End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

The number of people facing hunger and food insecurity has been on the rise since 2015, with the pandemic, conflict climate change, and growing inequalities exacerbating the situation. In 2015, 589 million people were experiencing hunger, and by 2021, that number had risen to 768 million. To achieve zero hunger by 2030, immediate and intensified efforts are required to transform food systems, ensure food security and invest in sustainable agricultural practices. The Sustainable Development Goal to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” (SDG2) recognizes the inter linkages among supporting sustainable agriculture, empowering small farmers, promoting gender equality, ending rural poverty, ensuring healthy lifestyles, tackling climate change, and other issues addressed within the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Extreme poverty and hunger are predominantly rural, with smallholder farmers and their families making up a very significant proportion of the poor and hungry. Thus, eradicating poverty and hunger is integrally linked to boosting food production, agricultural productivity, and rural incomes. Land, healthy soils, and water are key inputs into food production, and their growing scarcity in many parts of the world makes it imperative to use and manage them sustainably. Boosting yields on existing agricultural lands, including restoration of degraded lands, through sustainable agricultural practices would also relieve pressure to clear forests for agricultural production. Wise management of scarce water through improved irrigation and storage technologies, combined with the development of new drought-resistant crop varieties, can contribute to sustaining drylands productivity. Beyond adequate calorie intake, proper nutrition has other dimensions that deserve attention, including micronutrient availability and healthy diets. Unhealthy diets and lifestyles are closely linked to the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases in both developed and developing countries.

Sources: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal2 https://sdgs.un.org/topics/rural-development https://sdgs.un.org/topics/food-security-and-nutrition-and-sustainable-agriculture