13 Jan Zero Hunger (Goal 2)

The Sustainable Development Goals were established in 2012 during the United Nations Conferences on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the UN Development Programme, the aim of the SDGs was to establish a set of universal goals that tackle the critical environmental, political, and economic concerns. Zero Hunger is the second of the 17 SDGs that the UN aims to achieve by 2030.

What is causing the global food crisis?

Food scarcity alone does not produce hunger; rather, a mix of environmental, social, and political forces do. Here are few of the causes we have listed below:

1) Globally, conflict is the main cause of hunger, accounting for 65% of all cases of food insecurity and hunger. Families, communities, infrastructures, food systems, and entire areas get torn apart by conflict.

2)Suddenly, food is incredibly pricey. According to the United Nations, trips to the grocery store and gas station can cost up to one-third and two-thirds more.

With families in emerging economies spending up to 60% of their income on food and up to 40% in sub-Saharan Africa, the rising cost of living might put families with young children in danger.

3)Russia and Ukraine are two of the worst nations to be at war with for the global food supply chain. Together, the two produce almost 30% of the wheat consumed worldwide, in addition to barley, sunflower seed oil, and corn, which helps to feed billions of people. 

4)Global hunger is rising as a result of extreme weather events like hurricanes and droughts that reduce harvests and drive-up food prices. The primary industry in many of the world’s poorest nations is agriculture, and people there consume seasonally according to what they gather. As a result, there is frequently no food when there is no harvest.

After three rainy seasons failed to materialize, a terrible drought has gripped the Horn of Africa. 

Source – Anadolu Agency

5) COVID-19 is also one of the causes. Lockdowns destroyed supply systems, the economy, and the means of subsistence for families. As a result, 1 in 8 people now face extreme food insecurity. These folks are still having trouble feeding their families two years later.

To effectively feed everyone on the earth, the world requires sustainable answers to these issues. There are currently about 815 million hungry people worldwide. The UN predicts that by 2050, two billion more people would be undernourished, therefore this number is only anticipated to rise with time. Finding long-term solutions to end global hunger is the goal of the Zero Hunger SDG.

Let’s talk solutions

The Zero Hunger programme seeks to eradicate hunger and ensure that everyone has access to enough nutrient-dense foods by the year 2030. The objective also includes encouraging sustainable agriculture and putting an end to all forms of malnutrition. 

1. In order to permanently pull people out of poverty by preventing individuals from slipping back into it, we need to encourage wider and deeper use of social safety services.

Programs to meet necessities are referred to as social protection. A social protection floor ensures that everyone has access to the necessities.

Social protection programmes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as school food programmes, cash or in-kind transfers to qualifying users, and employment guarantees in the public sector. If thoughtfully created, they allow the most vulnerable to engage in activities that produce more money and move above the poverty line.

2. Donate to organizations who are working closely with communities to eradicate the hunger crisis.

3. Do your bit to prevent a hunger crisis near you.

4. Since SDGs are interlinked solutions to one problem will solve the other. A proper socio-economic development will surely help us solve critical problems. Only if we identify the problems from a very grassroot level, will we be able to work on it with more gravity.

At the end the world is one. No one deserves to be deprived of basic necessities like food,water. As we are evolving with time let us all pull each other up from suffering.Let us all be the cause of happiness for one another and create a world of positivity and happiness.