Can we turn global food safety into reality?

Kálmán, Zoltán

Keywords: challenge, starving, food, distribution, safety

Negative trends are continuing: the most recent data show that the number of starving people in the world continues to increase. It is generally agreed that the key issue in food safety is not the lack of food but the flawed distribution thereof. Access to drinking water and sufficient safe food of appropriate quality and composition is a basic human right to each and every inhabitant of the planet. Ensuring this right for the current and future generations is one of the greatest challenges of our days. Finding a solution is not only a moral duty but is also essential to create peace and security in the world.
The World Bank, the UN organisations (FAO, IFAD, IFPRI, WFP) and IFPRI have come to greatly similar conclusions both with respect to the cause and the possible solutions. In developing countries, development efforts should focus on food safety and agriculture. The lack of funding, which has characterised this field for decades, should be rectified. In the so-called two-lane approach proposed by international organisations, the main goals are to create a safety network and to increase agricultural production and productivity. Seventy-five percent of the people starving in the world are small farmers. This paradox may also offer a solution: relying on external resources, small farmers and family farms could not only become self-sustaining but could also act as a driving force of economy.
By 2050, the planet’s population will have exceeded 9 billion. The finite natural resources of the Earth are insufficient to feed more than a fraction of this population. Of the extra production, 80% is achieved via increasing yields and boosting the efficiency and intensity of production. This involves access to the results of innovation and technology developments, reducing after-harvest losses (via roads, warehousing, primary processing, market infrastructure etc.), as well as agricultural biotechnology. The key issue, however, is to finance developments in agricultural both from private and public sources. Such funding is not simply a financial issue, but requires a political will and commitment.

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