Food scarcity in the world, Nigeria government should learn from this articles

                FOOD SCARCITY IN THE WORLD


A food shortage happens when an area, country or region does not have enough food – or enough nutritious food – for its population. Typically, a food shortage happens because of production issues where not enough food is grown or imported to meet a population's energy and nutrient requirements.The global food crisis is affecting millions of people around the world. In 2023, record levels of acute food insecurity persist due to protracted food crises and new shocks. In 48 countries, 238 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity – 10% more than in 2022.The world's hungriest countries. Haiti, Mali, Sudan, South Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are the countries with the highest levels of hunger.
          Causes Of Food Scarcity In The World

The world produces enough food to feed all 7.5 billion people
Despite this, 10% of the world goes to bed hungry each night
According to the Global Hunger Index, 47 countries will fail even to reach Low hunger status by 2030
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase global hunger by 30 million people
1. Poverty
Poverty and hunger go hand in hand. Parents and caregivers experiencing poverty usually can't afford enough food to feed themselves and their children - and, if they can, they often aren't able to afford nutrient-rich foods.

In turn, undernourishment makes it difficult for children to focus in school, hindering their chances of breaking what is often an intergenerational cycle of poverty. Parents (especially mothers) who skip meals so that their children have enough to eat may also struggle with working to earn enough money to keep food on the table. It's a vicious cycle.

We can see the link between poverty and hunger play out in larger statistics: The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the world's poorest countries. In 2022, nearly 62% of the country's 60 million residents lived below the poverty line. Earlier this year, the UN estimated that 43% of all Congolese are also living below the hunger line in a crisis that is only expected to grow.

A woman displays her vegetables for sale at a central market in DRC
2. Food shortages
Across regions like the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, farming families experience periods before harvests known as hunger seasons. These are the times of year when food supplies from the previous harvest are exhausted, but the next harvest is still a ways off. This leaves families forced to skip one (or more) meals each day in the period before the next harvest, which could be months away.

We've also seen food shortages increase in the last few years as the results of COVID-19 and the crisis in Ukraine. Border closures intended to curb the pandemic and trade routes interrupted due to conflict have prevented critical supplies from getting where they're needed most. Read on to learn how the situation in Ukraine, for instance, has fed the hunger crisis in Somalia.

3. War and conflict
Conflict and hunger form another vicious cycle.

A history of conflict has played out in tandem with a history of hunger in South Sudan. More than a decade of civil war has led to mass displacement and abandoned fields, meaning crops and harvests have failed. Conflict also has an economic impact: It often leads to soaring inflation rates that make imported (or even local) foods unaffordable for many residents.

International conflicts also carry a large impact. Pre-war, Ukraine and Russia exported 25% of the world's wheat supplies. Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan rely on this region - more than 8,000 km away - for staples. Those supply chains have been interrupted due to the conflict, and have left millions of people, including those affected by the ongoing drought in Horn of Africa, without a key lifeline.

4. Climate change
Countries like Malawi enjoy relative peace and political stability. However, climate change is also a major cause of hunger, with each shock setting the most vulnerable people and communities further and further back.

Too little - or too much - rainfall can destroy harvests or reduce the amount of animal pasture available. These fluctuations are made worse by the El Niño weather system, and are likely to only get worse in the future. Extreme climate patterns also tend to affect the poorest regions of the world the most: The World Bank estimates that climate change has the power to push more than 100 million people into poverty over the next decade.

Crops growing on a farm in Niger
5. Poor nutrition
In order to thrive, humans need a range of foods providing a variety of essential health benefits. We mentioned above that families living in poverty often get food lower in nutrients. That's because many of these families rely on just one or two staple foods, like corn or wheat, for the majority of their meals. As a result, they don't get enough critical macronutrients and vitamins. Even if they feel full, they may still be suffering the effects of hunger, particularly malnutrition.

Nutrition is especially important for pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as young children. Mums-to-be who don't get enough vitamins and minerals during their pregnancy may "pass on" malnutrition to their children. If a child does not have the adequate nutritional support during their first 1,000 days between conception and their second birthday, they may also suffer lifetime health and developmental ramifications.

6. Poor public policy
Systemic problems, like poor infrastructure or low investment in agriculture, often prevent food and water from reaching the populations that need them the most. This is especially true in fragile contexts. Many of the world's hungriest countries also experience some form of political instability or conflict. Political leaders often focus limited resources on these emergencies rather than the silent ones like hunger.

This can become further exacerbated if another disaster hits, creating a complex humanitarian crisis. With decades of crisis in Somalia, the latest drought to affect the region is one example of a complex emergency, one that - even with the long spring rain season delivering water to the area - could still lead to a famine.

Malnourished girl Leyla (4) with her mother Kafeeyo getting treatment at the Siinka Dheer Health Centre in Somalia where there is a major hunger crisis due to drought.
Malnourished girl Leyla (4) with her mother Kafeeyo getting treatment at the Siinka Dheer Health Centre in Somalia where there is a major hunger crisis due to drought.
7. Bad economy
After two civil wars and the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, Liberia's economy was left weakened by back-to-back crises.

Seven years after the end of the Ebola epidemic, more than 50% of Liberians still live below the poverty line. It also ranks as the eighth hungriest country in the world, with a 2022 Global Hunger Index score of 32.4.

Inflation as the result of a bad economy means that, even if food is available and people have jobs, they may not be able to afford even the most basic staples. Last year, the cost of a food basket rose by 66% in Ethiopia, and 36% in Somalia.

