The Fight for Global Food Security

Executive Summary

Global food supplies in the world are enough to feed each individual on this planet. Unfortunately, there are still over 800 million people in the world suffering from chronic hunger, in other words they lack food security. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO). When considering the reasons why people around the world lack food security, access to food becomes an important factor that needs to be addressed. In this paper, we will look at the past and present state of global programs and policies regarding food security, and discuss some of the reasons why people lack access to sufficient food. Future trends will also be considered, and from these findings possible future solutions to address the issue of food security around the world will be discussed, along with the challenges and obstacles that might be faced when trying to implement these suggestions.

Introduction – Food Security and its Importance in Livelihood Security

Food is an important aspect for the survival, health, and well being of the individuals that make up any community.  Thousands of years ago, individuals obtained their food by hunting and gathering. Later we figured out that we could grow food, and agriculture was developed about 8000 years ago. This allowed human populations to become more stable. The introduction of agriculture was a big advancement in our evolution, because it allowed for the time to establish more communities, and have the time to think about other things that would eventually lead to the day and age that we are currently living in. Agriculture is a very important part of our history, in particular in the development of civilizations. Although agriculture was a long evolutionary leap for communities around the world, which allowed for the continual advancement of these communities, we are now noticing the negative affects that large scale agriculture can have on the earth’s environment, and how globalization has contributed to the change of agriculture into large corporate enterprises that marginalizes the most poor, creating challenges for communities and security of food. Currently there is an abundance of food, but there are over 800 million individuals in this world that are affected by not having enough food to sustain themselves on a daily basis. In other words they lack food security.

Since the 1970s, there have been several definitions for food security that have been established. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has established one of the most commonly accepted definitions – it states that “food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2006). In the 1979 World Food Program Report, food security was conceptualized as an “assurance of supplies and a balanced supply-demand situation of stable foods in the international market.” The World Bank defined food security as the “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life (World Bank, 1986).” All of these definitions encompass the issues of production in relation to food availability; distribution in that food should be accessible by all; and consumption in that each individual’s food needs should be met in order to live active and healthy lifestyles. Therefore for food security to exist, availability and accessibility of food to meet individual food needs should also be sustainable (Ayalew, n.d.). The opposite of food security is food insecurity, and the Hunger Task Force has described food insecurity as “a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives. (2007)”

Food security is very important for the livelihood of all human beings on this earth because food is an essential part of life, and without it you cannot have nutrition and well-being. Without nutrition and well-being one cannot live to their full potential, and provide a secure livelihood. According to the United Nations, all humans have basic human rights that should be respected at all levels of society, including the right to food. The United Nations has developed declarations in order to provide guidance for countries to assure that each individual is respected with the most basic human rights. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948), it was established that all humans should have the right to an adequate standard of living, including food. Additionally, in the Universal

Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (UN, 1974) it states that “every man, woman, and child has an inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition.” Unfortunately many of these human rights are violated, in particular in developing countries and many living in extreme poverty are hungry and undernourished.  These rights have been established, so that the livelihood of individuals, which is the means by which a person or households make a living over time, is secure. In order to live secure lives, and to have the opportunity to progress at all levels of society, from the individual to the communal, food is one of the most basic necessities in life. If you consider the basic needs of humans, it comes down to food, water, oxygen, and reproduction. Although these rights have been declared, and it’s expected that all nations follow, many people in this world today cannot meet their most basic needs. Ensuring food security and good nutrition are essential in maximizing human potential and attaining health for all.

