Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
The time has come to re-consider how we grow, share and consume food.
If managed well, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all and generate adequate incomes, supporting people-centred rural development and protecting the environment at the same time.
However, nowadays, our soils, rivers, oceans, forests and our biodiversity are degrading rapidly. Climate change is putting increasing pressure on the resources we depend on, increasing the risks associated with environmental disasters such as droughts and floods. Many rural women are no longer able to support themselves on the income from their land, and are therefore forced to move to the cities in search of opportunities.
A profound change in the world agricultural and food system is needed if we are to feed the 795 million people who suffer from hunger today and the other 2 billion people who will inhabit our planet in 2050.
The food and agriculture sectors offer key solutions for development, and are vital to the eradication of hunger and poverty.
Facts and figures
1. Hunger
- Around 795 million people worldwide – or one in nine people – are undernourished.
- Most of the world's hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.
- Asia is the continent with the largest number of hungry people: two-thirds of the total population. In recent years, the percentage has decreased in South Asia, but increased slightly in West Asia.
- The greatest undernourishment problems are found in South Asia, with nearly 281 million undernourished people. In sub-Saharan Africa, projections for 2014-2016 indicate an undernourishment rate of nearly 23%.
- Malnutrition accounts for nearly half (45%) of under-five deaths: 3.1 million children per year
- Worldwide, one in four children suffer from stunting. In developing countries, the proportion can rise to 1 in 3
- In developing regions, 66 million children of primary school age go to school hungry, with 23 million in Africa alone.
2. Food safety
- Agriculture is the sector that employs the most people worldwide, providing livelihoods for 40% of the world's population. It is the main source of income and employment for the poorest rural households
- 500 million small farms worldwide, most of which depend on rain resources, provide 80% of the food consumed in most of the developed world. Investing in smallholder farmers, both women and men, is the best way to increase food security and nutrition of the poorest, and to increase food production for local and global markets
- Since 1900, the agricultural sector has lost the 75% of crop variety. Better use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to more nutritious diets, better livelihoods for farming communities and more resilient and sustainable farming systems
- If women working in agriculture had equal access to resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million
- 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity; most of these people live in rural areas of developing regions. In many regions, energy shortages are a major obstacle to reducing hunger and ensuring that the world produces enough food to meet future demand.
Achievements
2.1 By 2030, end hunger and ensure that all people, especially the poor and the most vulnerable, including infants, have safe access to sufficient and nutritious food throughout the year
2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition; Achieve internationally agreed targets against stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age by 2025; meet the nutritional needs of teenage girls, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly
2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and income of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, farming families, pastoralists and fishermen, including through secure and equitable access to land, other resources and productive inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value-added and non-agricultural occupations
2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, help protect ecosystems, strengthen capacity to adapt to climate change, extreme weather, droughts, floods and other disasters, and progressively improve soil quality
2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and related wildlife species, including through diversified and well managed seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels; promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed
2.a Increase investment, including through improved international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and education, technological development, and plant and animal gene banks, in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, especially the least developed countries
2.b Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in global agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures having equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round
2.c Take measures to ensure the proper functioning of markets in food commodities and their derivatives and facilitate rapid access to market information, including food reserves, in order to help limit the extreme instability of commodity prices food
