Achieving sustainability in food system
The Independent Stakeholders' Report at the UN Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, co-authored by multiple United Nations agencies, found that global hunger declined slightly in 2024 after peaking in 2021 and 2022, thanks to progress in Asia and South America.
'It's inspiring to observe the global progress in combating hunger, but we must acknowledge that this progress is not uniform,' stated UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Dr Qu Dongyu at the summit.
Nevertheless, 8.2 per cent of the global population — estimated between 638 and 720 million individuals — continued to experience hunger last year, and the conditions were deteriorating, especially in Africa, where the rate stands at 20.2 per cent.
"Famine drives unrest and weakens harmony. Hunger must never be viewed as a tool of war," Antonio Guterres stated during the summit, using a video link.
Food security, which ensures that everyone has access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food, is a complex challenge with significant ethical, economic and social implications. It is not only about having enough food, but also involves the accessibility, availability and proper utilisation of that food, as well as the stability of the food supply.
The report highlighted the significant distance remaining to achieve its objective of eradicating global hunger by 2030. Present estimates indicate that approximately 512 million individuals will remain undernourished by the decade's conclusion, with 60 per cent residing in Africa.
AFP quoted Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, as stating, 'Global hunger statistics have shown minor enhancements when compared to 2022 and 2023."
Nonetheless, advancements have not been uniform worldwide, as food insecurity persisted in many sub-regions of Africa and Western Asia.
A worsening hunger crisis has plagued Gaza for weeks due to Israel's tight control over all resources, igniting increasing global outrage over individuals perishing from starvation in the area. 'Conflict persists in fuelling hunger from Gaza to Sudan and elsewhere,' stated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his online address.
The World Health Organization has alerted that malnutrition in the occupied Palestinian territory has hit "alarming levels" since Israel enforced a complete blockade on Gaza.
During his speech at the Addis Ababa summit, Dr Saud bin Hamoud al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, mentioned that Oman has made considerable progress in various food and nutrition security indicators.
"Important initiatives encompass the Food Security Strategy, National Nutrition Strategy, National Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy, Environment and Natural Resources Strategy, and the Genetic Diversity Strategy for Local Livestock," he stated.
Oman stands out among the Gulf countries for its strategic planning and rigorous policies aimed at preserving its status as a food-secure nation. Self-sufficiency in food, characterised by reduced reliance on imports, is continuously increasing in the Sultanate of Oman.
Guided by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the country has developed a comprehensive food security strategy that outlines various goals aimed at enhancing the nation's food supply in areas such as production, importation, storage and distribution.
Oman's 2040 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy seeks to enhance sustainability in the agricultural sector through investments, boost economic income, generate job opportunities for citizens, assist rural communities and address structural disparities in agriculture.
The nation placed third in the Arab region and 35th in the Global Food Security Index for 2022. The index relies on assessment criteria drawn from universally recognised components of the food security concept, which include food accessibility, food availability, food quality and safety, food sustainability and adaptability, with a comparison encompassing 113 nations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
15 hours ago
- Observer
Gaza dad grieves, fights to save children from malnutrition
GAZA: Ibrahim al Najjar said he lost his five-year old son Naim to malnutrition that is ravaging Gaza. One year later, he is still grieving while scrambling to make sure his other children don't suffer the same fate. 'This child will follow him,' the Palestinian former taxi driver said, pointing to his 10-year old son Farah. 'For about a month he's been falling unconscious. This child was once double the size he is now.' Najjar, 43, held up a medical certificate that shows Naim died on March 28, 2024. The whole family has been displaced by nearly two years of Israeli air strikes. The Najjars had been used to eating three meals a day before the war broke out in October 2023 - after Hamas attacked Israel - but now they can only dream of even simple foods such as bread, rice, fruit and vegetables. Naim's brother Adnan, 20, focuses on taking care of his other brothers, rising every morning at 5:30 am to wend his way gingerly through Gaza's mountains of rubble to find a soup kitchen as war rages nearby. Palestinian girl Huda Abu Al Naja lies on a bed receiving treatment at the malnutrition ward at Nasser hospital as her mother Sumayya shows an image of Huda when she was healthier, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. - Reuters 'I swear I don't have salt at home, I swear I beg for a grain of salt,' said Naim's mother Najwa, 40. 'People talk about Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Come see the children of Gaza. Those who do not believe, come see how Gaza's children are dying. We are not living, we are dying slowly,' she said. Five more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry said, raising the number of deaths from such causes to at least 193 Palestinians, including 96 children, since the war began. A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. And the warnings about starvation and malnutrition from aid agencies keep coming. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza has declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one per cent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33 per cent in April. 'Nearly nine out of ten households resorted to extremely severe coping mechanisms to feed themselves, such as taking significant safety risks to obtain food, and scavenging from the garbage,' OCHA said in a statement. Even when Palestinians are not too weak to access aid collection points, they are vulnerable to injury or death in the crush to secure food. — Reuters