Food insecurity, which is a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives (Hunger Task Force, 2006; “Food Security”, 2007), can lead to famine and hunger, which could lead to stunting and chronic nutritional deficiencies in individuals (Ayalew, n.d.). Famine is an absolute lack of food affecting a large population for a long period of time (Ayalew, n.d.). Hunger is related to undernourishment and is related to poverty. People become weak after not having adequate food for days. Chronic hunger and malnutrition causes decreased body size, otherwise known as stunting. This process can start in utero if the mother is malnourished and is continued through the first three years of life (“Food Security”, 2007). Stunting can cause a premature failure of vital organs during adulthood, higher rates of disease and illness, and defects in childhood cognitive development (“Food Security”, 2007). Hunger and malnourishment leads to higher infant and child mortality. Hunger is not only a consequence but also a cause of poverty. It compromises the health and productivity potential of individuals, families, and entire nations, and their efforts to escape poverty (FAO, 2006).

There are several reasons why food insecurity exists. Natural disasters, drought, conflict, high rates of population growth and poverty are the main factors that contribute to food security issues. The leading cause of hunger and malnutrition is poverty. There is a direct relationship between food consumption levels and poverty (FAO, 2006). Poverty causes a lack of purchasing power among the poorest segments of the population. Many are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty. Currently there are about 1.2 billion people living on less than $1 per day (World Bank, 2001).

Drought and other climatic extremes and natural disasters also contribute to food insecurity. Droughts usually extend over several seasons, and can cause differential patterns of rainfall. In order to cope with such irregularities, farmers in these areas have learned to plant different crops at different times, and have had to sometimes resort to hunting and gathering in times of stress. Floods, is another natural disaster that can affect food insecurity. Floods can destroy crops, drown animals, and cause reservoirs to fill up with silt. When regions don’t receive normal rainfall it causes areas to be limited in what can be grown. The impact of droughts can be exacerbated by continual forms of degradation of natural resources, in particular land and vegetation. For example soil erosion causes runoff of rainwater, resulting in land productivity decline, loss of biodiversity, and continuing desertification (Susswein, 2001).

Conflict can also cause food insecurity, because it diverts the nations resources, directly and indirectly, from more productive and socially beneficial uses (UN, 2000). Conflict also moves able-bodies men away from agricultural production, to areas of conflict, putting a larger work burden on women. In areas of conflict, those that are the most poor are affected the most, since many times people are displaced from their homes, and their assets are depleted.  Also, food is unfortunately used as a weapon; soldiers starve opponents into submission by seizing or destroying food or livestock. Fields and wells are often mined or contaminated, forcing farmers to abandon their land.

National food production, or having the availability of food at the national level, does not guarantee food security. This is because food is not always distributed evenly to each region and to each household. Individuals, who don’t produce their own food, might be able to access food in their country through markets, but only if they have the ability to pay.. In poor, underdeveloped countries, many people may not have purchasing power to buy food. Also, some national governments lack the necessary financial resources to purchase surplus and to distribute it to those in need, especially when millions of people are in need. (Ayalew, n.d.)

Food insecurity threatens global security. People that experience hunger, are disadvantaged in their capacity to earn a livelihood. Societies that are devastated with hunger can’t develop to their full economic and social potential (FAO, 2006) for example the productivity of developing countries could be cut by 2% in GDP in some cases because of food insecurity [WFP].

This paper will look the past, and present state of global programs and policies regarding food security, and discuss some of the reasons why people lack access to sufficient food. Future trends will also be considered, and from these findings possible future solutions to address the issue of food security around the world will be discussed, along with the challenges and obstacles that might be faced when trying to implement these suggestions.

Historical Perspective on Food Security

The state of food security in the world became an issue prominantly in the 1970s (Ayalew, n.d.), but it was first raised as an issue of concern in the late 18th century by Thomas Robert Malthus’ An Essay on the Principle of Population of 1798 (Rosegrant & Cline, 2003). In his essay he predicted that if population growth continued the way it was going, and agriculture productivity didn’t step up, then the world would begin to suffer war, plague, and famine. The world did step up, and between the 1940s and 1960s agricultural production increased in many developing countries as a result of programs in agricultural research, extension, and infrastructure, largely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and other major agencies. This transformation is known as the Green Revolution. The green revolution led to significant increases in agricultural production and it helped to avoid widespread famine. The green revolution helped spread technologies that had been widely used in industrialized nations to other developing nations, such as pesticides, irrigation projects, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. It also encouraged more widespread use of seeds that had been created to be “high yield varieties,” which are seeds that significantly outperform traditional varieties in the presence of adequate irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers (“Green Revolution”, 2007). The green revolution increased staple food crop production to a level that provides adequate energy to satisfy the needs of the global population (Gebremedhin, 1997).

