Food security is characterized by a condition where everyone, at all times, enjoys physical, social, and economic access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food that aligns with their dietary needs and food preferences, ensuring an active and healthy lifestyle.
Four distinct dimensions of food security correspond to various levels of analysis.
1) Availability d National. 2) Accessibility d Household. 3) Utilization d Individual. 4) Stability – may be considered as a time dimension that affects all the levels.
To achieve full food security, all four dimensions must be intact. Recent developments underscore the importance of sustainability, which can be viewed as a long-term (fifth) dimension of food security. Instead of perceiving food security as four isolated “pillars,” it is more accurately seen as a causal, interconnected pathway spanning from production to consumption, including distribution and processing, across various domains.
Table of Contents
Food security and food insecurity are dynamic, reciprocal, and time-dependent, with the resulting status influenced by the interaction between the stresses of food insecurity and the strategies employed to cope with them. Developing universal indicators for measuring food security presents challenges. Different indicators are often used to assess various levels of food security.
At the household level, measuring food security involves five categories of indicators: dietary diversity and food frequency, spending on food, consumption behaviors, experiential indicators, and self-assessment measurements. Discussions increasingly link food security, nutrition, and sustainability.
Integrating food security as a key component of the sustainability agenda significantly advances this goal. The ultimate aim of these efforts is to achieve sustainable food security and nutrition for the entire planet. Food security definition is a flexible concept, as evidenced by numerous definitions in research and policy contexts.
The concept of food security originated some 50 years ago, at a time of global food crises in the early 1970s. As early as two decades ago, Maxwell and Smith (1992) documented around 200 different definitions of food security in various publications, highlighting the concept’s reliance on contextual factors.
The current widely accepted definition of food security came from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) annual report on food security “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001”: Food security is defined as a condition where all individuals consistently have physical, social, and economic access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food that satisfies their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active lifestyle (FAO, 2002). The most recent update to this definition occurred at the 2009 World Summit on Food Security, which introduced a fourth dimension—stability—emphasizing the food systems’ capacity to endure both natural and man-made disruptions (FAO, 2009).
Dimensions of Food Security Four dimensions of food security have been identified according to the definition (FAO, 2008). 1) Availability of food produced locally and imported from abroad. 2) Accessibility. The food can reach the consumer (transportation infrastructure) and the latter has enough money for purchase. To such physical and economic accessibility is added socio-cultural access to ensure that the food is culturally acceptable and that social protection nets exist to help the less fortunate. 3) To live a healthy and fulfilling life and reach their full potential, individuals must consume sufficient quantities of nutritious and high-quality food.
This requires access to safe and clean food and water, making adequate water and sanitation crucial components. Additionally, physical health is essential for proper digestion and utilization of food. The fourth dimension, Stability, pertains to the capacity of nations, communities, households, or individuals to endure disruptions to the food supply system, whether due to natural events like climate change and earthquakes or human-induced factors like wars and economic crises.
Consequently, food security can be understood at various levels: Availability at the national level, Accessibility at the household level, Utilization at the individual level, and Stability, which acts as a temporal factor influencing all levels. Full food security is achieved only when all four dimensions are adequately addressed.
Not all elements of food security hold equal significance as the pillar analogy suggests, as their importance varies based on context and country (Berry et al., 2015). For instance, in many developing nations, the primary barrier to food access is often the transportation infrastructure, limiting physical access to food. Conversely, in developed countries, economic access is the predominant challenge for achieving food security. In the aftermath of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, all four dimensions of food security—availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability—become critical issues.
Consequently, the relative importance of these dimensions should be contextually weighted, rather than treated as equal pillars. A more fitting analogy would be a pathway, illustrating the interrelationships among the four dimensions of food security. This analog was used by The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2013 (FAO, WFP and IFAD, 2013), to show the links from food production (availability) to household (accessibility) to individual (utilization).
Reducing these quantities presents a significant challenge for ensuring future global food availability. From a systemic perspective, obesity can also be viewed as a form of food waste. Connecting Food Security with Sustainability, the concept of Sustainable Diets integrates sustainability with food security, promoting comprehensive sustainable food systems, as reflected in their respective definitions.
Sustainable diets are characterized as those that “protect and respect biodiversity and ecosystems, are culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable, and provide nutritional adequacy, safety, and health; all while optimizing natural and human resources” (FAO, 2012). In contrast, “a sustainable food system is defined as one that ensures Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) for everyone in a manner that does not compromise the economic, social, and environmental foundations necessary for generating FSN for future generations” (HLPE, 2014, 2017).
The topic is taken up at some length in the article on Concepts of Food Sustainability (Anderson, 2018). It has been internationally agreed that climate change is a threat to the sustainability of food security. However, the activities involved in food systems, account for some 20%–30% of all human-associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and, as such, contribute to climate change (Garnett et al., 2016a). There might be a trade-off relationship between decreasing human associated GHG and guaranteeing food security under current prevailing food system.
