Eastern Visayas State University

Burauen Campus
Burauen, Leyte

CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Sustainable Development, Environmental

Crisis, and Global Food Security

Prepared by:

Montemor, Divine Q.

Nuevas Jr., Gerry S.

Olimpo, Francisco C.

Padayao, Ana Leah L.

Pasagui, Cristel R.

Refuerzo, Angel Lyn S.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
What is Sustainable Development? According to World
Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to transform our

world. They are a call to action to end poverty and inequality, protect
the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice and
prosperity.

Sustainable development, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development,

involves meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
Various organizations have different perspectives: the World Bank highlights economic analysis, IUCN,
WWF, ENEP emphasize ecological conservation, and Edward Barbier prioritizes improving the welfare of
the poor. Critics argue that the World Bank's economic analysis lacks clarity in guiding environmental
protection and overlooks distributive aspects. UNEP focuses on ecosystem sustainability, while Barbier
contends that human welfare indicators, particularly for the poor, should take precedence over overall
economic growth.

The UK government proposes a five-principles approach to sustainable development, emphasizing

living within environmental limits, fostering a strong and just society, establishing a sustainable economy,
promoting good governance, and utilizing sound science responsibly. Key aspects include prioritizing
environmental respect, social justice, and holding individuals accountable for environmental and social
infractions. Concurrently, the United Nations advocates significant adjustments such as price reforms,
conservation of natural resources, reduction of inequalities, inclusion of environmental accounting, financial
sector realignment, and equitable sharing of income and employment to improve the well-being of the
poorest. Both perspectives underscore the need for substantial changes in the economy and politics to
achieve global sustainable development.

In 2000, leaders worldwide, representing UN member states, jointly embraced the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) to lessen poverty and enhance human development. These eight goals
targeted eradicating extreme poverty, ensuring universal education, promoting gender equality, reducing
child mortality, improving maternal health, combating diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and
fostering a global partnership for development by 2015. While there was progress in certain areas, the
ongoing existence of extreme poverty suggested that prevailing global and national development strategies
presented obstacles to fully achieving the comprehensive goals of the MDGs.

In 2015, countries that are part of the United Nations collectively agreed to adopt the 17
Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim of addressing issues related to poverty, inequalities, and
climate change by the year 2030.
The 17 goals are the following:
GOAL 1: No Poverty
GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 14: Life Below Water
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal (United Nations)
These goals represent the pursuit of development that includes economic prosperity, social well-being, and
environmental integrity.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

Environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a

species or population destabilizes its continued survival.

Environmental crises are distinguished by rapid and largely

unexpected changes in environmental quality that are difficult if not
impossible to reverse.

Challenges to Sustainable Development

POVERTY
Poverty is usually referred to as the lack and loss of important basic needs of people. It is also
commonly identified through an income. According to Philippine Statistics Authority 2018, the incidence of
poverty Mon the Philippines was recorded at 21.0 percent. Poverty incidence is the proportion of the poor
population to the total population.

INCOME INEQUALITY
Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor in terms of their income. Despite
economic growth, this gap has been widening globally. The richest 25 percent of the population has seen a
significant increase in per capita GDP, while the poorest population has been left behind. This inequality
poses a significant challenge to sustainable development, as highlighted by the UN in 2013.

In the Philippines, income disparity is also prevalent. The average annual family income for the
poorest 10 percent of Filipino families is significantly lower compared to the richest 10 percent.
 IBON Foundation reveals a stark contrast in monthly incomes between top business CEOs and the
poorest Filipino families. Poverty goes beyond income alone and encompasses various factors such as
insecure income, lack of decent work, inadequate education, insufficient nutrition, poor housing, lack of
clean water and utilities, absence of assets, vulnerability, exploitation, and violence.

UNSUSTAINABLE PATTERNS OF PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to promote sustainable consumption and production
patterns. However, in recent decades, there has been an increase in the consumption of natural resources,
leading to unsustainable practices.

The world's population has been consuming resources at a rate that exceeds the Earth's capacity
to provide them. This excessive consumption, known as the ecological footprint, poses a threat to
biodiversity. Habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution, infrastructure development, water over-extraction,
and poaching are some of the threats highlighted in the Living Planet Report 2014. It is worth noting that
wealthier countries, such as the USA and China, have the highest ecological footprint and consumption
rates.