World hunger became a major global health concern in 1974 during the World Food Conference held inRomeby the United Nations, under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It was proclaimed that “every man, woman and child has the inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition in order to develop their physical and mental faculties. (“World Food Conference”, 2007).” The conference set as its goal the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition within a decade. After this conference, there was a reduction in number of undernourished in the 1970s of 37 million, and 100 million in the 1980s, but it was not enough to meet their goal.

In 1996, the FAO of the United Nations called a World Food Summit (WFS) that was held inRome. This summit was called in response to a widespread under-nutrition and growing concern about the capacity of agriculture to meet future food needs. Two key documents were produced, the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, and the World Food Summit Plan of Action. In the Rome Declaration, participating world leaders pledged an ongoing commitment to efforts to eradicate hunger in all countries, and set themselves the immediate target of halving the number of chronically undernourished people on the globe by the year 2015(FAO, 2006). The Plan of Action sets goals for government and non-governmental organizations to achieve food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels. (“Food Security”, 2007).

World hunger was again brought to the international table, during the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations in 2000, and listed as one of the eight major Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The UN committed in its 1st goal to “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,” and specifically states that it will reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by the year 2015, compared to proportions in 1990, and increase the amount of food for those who suffer from hunger (“Millennium Development Goals”, 2007).

Global Food Security Issues Today

Global food supplies have improved enormously since the early 1960’s. More food is being produced today than ever before (Gebremedhin, 1997). It is estimated based on current trends and improved agricultural technology, that food production will be sufficient to meet the demands of the world’s population by 2010 (Gebremedhin, 1997). Although contradictory to Malthus’ projections, global food availability does not ensure food security to any particular country because what is available in the world market may not be accessible to famine-affected individuals in developing countries, such asAfrica(Ayalew, n.d.). Poorer countries may not generate enough currency to be able to purchase food from the world market to alleviate issues of hunger in their countries. Unfortunately, although agricultural production has increased, there is still a large problem with global hunger. So the problem is not the supply of food production, but the access to the food supply, and more importantly, access to the technology to increase food production. Currently there is more widespread and vocal acknowledgment that persistence chronic hunger in a time of plenty is an unacceptable contradiction.

The FAO estimated that there were 854 million undernourished people worldwide in 2001-2003, comprising of 830 million in the developing countries, 25 million in the transition countries and 9 million in the industrialized countries. There has been an overall reduction in both the number and prevalence of undernourished people since the WFS baseline period in 1996 in Asia, the Pacific, Latin American and the Caribbean, but the average rate of reduction is much slower than what it needs to be in order to halve the undernourished population by 2015 (FAO, 2006).  Unfortunately, inAsiaand the Pacific, the number of undernourished has reverted to an increasing trend over the last part of the decade, although the prevalence has continued to decline. This is because of population increases; therefore there were larger absolute numbers inChinaandIndiain 2001-03 relative to 1995-97 (FAO, 2006).

Sub-SaharanAfricais the greatest challenge among the developing regions, with the highest prevalence of undernourishment, with one in three people deprived of access to sufficient food (FAO, 2006). There has been a slight reduction in proportion of undernourished people in the region of sub-SaharanAfrica, but the number of undernourished people increased from 169 million to 206 million. In order to reach the WFS target there would need to be a reduction to 85 million by 2015 (FAO, 2006). It is projected that the prevalence of hungry people will continue to decline but the actual number of hungry people will not fall below that of 1990-92. (FAO, 2006).

