Hello People!
In this blog we will talk about the United Nations Report on the Food System. The report came ahead of the Food Systems Summit 2021 which is to be held this year in September.
Further in the blog we will discuss what food systems, its importance and the significant points made in the report.
What are Food Systems?
A food system encompasses all aspects of feeding and nourishing people, including food production, packing, processing, transportation, marketing, and consumption. It includes all interactions between people and the natural world – land, water, climate, and so on – as well as the consequences of the natural world on human health and nutrition.
A food system is sustainable if it provides enough healthy food for everyone without compromising the planet’s health or future generations’ ability to meet their own food and nutritional needs.
Key findings
1. Inequitable Food System:
- The report stated that today’s food systems are afflicted with power imbalances and injustice, and they don’t function for the majority of women.
- Climate change, Covid-19, discrimination, lack of land rights, migration, and other factors affect women disproportionately.
2. Malnutrition:
- There are 185 million indigenous women in the world. They play a critical role in alleviating hunger and malnutrition. However, restrictions on the recognition and exercise of rights have limited access to fair food systems.
- They have a higher rate of obesity and are more prone to chronic illness.
3. Migration:
- The gendered character of economic responsibilities has been impacted by young migration during urban transformation and the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
- According to the report, such movement has resulted in a widening imbalance between the locations of food production and consumption. It’s possible that this was followed by a shift in lifestyle, including eating habits.
4. COVID-19 Impact:
- The pandemic’s effects have not been gender-neutral: more women have experienced greater poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, and disease prevalence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A UN report from 2020 suggested that epidemics can severely impair women’s economic and livelihood activities, leading to increased poverty and food insecurity.
5. Climate Change:
- Women are more likely than men to detect the effects of climate change on agricultural output, livestock problems, and water availability. However, they are less likely to obtain important climate and agricultural information that would allow them to plan for climate concerns.
6. Discrimination:
- Women have few land rights, have difficulty obtaining ownership, lack access to financing, and are forced to work for free.
- Women farmers who have more control over their resources tend to have higher-quality produce.
Suggestions made in the report
Inequitable processes and structures that permit and worsen inequities for food system workers and consumers should be abolished. According to the United Nations, governments, enterprises, and organizations should be held accountable for providing fair livelihoods.
It urged the systems to adopt policies that remove barriers to access to basic services, such as the right to food, shelter, and health care.
The United Nations has called for more independent, social systems at the national and regional levels to strengthen institutional architecture and make food-related decision-making more inclusive.
With this we come to the end of this blog. We highlighted all the key findings and suggestions stated in the United Nations Report on the Food System. Hope it was an interesting read for you all.
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