SDG #2 - ZERO HUNGER
Overview
Human civilization depends on food security and prosperous agriculture systems. Yet, at the current rate of progress, we will not meet the zero hunger target for 2030. With millions hungry around the world and a world population expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, we need to rethink how we grow, share and consume food. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all, generate decent incomes, support people-centered rural development and protect the environment if we act to solve the growing pressure on the global food and agriculture systems.
The climate crisis is putting pressure on resources, increasing disaster risks and impoverishes rural women and men who can no longer generate income from their land. Poor food security causes severe malnutrition, resulting in millions of children to be stunted.
About 815 million people are hungry today, mostly in Asia and Africa, and it is estimated that an additional two billion will be undernourished by 2050. Investments in agriculture are crucial to increasing the capacity for agricultural productivity and sustainable food production systems are necessary to help alleviate the perils of hunger.
Malnutrition
We have made progress in lowering the global undernourishment rate: the proportion of undernourished people worldwide declined from 15 per cent in 2000-2002 to 11 per cent in 2014-2016. About 793 million people are undernourished globally, down from 930 million people during the same period.
Undernourishment affects an alarmingly high number of children under the age of 5 – in 2016, approximately 155 million children were stunted. As a result, far too many young children are stunted, wasted, or overweight. Children who are stunted are at a greater risk of catching infection, are vulnerable to non-communicable diseases later in life and are impacted by atypical cognitive development. While the global stunting rate fell from 33 per cent in 2000 to 23 per cent in 2016, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounted for three quarters of all stunted children that year.
In 2016, an estimated 52 million children under the age of 5 suffered from wasting (with a low weight for their height, usually the result of an acute and significant food shortage and/or disease). The global wasting rate in 2016 was 7.7 per cent, with the highest rate (15.4 per cent) in South Asia. At the other end of the spectrum, overweight and obesity affected 41 million children under 5 years of age worldwide (6 per cent).
Sustainable Agriculture & Resilience
In order to sustain our food production systems, we not only need to employ resilient agricultural practices, but also maintain the genetic diversity of plants and animals. Diversity increases the ability to adapt to changing environments and human needs, and 4.7 million samples of seeds and other plant genetic material for food and agriculture were preserved in 602 gene banks across 96 national, regional and international centres in 2016.
Approximately 15 per cent of national animal breed populations’ genetic material has been cryo-conserved, which would only be able to reconstitute 7 per cent of these populations should they become extinct. As of February 2017, 20 per cent of local breeds were classified as at risk. We need to accelerate our progress to conserve genetic resources from plants and animals in order to achieve this SDG target.
Agricultural Productivity
Investments in agriculture – both domestic and foreign – are one of the most effective ways to alleviate poverty, reduce hunger and improve food security, but we are lagging in this area. The global agriculture orientation index, defined as agriculture’s share of government expenditure divided by the sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP), fell from 0.38 in 2001 to 0.24 in 2013 and to 0.21 in 2015.
The share of aid allocated to agriculture from member countries of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also fell from nearly 20 per cent in the mid-1980s to 7 per cent in the late 1990s, where it remained through 2015. The decline reflects a shift away from financing infrastructure and production towards a greater focus on social sectors.
Domestic Food Shortages
In 2016, 21 countries experienced high or moderately high domestic prices, relative to their historic levels, for one or more staple cereal food commodities. Thirteen of those countries were in sub-Saharan Africa. The main causes of high prices were declines in domestic output, currency depreciation and insecurity. Localized increases in fuel prices also drove food prices higher.
Luckily, there has been some progress in preventing distortions in world agricultural markets; global agricultural export subsidies were reduced by 94 per cent from 2000 to 2014, and, in December 2015, members of the World Trade Organization adopted a ministerial decision on eliminating export subsidies for agricultural products and restraining export measures that have a similar effect.
SDG MEDIA ZONE
UN Report On World Hunger
Exploring Food Waste
Hunger is still one of the most urgent development challenges, yet the world is producing more than enough food. Up to one third of all food is spoiled or squandered before it is consumed by people.
Digital Technology For The Global Goals
Information and communication technologies accelerate progress towards each SDG. Leveraging smartphone applications is helping communities everywhere redirect food that would have otherwise been disposed of to people in need, reducing hunger.
BUSINESS RESOURCES FOR SDG #2
The private sector is a critical partner for governments and other stakeholders to solve the challenges of hunger and create effective, scalable and practical solutions for secure and sustainable food and agriculture systems.
Businesses in the food and agriculture systems can implement sustainable practices and partner with other stakeholders throughout the value chain to ensure that food is produced sustainably and with future generations in mind. Work on initiatives that empower small farmers, increase agricultural productivity and raise consumer awareness on the origins of their food. Investing in agriculture and knowledge translation is also essential to create sustainable food and agriculture systems.

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AWARD QUESTIONS FOR SDG #2

1) Media Package
- Program Photographs & Illustrations (Max. 10 Images)
- Detailed Project Description (Max. 500 Words)
- Optional: URL/Link to Supporting Video
2) Financial & Strategic
In order to determine financial performance & potential for scalability, please answer the following questions:
- Please describe how the SDG business initiative is linked to your company’s core competency/competencies.
- Please provide an overview of the business case associated with your SDG business initiative.
- Please provide evidence of planned program expansion over the coming quarters and/or fiscal years.
3) Magnetism & Inspiration
How has your business initiative been a source of magnetism and inspiration? Please provide examples of your company’s influence on each of the following:
- Industry Impact
- Corporate Culture
- Key Stakeholder Groups
4) SDG Impact Metrics
Please describe how has your company has:
- Increased the number of individuals/communities who are benefiting from sustained access
- to internationally recommended caloric intake minimums.
- Increased the % and/or total # of people no longer experiencing food insecurity within your target population (as measured by FIES, HHS, HFIAS or ELCSA).
- Increased the number of individuals/communities with access to improved nutritional sources (i.e. – vegetables, legumes/beans, fruit, grains, meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts & dairy products). Please also describe your achievements in cost reductions per calorie if possible.
- Other KPI (please insert and describe).
OPTIONAL: Please provide a description/overview of 3rd party assurances relating to the verification of the metrics and figures provided above.