In 2006, ten years after the World Food Summit inRome, the FAOs committee on World food Security conducted an assessment of the implementation of the Plan of Action, and the progress towards achieving the target of eradicating hunger in all countries and halving the number of undernourished people by 2015. (FAO, 2006). When looking at the total numbers, virtually no progress had been made towards the objective (FAO, 2006). The number of undernourished people in the developing countries had only declined by 3 million, from 823 million to 820 million, from 1990-92 (baseline period for WFS target) to 2001-2003 (FAO, 2006). Despite not being able to reduce the numbers of hungry people, there has been some progression, which is indicated by the reduction of a proportion of undernourished people in developing countries by 3 percentage points, from 20 percent in 1990-92 to 17 percent in 2001-2003 (FAO, 2006). When taking a closer look at the numbers, it is more clear that some countries have progressed more than others, while other countries have had set backs (FAO, 2006).

Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and theCaribbeanare the only regions that have made progress towards the WFS target, although they are very far from reaching the goal (FAO, 2006). All other regions have been moving away from the target by varying degrees. In terms of reaching the MDGs most regions are working towards the target reducing the prevalence of undernourishment, except for the Near East andNorth Africa. We are closer to the MDG target of halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015, but still very far from the WFS target of halving their number (FAO, 2006).

There is no doubt that the green revolution changed the face of agriculture in the world. Its affects on food security on the other hand are not so clear. Some argue that because the world population has grown by about four billion since the green revolution began, the green revolution prevented greater famine and malnutrition than if it hadn’t happened. Nonetheless the green revolution is responsible for feeding billions of people, and it helped to avoid widespread famine (“Green Revolution”, 2007). But as it was mentioned before, increasing food production is not synonymous with increasing food security. Some argue that the Green Revolution may have decreased food security for some people. The technology pushed by the green revolution was not suitable for poor farmers. This is based on the shift of subsistence-oriented cropland to cropland oriented towards production of grain for export and/or animal feed (“Green Revolution”, 2007). For example, the Green Revolution replaced much of the land used for growing legumes that fed Indian farmers for wheat, which did not make up a large portion of the farmers diet. The green revolution also declined biodiversity, has contributed to the killing of fish and pollution of rivers because of pesticides, and has contributed to soil depletion. This can create issues of food insecurity.

Countries that have managed to reduce hunger have experienced rapid overall economic growth and achieved greater gains in agricultural productivity than those experiencing set backs or stagnation (FAO, 2006). Some countries that are suffering setbacks in hunger reduction are experiencing conflict or other forms of disaster (FAO, 2006).  Countries that rely on a poor agricultural resource base and exhibit weak overall economic and institutional development, with persistent population growth also have bad projections. (FAO, 2006). “To accelerate the pace of global hunger reduction, it is essential to halt and reverse the rising trend in numbers where it occurs and to broaden success in hunger reduction to other sub regions. This will evidently be critical in those sub regions where the prevalence of undernourishment is most severe. (FAO, 2006)”

Currently the most common form of aid has been in the form of international aid. It was calculated by the United Nations that almost all of the deaths from hunger and disease could be stopped with a cost of $195 billion a year. In 2002 both at the Monterrey Conference and Johannesburg Summit, 22 developed countries pledged to work towards each giving 0.7% of their national income in international aid, which would raise the amount needed to “substantially eliminate” extreme poverty according to the United Nations.

The World Food Program delivers food aid to over 90 million people every year. They do this in the form of rations for workers that help build vital infrastructure to start development, and offering children food aid as a reward for going to school for the educational development of children.

Food Security in the Future

In order to plan for the future, and find solutions for food security, it is important to consider the projections of food supply made by the FAO. It is also important to consider the future trends of global health that may have an affect on food security. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute there are 9 driving forces or emerging issues in global health that will affect the ability to achieve the WFS and MDG targets. These driving forces that will impact any future efforts to accomplish the MDGs and WFS target, are accelerating globalization and trade liberation, technological changes, degradation of natural resources, increases water scarcity, health and nutrition crisis, rapid urbanization, and changes in farming practices, conflicts, climate changes, and changing roles and responsibilities of key actors (IFPRI, 2002).

