Articles
Ending hunger and undernutrition by 2025: the role of horticultural value chains
Article number
1126_2
Pages
9 – 20
Language
English
Abstract
Remarkable progress has been made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but progress has been uneven across regions and goals.
While the goal to halve global poverty has been achieved, advancement toward halving global hunger is not on track.
Nearly 850 million people worldwide still suffer from chronic hunger.
Besides, undernutrition remains prevalent.
More than 2 billion people suffer from deficiencies in essential micronutrients, such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and about the same number of people around the globe are overweight or obese.
The global community should aim to end hunger and undernutrition by 2025, although evidence on how to effectively end the growing challenges of overweight and obesity remains limited.
This goal needs to be prioritized for economic and ethical reasons.
Due to adverse impacts on human capital formation and productivity, hunger and undernutrition lead to large global economic losses.
Hunger and undernutrition also lead to human suffering, but the economic returns of investing in their elimination can be very high.
To achieve this goal, governments and donors must allocate sufficient resources and pursue appropriate policies and investments.
The experience of countries such as Brazil, China, Thailand and Vietnam in reducing hunger and undernutrition suggest that it is realistic to strive for this goal by accelerating the pace of reduction.
To this end, horticultural value chains have a critical role to play in ensuring an adequate supply of nutrient-dense foods as well as enhancing incomes of smallholder farmers.
While the goal to halve global poverty has been achieved, advancement toward halving global hunger is not on track.
Nearly 850 million people worldwide still suffer from chronic hunger.
Besides, undernutrition remains prevalent.
More than 2 billion people suffer from deficiencies in essential micronutrients, such as iron, zinc and vitamin A, and about the same number of people around the globe are overweight or obese.
The global community should aim to end hunger and undernutrition by 2025, although evidence on how to effectively end the growing challenges of overweight and obesity remains limited.
This goal needs to be prioritized for economic and ethical reasons.
Due to adverse impacts on human capital formation and productivity, hunger and undernutrition lead to large global economic losses.
Hunger and undernutrition also lead to human suffering, but the economic returns of investing in their elimination can be very high.
To achieve this goal, governments and donors must allocate sufficient resources and pursue appropriate policies and investments.
The experience of countries such as Brazil, China, Thailand and Vietnam in reducing hunger and undernutrition suggest that it is realistic to strive for this goal by accelerating the pace of reduction.
To this end, horticultural value chains have a critical role to play in ensuring an adequate supply of nutrient-dense foods as well as enhancing incomes of smallholder farmers.
Authors
S. Fan
Keywords
MDGs, SDGs, hunger, undernutrition, horticultural value chains
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