What is sustainability?

There is no universally agreed

definition on what sustainability
means. There are many different
views on what it is and how it can be
achieved. The idea of sustainability
stems from the concept of
sustainable development which
became common language at the
World's first Earth Summit in Rio in
1992.
"Development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs." Bruntland Report for
the World Commission on Environment
and Development (1992)*

*http://www.globalfootprints.org/sustainabilit
y
"A process of change in which the
exploitation of resources, the
direction of investments, the
orientation of technological
development and institutional
change are all in harmony and
enhance both current and future
potential to meet human needs
and aspirations" The World
Commission on Environment and
Development
"In essence sustainable development is
about five key principles: quality of life;
fairness and equity; participation and
partnership; care for our environment and
respect for ecological constraints -
recognising there are 'environmental
limits'; and thought for the future and the
precautionary principle". (From Making
London Work by Forum for the Future's
Sustainable Wealth London project)
Global Sustainability means ensuring that all people on
this planet have the resources and environment necessary
for them to survive and thrive, now and in the future.
Also means, addressing poverty and hunger and building
societies in which strong, inclusive institutions protect the
rights of all citizens, regardless of race, religion, national
origin, gender or sexual preference. (Global Sustainability,
Mark Lefko, 2017)
Global Sustainability or GLOBALIZATION itself AS
A WAY OF ADVANCING our very own concept of
Social Justice?
GLOBAL FOOD SECURIT
Y
: THE CHALLENGE OF
FEEDING THE WORLD
By: Monika Barthwal- Datta
 2010- 12 around 870 million people
around the world continued to suffer
from hunger!

NEED TO INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION

OVEREMPHASIZED?
The challenge of food security in
a globalized world is complex,
multidimensional and multi-
sectoral- and one being
compounded by the impacts of
climate change.
 FOOD SECURITY an evolving
concept.
-It is commonly associated with
the availability of food to meet
demand, and people’s access to
food, at the local, national and
global levels.
“ the availability at all times of
adequate world food supplies of
basic foodstuffs to sustain a
steady expansion of food
consumption and to offset
fluctuations in production and
prices”*
* First official definition of food
security emerged at the 1974 UN
World Food Conference.
3 Distinct Paradigm Shifts in food
security discourse and international
agenda (according to Maxwell,
1996).

1. From the focus on food availability

and supply to …..ACCESS (lack of
access to food)
2. Livelihood Security as key
household priority and component
of food security…

3. Incorporation of subjective
measures of what it means to be
food- secure, including access to
food that is preferable.
Thus, Food Security exists “when all
people, at all times, have physical,
social and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food
that meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for an active and
healthy life” (FAO’s revised
definition, 2002)*

*currently prevailing definition

Four key pillars of food security:
1. Availability
2. Access
3. Utilization
4. Stability (in relation to those 3
aspects)
Food Security & Human Security

Human Security- prioritizing the

safety of individuals and
communities from range of
threats arising from different
sources.
 As per UNDP means;
1st- safety from such chronic
threats as hunger disease and
repression,
2nd – protection from sudden and
hurtful disruptions in the patterns
of daily life- whether in homes, in
jobs or in communities.
Proponents of human security see
hunger as the “most prevalent threat
to human security, and one of the
gravest”

As where there is food insecurity…no

individual can be secure in his or her
person or exercise any human
capability (AHDR, 2009)
Food Insecurity (as caused by
poverty) at the heart of all
human security concerns!