The FAO has made projections in reaching MDG and WFS targets. MDG seem more reachable, while WFS don’t seem promising(FAO, 2006). As population increases, the number of hungry people will probably remain the same or increase, while the prevalence can decrease. Baseline Projections of global food supply of International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI’s) International Model for Policy Analysis of Agriculture Commodities and Trade (IMPACT), global cereal production is estimated to increase by 56% between 1997 and 2050, and livestock production by 90%. Developing countries will account for 83% of cereal demand growth, and 85% of meat-demand growth to 2050. International agriculture trade will increase substantially, cereal will double by 2025 and tripling by 2050 in developing countries. So there will still be hungry people, with a bigger demand for agricultural products. In the current state of how agricultural is in the world currently, there is an overwhelming dependence on these large farms.  Throughout the years, these large agricultural firms have created a stronger dependence to them. Unfortunately, this is a reason why many individuals, in particular in developing countries should be given the tools to do their own local farming, and not rely heavily on large agricultural firms.

There are other challenges that need to be faced. Climate changes due to global warming will cause more droughts, natural disasters, and rising sea levels, all of which can have a negative affect on crop yields. Some predict that moderate climate change won’t adversely affect the world food supply, if farmers take the right steps to adjust to climate change, and also because increased levels of carbon dioxide will increase yields. However, developing countries that don’t have the technology will fair bad. In warmer or tropical environments, climate change may result in more intense rainfall between prolonged dry periods, as well as reduced or more variable water resources for irrigation. Climate changes can also cause erosion and further desertification.

Water scarcity is increasingly becoming a problem, because of rising population, growing industrialization, and expanding agriculture, all of which cause an increase in water demand. In some areas, countries have built dams, reservoirs, and or digging wells, and other have even tried to recycle and desalinate (remove salts) water (Water Conservation, n.d.). These solutions can often be very expensive, and could possibly create other environmental and human rights issues in the development of these water storage systems. A large proportion of the population that suffer from food insecurity issues, live in arid and semi-arid parts of the world, where rainfall is limited and irregular.  In these areas, reduced rainfall or prolonged dry spells can lead to crop failure. The common solution used in this situation would be irrigation, but because of water scarcity and high costs in irrigation infrastructure, this can be an impossible task in developing countries (FAO, 2000). Therefore alternative solutions should be used to increase the quantity of water. Water harvesting is a proven technique to increase food security in drought prone areas, and it’s a way to control erosion and recharge ground water (Prinz, Wolfer, & Siegert, n.d.). The idea of ground water recharging by harvesting rainwater is gaining importance in many regions.

With increasing environmental issues its important for food security advocates to push governments to take on more environmentally friendly initiatives, such as cutting carbon emissions (by finding alternative ways of generating electricity), and finding ways to raise water productivity. Environmental issues go hand in hand with issues that relate to food. If the earth is not doing well, as the past few years have indicated that we are headed, then our food production may decrease due to the earth’s instability. Even such issues as saving the rainforest, will be beneficial for the issue of food security. In the rainforest, water seeps gently into the ground as forest vegetation breaks the fall.  This groundwater in turn can feed wells, lakes and rivers. Therefore saving the rainforest, means protecting water ‘catchments’ (Water Conservation, n.d.). This issue cannot be taken lightly.The global rise in HIV/AIDS will also affect food security, in particular in the most affected regions of the sub-Saharan Africa. It is possible that many adults in the labor force will be affected by HIV/AIDS and will be removed from affected households, causing these households to have less capacity to produce or buy food, as assets are often depleted for medical or funeral costs. (Rosegrant et al., 2003)

Increasing urbanization is also important to consider, because income growth and rapid urbanization are forces that are driving an increase demand for higher valued commodities, such as meats, fruits, and vegetables (Rosegrant et al., 2003). Urban food security and its related problems should also be considered (FAO, 2006). Currently about half of the world’s population lives in urban centers, and this is projected to increase in the next years [UN].

