-      Nourishing Our Future  -

-by Sanuli Gamage

In a world of ever-evolving challenges, two timeless companions, food and water, stand as sentinels of survival and sustenance. This report delves into the intricate dance between mankind and these elemental resources, exploring the harmonious interplay to ensure a secure and prosperous future.  

Food and water are the bedrock of human existence, yet their availability is under constant threat due to complex factors.

 What is food security?

As declared by the 1996 World Food Summit, “food security is defined when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

There are four main dimensions of food security:

1.       Physical availability of food

o   This is the level of food production, stock levels and net trade of food. Simply put, it focuses on the supplement of food.

2.       Economic and physical access to food

o   Due to insufficient food access this dimension focuses in a greater policy of incomes, expenditure, markets and prices.

3.       Food utilization

o   Commonly understood as the way the body makes the most of the various nutrients in food. Good utilization of food comes with good feeding practices, food preparation, and a balanced diverse diet.

4.       Stability of the above three dimensions over time

o   If you have inadequate access to food on a periodic basis, risking a deterioration of your nutritional status. Even adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors may have an impact on food security status.

All four dimensions should work together successfully for food security objectives to be intact.  

What is water security?

As proposed by UN-Water to serve as a starting point for dialogue in the UN system, it is “the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.”

Source – www.unwater.org

Sources – www.worldbank.org (food security)

               www.unwater.org (water security)