FOOD INSECURITY

PREPARED BY ANGELA,ISAAC,JOSEPH AND ESTHER

What is Food Insecurity?

• The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. Food insecurity certainly isn’t a new thing, since the dawn of humanity there have been those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That insecurity can range in severity from occasional meal uncertainty to full blown famine. One factor in the IPC Acute Food Insecurity Reference Table that determines the breaking point between Phase 1 mild food security and Phase 2 stressed food insecurity is the likelihood that someone suffering from food insecurity might break the law in order to eat or provide food for one’s family

Community gardens promote healthy communities and provide food security for many low income persons. In an urban setting, community gardens are part of the open space network. The gardens and those who participate in community gardening contribute to the preservation of open space, provide access to it, and create sustainable uses of the space. Community gardens strengthen community bonds, provide food, and create recreational and therapeutic opportunities for a community. They can also promote environmental awareness and provide community education

URBAN AGRICULTURE AND COMMUNITY GARDENING

Urban agriculture includes greenbelts around cities, farming at the city’s edge, vegetable plots in community gardens, and food production in thousands of vacant inner-city lots.Further, urban agriculture comprises fish farms, farm animals at public housing sites, municipal compost facilities, schoolyard greenhouses, restaurant-supported salad gardens, backyard orchards, rooftop gardens and beehives, window box gardens, and much more. Urban farming includes horticulture, aquaculture, arboriculture, and poultry and animal husbandry. The potential for food production in cities is great, and dozens of model projects are demonstrating successfully that urban agriculture is both necessary and viable.

URBAN AGRICULTURE

Food insecurity, whether related to actual food insufficiency, nutritional quality, or anxiety about a future lack of food, affects the quality of life of urban residents in far-reaching ways. Inadequate nutrition is clearly associated with school and work absences, fatigue, and problems with concentration. Hunger and poor nutrition are also linked to the increased incidence and virulence of infectious diseases, many of which--such as TB--are on the rise in the cities. Furthermore, the lack of a nutritious diet is a well-known risk factor for any number of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure

EFFECTS OF FOOD INSECURITY

Even when cash is available to low-income urban residents, food is not always so readily accessible. Many supermarkets have closed or moved from the inner city due to complex market forces related to the increasing impoverishment of their clientele and the deterioration and depopulation of once vibrant communitiesThus ironically, people on limited incomes in cities are likely to pay more for their food than wealthier shoppers in higher income neighborhoods. The range, freshness, and quality of foods are also often compromised in inner-city groceries, thus further limiting customers’ maximal choices for nutritious and affordable meals.

With agriculture contributing 85 percent of export earnings and almost 75 percent of national employment, including employing most of the country’s poor, improvements in the sector are necessary to expand Uganda’s economy and reduce poverty. USAID’s agriculture programs address these challenges by reducing food insecurity and increasing household incomesIt brings efforts work to transform subsistence farms into more commercial operations and also works to increase farmers’ skills in improved production, post-harvest handling and storage technologies.Agricultural programs focus on creating trade linkages and on making products more competitive in national, regional and international markets. Agricultural training for farmers by agriculture dealers develop their business skills and technical capacity to increase their participation in national and regional trade.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food security is built on three pillars:

i. Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.

ii. Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.

iii. Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

FACTS

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