If governments repurpose the resources to prioritize food consumers, and to incentivize sustainable production, supply and consumption of nutritious foods, they will help make healthy diets less costly and more affordable for all.
This is the appeal contained in “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable”, the flagship publication which is part of The State of the World series of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The report shows that governments can invest in agrifood systems equitably and sustainably, even with the same level of public resources. Governments’ support to food and agriculture accounts for almost USD 630 billion per year globally. However, a significant proportion of this support distorts market prices, is environmentally destructive, and hurts small-scale producers and Indigenous Peoples, while failing to deliver healthy diets to children and others who need them the most.
Looking forward, the report warns, the gains we made in reducing the prevalence of child stunting by one-third in the previous two decades – translating into 55 million fewer children with stunting – are under threat by the triple crises of climate, conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic. Without intensified efforts, the number of children with wasting will only increase.
The report repeatedly highlights the intensification of these major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition: conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks, combined with growing inequalities. The issue at stake is not whether adversities will continue to occur or not, but how we must take bolder action to build resilience against future shocks.
In a box on “The importance of fish and fishery products for healthy diets and the role of fisheries subsidies in policy repurposing efforts”, the report points to the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 as a unique opportunity to showcase the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).
The livelihood of about 492 million people in the world depends – at least partially – on small-scale fisheries, the report adds. Small-scale fisheries account for 90 percent of all of those employed in capture fisheries along the value chain, and 53 million people engage in subsistence fishing with a significant share being women. As such, small-scale fishers and fish workers hold enormous potential to promote transformative changes in how, by whom and for whom fish and fishery products are produced, processed and distributed – with positive ripple effects felt throughout the global food system.
On the question of subsidies, the report notes that the associated benefits of having multilateral rules on fisheries’ subsidies dealing with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overcapacity and overfishing go beyond trade and the environment. Repurposing fisheries’ subsidies through a holistic approach based on scientific evidence can increase the availability of sustainable and nutritious food, as well as reduce the unfair competition that some small-scale fisheries often face.
The report is available at:
https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0639en