Achieving food security in times of crisis

Abstract

In spite of several World Food Summits during the past decade, the number of people going to bed hungry is increasing and now exceeds one billion. Food security strategies should therefore be revisited. Food security systems should begin with local communities who can develop and manage community gene, seed, grain and water banks. At the national level, access to balanced diet and clean drinking water should become a basic human right. Implementation of the right to food will involve concurrent attention to production, procurement, preservation and public distribution. Higher production in perpetuity should be achieved through an ever-green revolution based on the principles of conservation and climate-resilient farming. This will call for a blend of traditional ecological prudence with frontier technologies, particularly biotechnology and information communication technologies.