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Achieving sustainability in food system
As conflicts and climate emergencies worsen and the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic persist, a glimmer of hope is found in a report indicating that global hunger has decreased. The Independent Stakeholders' Report at the UN Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, co-authored by multiple United Nations agencies, found that global hunger declined slightly in 2024 after peaking in 2021 and 2022, thanks to progress in Asia and South America. 'It's inspiring to observe the global progress in combating hunger, but we must acknowledge that this progress is not uniform,' stated UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Dr Qu Dongyu at the summit. Nevertheless, 8.2 per cent of the global population — estimated between 638 and 720 million individuals — continued to experience hunger last year, and the conditions were deteriorating, especially in Africa, where the rate stands at 20.2 per cent. "Famine drives unrest and weakens harmony. Hunger must never be viewed as a tool of war," Antonio Guterres stated during the summit, using a video link. Food security, which ensures that everyone has access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food, is a complex challenge with significant ethical, economic and social implications. It is not only about having enough food, but also involves the accessibility, availability and proper utilisation of that food, as well as the stability of the food supply. The report highlighted the significant distance remaining to achieve its objective of eradicating global hunger by 2030. Present estimates indicate that approximately 512 million individuals will remain undernourished by the decade's conclusion, with 60 per cent residing in Africa. AFP quoted Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, as stating, 'Global hunger statistics have shown minor enhancements when compared to 2022 and 2023." Nonetheless, advancements have not been uniform worldwide, as food insecurity persisted in many sub-regions of Africa and Western Asia. A worsening hunger crisis has plagued Gaza for weeks due to Israel's tight control over all resources, igniting increasing global outrage over individuals perishing from starvation in the area. 'Conflict persists in fuelling hunger from Gaza to Sudan and elsewhere,' stated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his online address. The World Health Organization has alerted that malnutrition in the occupied Palestinian territory has hit "alarming levels" since Israel enforced a complete blockade on Gaza. During his speech at the Addis Ababa summit, Dr Saud bin Hamoud al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, mentioned that Oman has made considerable progress in various food and nutrition security indicators. "Important initiatives encompass the Food Security Strategy, National Nutrition Strategy, National Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy, Environment and Natural Resources Strategy, and the Genetic Diversity Strategy for Local Livestock," he stated. Oman stands out among the Gulf countries for its strategic planning and rigorous policies aimed at preserving its status as a food-secure nation. Self-sufficiency in food, characterised by reduced reliance on imports, is continuously increasing in the Sultanate of Oman. Guided by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the country has developed a comprehensive food security strategy that outlines various goals aimed at enhancing the nation's food supply in areas such as production, importation, storage and distribution. Oman's 2040 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy seeks to enhance sustainability in the agricultural sector through investments, boost economic income, generate job opportunities for citizens, assist rural communities and address structural disparities in agriculture. The nation placed third in the Arab region and 35th in the Global Food Security Index for 2022. The index relies on assessment criteria drawn from universally recognised components of the food security concept, which include food accessibility, food availability, food quality and safety, food sustainability and adaptability, with a comparison encompassing 113 nations.
Observer
4 days ago
- Observer
More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger
At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Gaza on Monday, including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine. The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. "Everyone who goes there comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe," said 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Thari. He was among mourners at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of their loved ones killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, according to Gaza's health officials. At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of UN aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials said. At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said. "We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there's no life," Thari said. There was no immediate comment by Israel on Sunday's incident. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had not fired earlier on Monday in the vicinity of the aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip, but it did not elaborate further. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government's war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the captives. Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began. UN agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the past week, over 23,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations.