Conflict is another issue that is likely to arise and cause many food insecurities for many people. Some argue that because of climate changes, there will be a lot of civil societal pressures stemming from environmental insecurities. With climate change it is possible that some countries will become increasingly competitive with their resources, causing tension between countries that could lead to political conflicts.

Globalization has had both positive and negative implications on different groups of people. Globalization in food and agriculture has been described by the FAO as the “the expansion of foreign private investment in agriculture, food processing and marketing, to a large extent but not only through transnational corporations and an increasing international trade in food facilitated by the reduction in trade barriers (2003).” The globalization in food has increased the challenges faced in making any changes to the industry. It implies, agricultural subsidies, and international policy trade agreements. Another effect of globalization is the increasing growth of the fast food industry internationally, which has grown rapidly because of trade and foreign investment. With increasing urbanization, the globalization of fast food will create further problems in terms of malnourishment, and increase in obesity, contributing to the increase trend from infectious diseases to more non-communicable diseases.

Ideas and Suggestions to Increase Food Security

It is impossible to conceive one solution for the global health issue of food insecurity. Each region faces different challenges that must be addressed in order to successfully tackle the issue of food insecurity. Therefore, instead of thinking about solutions to deal with food insecurity at the global level, local solutions will have the most impact in the lives of communities. Before discussing suggestions for increasing food access to individuals living in hunger, consideration of the most effective ways to increase food insecurity and poverty need to be discussed. In doing this, it leads to the importance of including agriculture (both in rural and urban environments) in any solutions created for dealing with food insecurity.

Agriculture can be beneficial to alleviate poverty in both rural and urban areas, because it helps to reduce food prices, create employment, and improve farm income (SASIX, 2007). According to the FAO, agriculture can be much more effective, than any other sector at reducing poverty and hunger in both rural in urban areas (2004). So agriculture, in the hands of the most vulnerable, holds the most hope in dealing with food insecurity issues. But as discussed before, the forms of agriculture that have commonly been used could lead to soil depletion, causing problems for future generations. Therefore new forms of eco-friendly agriculture that are sustainable need to be encouraged.

Permaculture is an eco-friendly form of agriculture that is relatively new, but is based on agricultural principles that are thousands of years old. Permaculture is a design system that utilizes a systems thinking approach to create sustainable human habitats by observing and duplicating nature’s patterns. It integrates ecology, landscape, organic gardening, architecture, agroforestry, green and ecological economics and social systems. Permaculture can solve many issues, such as increased costs of developing new water sources, soil degradation in irrigated areas, groundwater depletion, water pollution, and ecosystem degradation. This form of agriculture is self-sustainable, meaning that very little human labor is needed to sustain, and it practically does it by itself, therefore sustainable.

As it has shown to be affective it is important to promote small scale, bottom up, community appraoches in addressing food security. It seems feasible to conduct small-scale projects of permaculture that are relatively low-cost (finding solutions that are cost-effective) and require low labor input. Permaculture, as shown in many parts of the world, has provided fast pay-offs of investments, and the projects are well integrated, dealing with different issues that need to be addressed (poverty, economic development, food security, and self-sustainability). The encouragement of these local projects will provide farms that are in the local community, therefore creating many benefits for the community.

A solution to encourage local change, around the world would be to establish an action plan that cities and towns around the world can sign on to. Something similar has been done for the development of sustainable cities through an association called the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Local Governments for Sustainability. Its an international association of local government organization all over the world, that have made a commitment to sustainable development. This organization focuses on making change at the local government level since it is the closest level of governance to the people. At this level, the government can play a vital role in educating, mobilizing and responding to the public. Local authorities at this level can construct, operate and maintain economic, social and environmental infrastructure, oversee planning processes, establish local environmental policies and regulations, and assist in the implementing of national and global policies (ICLEI, 2007).

