UN-FAO has defined Food security as “Food Security exists when all people, in the least times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life”. Food security was defined in the World Food Summit (1974) as “Availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices.” It is a state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food..

 FOOD SECURITY IN WORLD
 
As per report of FAO, total 26.4% of World population i.e. about 2 billion people are facing the problem of food security . About 850 million people in the world are undernourished - a number that has hardly changed since the 1990-92 base period for the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goal commitments on reducing hunger by half by 2015. As of May 2006, 39 countries in the world were facing serious food emergencies and required external assistance for dealing with critical food insecurity: 25 in Africa, 11 in Asia and Near East, 2 in Latin America and 1 in Europe.
 

FOOD SECURITY IN NEPAL

In Nepal, Food security depends on land productivity as managed by small holders who faced challenges in productivity and sustainability and the country is prone to natural disasters that can have serious consequences for agricultural production. The World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations conducted a Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) in 2005 in order to understand the Food Insecurity and vulnerability in Nepal. A total of 1676 households represented agro-ecological regions of Nepal (Terai, Hills, and Mountains) across all 5 Development Regions. The research conveyed that the approximately 27% of the rural households are food insecure and have a very poor food consumption pattern- chronic malnutrition and low weight are most prominent ; 49% of children aged 0-58 months are underweight and 46% are stunted. Among the Far Western and Mid Western Development Region of the country contain the highest concentration of households with poor or very poor food consumption pattern. Additionally, the households that are most likely to be food insecure tended to engage in livelihood activities such as petty trade, unskilled labor, natural resources exploitation, handicrafts and farming Nepal has become a net importer of grain in recent years.

 
Reasons of Food Insecurity in Nepal:
Ø Climate change
Ø Agro environmental problems, loss of Agrobiodiversity, land degradation, soil erosion through run off on the productive land
Ø Land Fragmentation and Yield stagnation
Ø Global Water crises
Ø Desertification and deforestation. Conversion of Agricultural land for other purpose than the agriculture
Ø Utilization of staple food for livestock and feed industries
Possible Solutions for Food Insecurity:
Ø The first and for most thing that we can do is promotion and advertisement of locally available indigenous foods, underutilized valued nutritious food. For instance in Nepal Finger millet is mostly underutilized cereal crop but this food has high potential to minimize food scarcity of hilly and Himalayan region of Nepal.
Ø Reducing the post harvest loss and storage loss can be the promising solution for the food insecurity. Moreover 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 tons.
Ø Climate change is severely affecting our lives and the production of food. If we fight climate change and farm sustainably, we will be able to ensure there is enough food for us and future generations. It is an additional step in fighting food insecurity.
Ø Increasing food production through the provision of improved cultivation methods and inputs.
Ø Corporate giants have already stepped in and commercialized food, making it harder for small-scale farmers to have their products in the market. Governments should, therefore, improve such policies, and make it fair for everyone to participate. Collective effort in government and civil dimension should be implemented to resolve the situation.

 
To sum up we must think and act wisely, boldly and innovatively to gear up viable solutions to gain food security more rapidly on the global scale