 

 

 

 

 

Unmesh Datta