Although making change at the local level sounds like it would make the most impact on communities, relying solely/completely on local governments is unrealistic. There are some local governments in developing countries that don’t have the proper infrastructure or power to make changes. Some local governments are in such a financial burden, that they may be at the mercy of large corporations that may be contributing to the economy, but are not doing much to assists its community members.

Addressing Food Security in Rural Environments

Permaculture trainings could be offered to communities in rural areas by establishing learning centers. Permaculture demonstration projects could be used to train individuals that live in rural areas. At these trainings, they will learn how they can use permaculture in the most effective way to deal with issues of water scarcity and depleted soil. With the use of permaculture, small farmers will also learn the importance of biodiversity in their farms, and be provided seeds to begin their farm. These trainings would be offered in the form of a teach-the-trainer format, so that these individuals also have the capacity to train others in their community about eco-friendly agricultural techniques. In order for individuals to start their farms, it is important to provide micro-loans/financing in order to start-up their food production. At these trainings, they will also receive training on how to market their higher cash crops.

Developing countries and organizations that are particularly working with large rural populations dealing with food insecurity should raise funds for the implementation of permaculture in different regions of the country. Information and trainings could be provided, and motivational campaigns can be launched to help push communities into action that will prove fruitful (Prinz et al., n.d.). Incorporating permaculture designs in rural communities is also beneficial in developing community resiliency. With the ever-expanding force of globalization, and the implications of it, it seems as though there has been a movement away from community, and communal living. This sense of detachment from the community causes many types of insecurities in the lives of its community members. So proposing to make change at the local level, working together as communities may have plentiful of positive affects on the community building community resiliency. Building resiliency in communities has shown to help communities in negative situations that can occur in a community, such as natural disasters.

Addressing Food Security in Urban Environment

Permaculture can also be applied in urban environments. Again with the use of local initiatives, it is important to encourage urban development planners and local authorities to incorporate sustainable buildings and urban agriculture that use permaculture principles to meet the needs of a growing urban population.

Large urban centers should have citywide community garden policies that will facilitate and maintain the development of green spaces. With policy in place, local community members can have support against developers that are just hungry for the money that could be made developing empty lots that could be converted to community gardens. There are non-profit organizations that are organizing around developing community gardens, but they are limited at what they can do. Their efforts might help in increasing community gardens in the short term because they depend on the land purchases. If the city were to get involved, and instilled some type of policy, such as eminent domain, to acquire land that could be converted to community gardens. The city could also change zoning regulations to establish more open green spaces available for community members to use as gardens for subsistence gardening. Urban areas could do this along with other efforts to improve community issues, such as affordable housing.

Community gardens established with the help of the city could be linked up with projects related to affordable housing using vacant city-owned land to be converted into permanent garden sites. Policies are needed to institutionalize community gardens as a public good like parks and affordable housing. Community gardens can be very beneficial in an urban environment. Since many urban dwellings are predominately close to each other with insufficient space for gardens, or they are multi-unit housing with no green space or very limited and restricted green space, community gardens play a vital role in providing a minimal amount of sustainable feeling comfort ability/sustainability. They can be a source of fresh healthy food for the community that surrounds it. They also serve other functions. It also serves as a community gathering place, and a place where people can be creative and be entrepreneurs. Community gardens also provide nicer looking communities, and a place where the surrounding air can be cleansed. Another solution that could be done in an urban environment is working with the local schools to establish school gardens that could serve as community gardens for the use of families in need at the school.

Historically, food and agriculture policies have centered on the interests of producers, especially large-scale producers. However, food has consumption value as well as commodity value. Given the magnitude and persistence of food insecurity in the world, there is a need for clear global policy on food as food, and not simply as another commodity to be marketed (Kent, 2004) Progressive policy action must increase agricultural productivity, boost incomes, and reduce poverty in rural areas where most of the poor live (Rosegrant et al., 2003). Food security in developing countries could be substantially improved by increased investment and policy reforms in the areas of human resources, agricultural research, rural infrastructure, water resources, farm-based agricultural management, community-based agricultural management, and natural resources management (Rosegrant et al., 2003). Urban policies could help increase food security by implementing policies for urban planners and architects such as zoning for urban green spaces, community gardens, and creating buildings that are sustainable, environmentally friendly, and have roof top gardens.