The links between poverty, food

insecurity and human security
are particularly evident in the
face of food price spikes….
 Food Prices and Poverty
Population Growth and Urbanization
Incomes and Changing Diets
A. Food Prices and Poverty
Staple Foods

 Wheat
 Rice
 Maize (Mais)
 Soybeans
 Edible Oils
Reasons of Food Price Hike
1. On the Demand Side
2. On the Supply Side
EFFECTS OF FOOD PRICE HIKE

1. Detrimental to Small Farmers

2. Harmful to those farming households that are
net consumers of food and rely on the market to
fulfill their food security needs.
3. Resort to selling of precious assets, mortgaging
land, signing of high-interest loans, and cutting
back on education and health-care expenses.
Causes of Stagnation in Food Supply

1. Cheapening of Traded Food

2. Smallholders find Agriculture as an
unviable source of livelihood
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
1. Haiti (Global Hunger Index: 23)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
2. Zambia (Global Hunger Index: 23.2)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
3. Yemen (Global Health Index: 23.4)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
4. Ethiopia (Global Health Index: 24.4)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
5. Chad (Global Health Index: 24.9)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
6. Sudan (Global Health Index: 26)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
7. Comoros (Global Health Index: 29.5)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
8. Timor-Leste (Global Health Index: 29.8)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
9. Eritrea (Global Health Index: 33.8)
COUNTRIES STARVING TO DEATH
10. Burundi (Global Health Index: 35.6)
B. Population Growth and Urbanization
Movement of People from Rural to
Urban
Impacts:
 Expansion of cities and
Slum
 Shortage of other resources.
C. Incomes and Changing Diets
Law of Demand

Demand
Income
 BIOFUEL
PRODUCTION
GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY
(GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY:THE CHALLENGE OF FEEDING THE
WORLD by MONIKA BARTHWAL-DATTA)
BIOFUEL
- a fuel that is produced through
contemporary biological processes, such as
agriculture and anaerobic digestion, rather
than a fuel produced by geological
processes such as those involved in the
formation of fossil fuels, such as coal and
petroleum.
 The biofuel production have become highly controversial
in the context of global food production.

Examples of biofuel:
 Ethanol 

 Biodiesel

 Green diesel 

 Biogas
‘ The sudden, ill-conceived, rush to convert food . . . into fuels is
a recipe for disaster.’

- Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapportuer

 CLIMATE
CHANGE
GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY
(GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY:THE CHALLENGE OF FEEDING THE
WORLD by MONIKA BARTHWAL-DATTA)
CLIMATE CHANGE
-a change in the statistical distribution of weather
 patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of
time.
 Climate change affects all four dimensions of food
security, namely:

 Food availability

 Food accessibility

 Food utilization

 Food stability
 Agriculture is highly sensitive to climate and food
production is affected directly by variations in agro-
ecological condition unions for growing crops.

 ‘High costs and few benefits’.

EMERGING RESPONSES
TO CALL FOR
GLOBAL FOOD
SECURITY
1. GROW MORE “FOOD”
 -developing countries need to
raise farm
productivity by adopting “improved”
technologies
 For example:
-Biotechnology,
-use of LED lights,
- vertical farming and etc.
USE OF LED LIGHT
2. FREER AGRICULTURAL TRADE
ACROSS STATE BORDERS
 -lowering of trade barriers by the
developing countries
 Trade Barriers – i.e. tariffs, subsidy,
embargo & protection
 3. CREATION OF FOOD ORGANIZATIONS
(GREEN REVOLUTION)
 - regional and global initiatives focused on food securitty
 For example:

a. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

(AFSA)
- Inspired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s call for a
uniquely African “green revolution” & co-founded through a
partnership bet. The Rockefeller Foundation & the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation
-founded on the belief that investing
in agriculture is the surest path to
reducing poverty & hunger in Africa
 -geared towards boosting agricultural
productivity in Africa using a market-
centric approach
b. NewAlliance for Food Seurity & Nutrition
(NAFSN)

Launched in 2012, which ushered in a new phase of global

investment in food security & nutrition.
A shared commitment to achieve sustained & inclusive
agricultural growth & raise 50 million people out of poverty
over the next 10 years.
 CONCEPT OF FOOD
SOVEREIGNTY
 A movement that emerged in the 1990’s, that
embraces a rights-based approach to food, it shifts
the focus towards examining the root causes of
hunger & malnourishment - i.e. it connects the right
to food to the rights of local communities to decide
what to produce and how, by placing them at the
heart of food, agriculture, livestok and fisheries
systems and policies.