Women with a harvest in Sierra Leone
8. Food waste
According to the World Food Programme, over 1 billion tonnes of food produced is never consumed. That's equivalent to us throwing out one-third of the global food supply every year.

What's more, producing this wasted food also uses other natural resources that, when threatened, have a ripple effect in the countries that are already hit hardest by hunger, poverty, and climate change. Producing this wasted food requires an amount of water equal to the annual flow of Russia's Volga River, and nearly 3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

9. Gender inequality
The UN notes that if female farmers had the same access to resources as their male counterparts, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million. Female farmers are responsible for growing, harvesting, preparing, and selling the majority of food in poor countries, and they're just one example of the many ways that hunger is a women's issue.

Women are on the frontlines of the fight against hunger, yet they are frequently underrepresented at the forums where important decisions on policy and resources are made.

Women at a food distribution in South Sudan
10. Forced migration
Hunger can be a cause of forced migration. Forced migration can also be a cause of hunger. Refugees and internally-displaced people living in displacement camps or informal communities are often legally or linguistically prevented from getting work to support their families while away from home (many refugees are also women and children, which means their options are even more limited).

Many refugees live in neighbouring countries, countries with limited resources to begin with. Some of the hungriest countries in the world are also among the largest host communities or have high rates of internal displacement. Food aid helps, but the problem of hunger and migration can only be resolved with a political solution.
            How to solve problems of food scarcity in the society

1. Fund Humanitarian Efforts to Prevent Famine
The World Food Programme (WFP) and partner organizations are working to stop famine from engulfing 50 million people in 45 countries, with the harshest situations occurring in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen, where conflcits have devastated food systems.

Without adequate funding, WFP will struggle to reach its goals. In fact, WFP secured less than half of its operational budget of $22 billion for the year as of September.

Humanitarian organizations like WFP, with their extensive on-the-ground networks, are often the only things that stand between families in famine zones and starvation. Governments, corporations, and philanthropists have the opportunity to ensure no one is left behind by mobilizing WFP's remaining budget so it can provide millions of people with rations, cash grants, and support they need to get through the year.

2. Invest in Smallholder Farmers
Smallholder farmers are the backbone of rural communities worldwide, providing abundant food, jobs, and community investment. Yet a tangle of global crises has driven up the costs of essential inputs like seeds, fertilizer, technologies, and even water, making it difficult for many farmers to stay in business, and forcing many to sell their land and property.

When a lack of resources prevents smallholder farmers from achieving their potential harvests, then hunger rates spike in surrounding areas and the entire global food system feels the disruption.

Leaving no one behind means that governments and other investing bodies have to subsidize agricultural production for smallholder farmers, whether by directly providing essential inputs, enabling access to grants and credit, or investing in broader system reforms that make farmers more resilient in the face of shocks.


3. Invest in Climate-Smart Agriculture
Climate change is already undermining crop yields worldwide, and major crops like wheat and maize could decline by as much as a quarter compared to current levels by 2030 alone.

At the same time, the global food system is a major driver of climate change, responsible for an estimated 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

If countries want to both maintain crop yields and reduce emissions, then they must invest in climate-smart forms of agriculture that support the regeneration of ecosystems, protect forests, and restore the health of soil.

4. Promote a Planetary Health Diet
Transforming the food system requires both macro and micro change. On the micro level, people worldwide have to shift their diets to foods that support the health of the global environment and reduce foods that cause harm.

The "Planetary Health Diet" was developed by scientists to figure out how we can eat our way out of the climate and biodiversity crisis. Their main finding was that people, particularly Americans, need to eat less meat because industrial meat production is a leading cause of deforestation, water depletion, and soil erosion.

Shifting to other sources of protein like lentils and beans, in addition to increasing consumption of vegetables and fruits, would gradually allow environments to recover and become net absorbers of greenhouse gasses instead of net emitters.


5. Eliminate Food Waste
An estimated 40% of food produced worldwide is wasted. In other words, we produce more than enough food to eliminate global hunger, yet pricing incentives and inefficient market practices render huge amounts of that food inaccessible to the communities that need it the most.

Ending this injustice requires better distribution methods, universal access to refrigeration technology, and fairer pricing mechanisms so that people can actually afford food. Instead of leaving an estimated 1.4 billion tons of food to rot in landfills annually, countries can make sure food serves its intended purpose: nourishing people.

6. Ensure Everyone Can Afford Nutritious Diets
Nearly half of the global population is unable to afford a nutritious diet, which means they often have to settle for highly processed and nutrient-deficient foods. It's not good enough to eliminate hunger; undernutrition has to be eliminated as well.

Leading food researchers argue that this affordability gap can be closed by instituting higher wages for work, providing government safety nets to support food purchases, directly lowering the cost of healthy foods through subsidies, and investing in the production of healthy food.

7. Ensure Universal School Meals
Hungry students have a harder time paying attention, retaining information, and engaging in school, which ends up undermining their future productivity. Providing students with school meals is a simple way to help students do their best in the classroom and grow into healthy, capable adults. When structured right, school meal programs can also promote healthy eating, support local farmers, and free up family income for broader prosperity. In fact, for every $1 invested in school meals, communities see $9 in returns, according to WFP.

Globally, more than 73 million students lack reliable access to school meals. Ending this disparity will go a long way toward "leaving no one behind."

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