Not only are investments in policy reform necessary, but also it is very important to increase investments in people. For example education in agricultural areas will provide increased abilities to adopt the use of advanced technologies and crop-management techniques to achieve high rates of return on land. Educating women also brings in a lot of advantages, lower fertility rates, raising productivity, and improving environmental management. Providing educational resources for primary education and for the poorest groups of regions can serve to empower communities. Also, investing in health and nutrition, including safe drinking water, improved sewage disposal, immunization, and public health services can also contribute to poverty reduction. Increased investments in infrastructure and rural roads are also important for food security (Rosegrant et al., 2003).

Encouraging policies that will deal directly with food security issues are important, but it is also important to implement policies that deal directly with environmental issues. In particular policies that will protect and increase water availability. Knowing how important water is to the earth, it is important for people around the globe to adapt more water-friendly habits and practices that will help to protect and restore the quality of these waters. Advocating for healthy watersheds in the community can be extremely valuable, not only for the restoration of the earths soil, but also in terms of monitory savings that could be achieved from taking full advantage of watersheds. Even actions such as implementing a public outreach campaign to reduce nonpoint source pollution, could help protect waterways that are so important to our ecological system. Nonpoint source pollution, is discharge from a cumulative amount of people in a community, that when considered individually, would have relatively minimal impacts on the quality of water. The amount of careless and unknowingly of pollution from each individual in a community creates cumulative effects on these impacts. These activities could include applying pesticides, or washing cars.

Policies that encourage large farms to establish water-harvesting techniques should also be implemented. Large farms could be awarded using incentives, for incorporating water-harvesting techniques into their farm protocols. Also, the establishment of a large demonstration farm, using the principles of permaculture could be used to show large farms the techniques that they could use to improve crop yields and water restoration.

Challenges and Opportunities

All levels need to change in order to fight persistent and widespread hunger, at the local, national, and international level. National and local governments bear the primary responsibility because they can create an environment in which individuals and communities can effectively address hunger. These changes need to be made using bottom-up or grassroots organizing strategies, in order to develop community empowerment. Communities at the local level could work together, and create partnerships with NGOs, businesses, and industry. Governments of developing countries have a responsibility (should be accountable) to find solutions that will should end trade-distorting policies, and focus on contributing to sustainable food security and poverty reduction; and relieve unpayable debt of poor countries. In urban environments, developers have invested interest in property that might be at stake to community organizers that are trying to mobilize around the formation of community gardens. Its unfortunate but many developers hold their own interests above the interests of entire communities. Commercial and real estate developers could be required to set aside land for community gardens. These are all challenges that need to be faced.

Conclusions

With increased trends in global warming, and population growth, it is imperative that environmental and food issues are made priorities in the agendas of national and local governments, as well as non-profit organizations. It should become a larger topic of discussion of communities in general. Al Gore’s recent release of his documentary on global warming, “The Inconvenient Truth,” increased awareness and discussion in theUnited States. It was a flurry of excitement that hadn’t happened on this topic before. It raised consciousness to many environmental health issues that many individuals, before this movie, were not aware of at all. Environmental issues have been slow in coming to the forefront, but with every small progression made, there is a step towards making change for the larger picture. This growing popularity to this issue is important, and hopefully it does not dissipate. It is important because environmental issues and food security issues go hand in hand.

In order to address food security around the globe, poverty issues must also be addressed. Permaculture provides the techniques to provide food, but also to enable economically advancement. It is important to think of small-scale permaculture projects that can improve communities in rural areas around the world, and how urban permaculture agriculture can improve the lives of communities in urban areas, while at the same time addressing global policies that hinder the fight for food security.

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