The consumer culture and the obsession with material goods contribute to this unsustainable
pattern. The linear system of over-extraction, over-production, distribution, and disposal of goods and
services poses risks to the environment, human health, and well-being. A shift towards a more sustainable
system is necessary to address these challenges.

ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION
 The current system of production and consumption has a significant negative impact on the
environment. This includes practices such as over-harvesting from ecosystems, excessive carbon dioxide
emissions, and the exploitation of water and land resources. These activities often go beyond the
environment's ability to regenerate, leading to environmental destruction.

The following are information on the state of Philippine environment (Center for Environmental Concerns).

Environmental Indicators Descriptions

Forest Cover  At the end Spanish colonization, forest cover
was more that 20 million hectares.
 By the 2010s, Forest cover declined to only 23
percent at 7million hectares.
Minearal Wealth  In June 2019, there were 488 mineral
agreements covering 705,102 land area
(Mines Geosciences Bureau).
Agricultural Ecosystem  Forty-one-point seven percent of Philippine
land area is utilized for agriculture, but the
poverty incidence of farmers is at 34 percent
(Philippine Statistics Authority).
 Agricultural lands are declining.
Fresh water Ecosystem  One out of 10 Filipinos do not have access to
improved water sources.
 Pollution of freshwater bodies
Marine Ecosystem  Manila Bay pollution
 Depleting coastal and marine resources
 Depletion of fish stocks
 Fish species extinction
 Threatened coral reef
Urban Ecosystem  Destruction of green spaces such as the
planned conversion of Arroceros Forest Park
into a gym
 Deforestation in the Philippines happens because we take out too many trees and sell forest products.
The problem gets worse because foreign companies can fully own our mining companies. These foreign
mining companies, especially in Manila, dig up minerals, hurting local communities and making life tougher
for poor people.

Economic Globalization and Sustainable Development

The big idea of economic globalization, following the rules of neoliberal thinking, is causing problems
for sustainable development. Even though it’s about making more money and trading more, some people
say it’s not good because it leads to taking too much from nature and using cheap labor and materials.

The World Bank and others tell countries to pay back debts first and let foreign companies use our
resources. This makes big companies richer but leaves less money for things like helping workers, women,
farmers, and regular people. Also, sharing common resources, like land and water, with private companies
puts those things at risk.

But, even with these challenges, people around the world are teaming up to fight against this way of
thinking and push for a more sustainable and fair approach to development.

Global Food Security

What is global food security?

Food security occurs when all people are able to access

enough safe and nutritious food to meet their requirements
for a healthy life, in ways the planet can sustain into the
future.

Undernourishment – is the condition by which a person

only has access, on a regular basis, to food that are
insufficient in providing the required energy for a normal, healthy, and active life, provided his or her own
dietary and energy requirements

Global food production is more than enough to meet the needs of every person on the earth. In
spite of this, an estimated 124 million people—roughly 40 million more than two years ago—experience
acute hunger today. Depending on their dietary demands and food choices toward an active and healthy
lifestyle, every individual, every time, should be able to physically and financially obtain enough, safe, and
nutritious food. This is known as food security (World Food Summit, 1996). According to the FAO, “when
people do not have adequate physical, social, or access to food” is referred to as food insecurity. Food
crises, hunger, and starvation are issues that are brought into public policy by food security.

In the 1970s, the idea of food security became popular. Initially, a shortage of food was thought to
cause hunger. Increasing agricultural productivity and preserving food price stability were the key goals of
government initiatives to increase food supply. As a result, the idea of food security was expanded to
encompass food accessibility, which is related to the more general issues of poverty and development.

The concepts of chronic and transient hunger originated in 1986 when the World Bank proposed
that food insecurity might be either a permanent or transient phenomena. While transitory food insecurity
refers to a brief food deficit, chronic food insecurity acknowledges the ongoing issue of food insecurity. This
forces policy to acknowledge the need for enough food to be available always (food stability).

Measurement for Food Security and Food Insecurity

To understand the phenomenon of food security and food insecurity, various measures and indices
have been developed. These measures and indices become the bases for actions to eradicate food
insecurity and demand accountability from governments. Measures and indices can encompass analyzes
of causes and/or effects, either qualitative or quantitative and may be done in several levels-from
household levels to national levels (Masset, 2010).

Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) and the Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity in the
Population of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
 PoU measures hunger on several levels, in the regional and global levels, by gathering data on
food availability, consumption, and energy requirements. On the other hand, the Prevalence of Moderate
and Severe Food Insecurity in the Population collects data through interviews regarding people's
experiences of difficulty in accessing food.

Global Hunger Index

Global Hunger index is published by Concern International and Welthungerhilfe, It looks into
indicators such as the share of the population related to:

 undernourishment referring to insufficient caloric intake;

 child wasting referring children with low weight in relation to their height
 child stunting referring to children under the age of five that have a low weight in relation to their
age; and
 child mortality or under-five mortality rates.

Hunger Reduction Commitment Index (HRCI)

It initiated by the Institute of Development Studies looks into three themes that measure
governments political commitment in attaining food security: governments' policies and programs; legal
frameworks; and public expenditures (Linte et al., 2011).

Some of the indicators being measured in HRCI are:

 institutional coordination - whether there is a coordinating body to address hunger and malnutrition
and the successes of this coordinating body;

 government intention and action - about priority actions of the government on hunger and
malnutrition;

 analytical rigor - about the generation of scientific evidence on hunger and malnutrition as the basis
for public policy; and

 learning and adaptation- about the governments' effort to innovate with policy approaches to
eradicate hunger and malnutrition (Linte et al., 2011).
Some Factors Affecting Food Security
Food security in the Philippines is a multidimensional issue influenced by various factors. Ensuring
the availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability of food is linked to social, political, economic, cultural,
and environmental processes.

Factors such as food supply, prices, income, and sudden changes in context affect food security.
Early concepts focused on agricultural production to ensure food availability, including sustainable energy
and protein supply. The quality of food is also important for promoting well-being.

Food Supply

Food supply involves a complex process with different functions and operations. The conditions of
rural farmers, who play a crucial role in food production, should be a focus of discussions on food security.
In the Philippines, farmers and fishers are among the poorest sectors, highlighting the need for government
support and reforms to ensure sufficient food supply.

Food Prices

Changes in national and global economic policies and process may lead to Increases in oil and food
prices.

In the Philippines, inflation hit 4.5 percent in April 2018, leading to a drastic rise in food prices.

Figure 1 shows that by 2019, inflation slows

down to 3 percent but food prices are still
higher than 2018 prices (IBON, 2019). High
prices of food can compromise the food
security of citizens.
People's Income

A significant issue related to food security is the lack of access to food due to poverty. Even if food
is available, people who cannot afford to buy it may struggle to meet their food needs. The minimum wage
in Metro Manila, amounting to Php512 is barely sufficient.to meet food and other needs (IBON Foundation).

Changes and Shocks in Social and Natural Environments

Variability and shocks in the social and natural environment can impact food availability, accessibility, and
stability. Climate change, such as the El Niño phenomena, can lead to lower yields and decreased food
supply for farmers in the Philippines, resulting in transitory food insecurity. Conflict also contributes to
poverty and hunger, with over half of the undernourished population coming from conflict-affected
countries.

Globalization and Food Security

Food security that is linked to the complex process of food production, consumption, and
distribution intersects with issues of trading, reforms in agriculture, as well as rural development
(Schanbacher, 2010).

Economic globalization, including foreign trading of food, creates a global food supply chain with
challenges like contamination and lack of traceability. Cultural globalization influences people's taste and
consumption patterns. In the Philippines, decreased government spending on agriculture and the entry of
cheap imported agricultural products have weakened food production.

Commitments to Achieve Food Security

World leaders, beginning with the 1996 World Food Summit and reiterated in the UN Millennium
Summit in 2000, committed to addressing global food security, aiming to eradicate hunger and reduce
undernourishment. The Millennium Development Goals set a short-term objective of halving
undernourished individuals, focusing on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, includes a goal of achieving zero hunger, prompting
governments to implement policies like enhancing agricultural productivity, building resilience to climate
change, increasing agricultural investment, and improving trade processes. The concept of food
sovereignty emphasizes prioritizing small-scale farmers’ well-being over large-scale, corporate-driven food
production to ensure sustainable food security without compromising vulnerable farmers’ livelihood.