Therefore, a systematic and integrated approach is needed, to meeting the short- and long-term requirements of FSN, meanwhile, to mitigating the negative environmental impact due to GHG from the activities involved in food system itself. Although the precise nature of sustainable food systems remains somewhat ambiguous, our comprehension of these systems is continuously advancing (Garnett et al., 2016).
Food Insecurity (FINS) arises when issues occur at any stage within the food production-to-consumption pathway, with problems at upstream levels significantly impacting those downstream. FINS is defined as occurring “whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, is limited or uncertain” (Expert Panel, 1990).
Food insecurity, as practically measured in the United States, is experienced when there is (1) uncertainty about future food availability and access, (2) insufficiency in the amount and kind of food required for a healthy lifestyle, or (3) the need to use socially unacceptable ways to acquire food (National Research Council, 2006). Apart from the most common constraint d lack of economic resources, food insecurity can also be experienced when food is available and accessible but cannot be utilized because of physical or other constraints, such as limited physical functioning of the elderly or disabled (National Research Council, 2006).
However, with the emphasis on health equity, focus should be given to the people under the most disadvantaged conditions. They are under various natural and man-made stresses such as floods, droughts, conflicts and wars. They also have urgent demand for better coping strategies for food insecurity. Paradoxically, the groups of subjects most food insecure, such as migrants, displaced persons and homeless, are not usually included in surveys of food security, which consequently underestimate the problem.
The Relationship between Food Security and Food Insecurity
Food security and food insecurity are interrelated, dynamic, and time-sensitive processes. The status of each depends on the interplay between the stresses induced by food insecurity and the coping mechanisms employed to address them. These stresses can arise at any stage along the food security pathway, which includes Availability, Accessibility, Utilization, and Stability.
Coping responses to these stresses can occur at various levels, including national, household, or individual. These two processes are interconnected through linear and iterative feedback loops, where stress triggers coping responses that may or may not be sufficient, necessitating adjustments in strategies until food security is restored (Peng and Berry, 2018, manuscript under revision).
Measuring food security accurately is complex, requiring indicators that are universally recognized, relatively objective, and consistent over time and across regions. Different indicators are used to assess various levels of food security. For global food security, indicators must be dependable, consistently replicable, and accessible for most countries worldwide. However, there is no consensus on which indicators are the most effective for measuring food security at the global level (Berry et al., 2015).
The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2013: The Multiple Dimensions of Food Security
Dietary Diversity and Food Frequency
This type of indicator typically measures the variety of foods or food groups that individuals consume, as well as the frequency of their consumption. The outcome is a score that reflects dietary diversity.
The Food Consumption Score (FCS) and the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS)
These are two common indicators measuring dietary diversity (Maxwell et al., 2013; FANTA, 2006; FAO, 2010). Spending on Food People who spend a greater proportion of expenditure on food, have been considered less secure in household food security (Maxwell et al., 2013; Smith et al., 2006).
Consumption Behaviors
Indicators in this category assess behaviors associated with food consumption, providing an indirect measure of food security. The most recognized indicator here is the Coping Strategies Index (CSI), including its abbreviated form, the “reduced CSI” (rCSI) (Maxwell and Caldwell, 2008).
Another well know indicator is the Household Hunger Scale, applied in more severe behaviors (Maxwell et al., 2013). Experiential Indicators Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and a culturally-invariant subset of HFIAS dd Household Hunger Score (HHS) are capturing household behaviors signifying insufficient quality and quantity.
Several international organizations, such as USAID and FAO, have endorsed and advocated for the use of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and the Household Hunger Scale (HHS) (Maxwell et al., 2013). More recently, the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), also known as Voices of Hunger, has been utilized in global surveys (FAO, 2018).
Self-assessment Measurement
Recently introduced and utilized by Gallup poll (Headey, 2011), these measures are notably subjective and can be susceptible to manipulation in surveys. It is generally recognized that each of these indicators reflects certain facets of the complex nature of food security. Nonetheless, no single indicator can fully encompass household food security. Besides categorizing these indicators, Maxwell also analyzed and detailed the specific dimensions that each indicator represents (Maxwell et al., 2013).
Monitoring of Food Security (1990–2015) The 1996 World Food Summit assigned FAO the responsibility for monitoring progress towards the objective of the Plan of Action reducing by half the number of estimated undernourished people by year 2015. From the data release by the FAO, the overall prevalence of undernourishment has been decreasing from 14.8% in 2000 to 10.7% in 2015 (FAO, 2016), showing the overall improvement in global food security.
However, in 2016, the number of chronically undernourished people in the world is estimated to have increased to 815 million, up from less than 800 million in 2015 (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2017). This recent increase is a signal of a reversal of trends.
The food insecurity has worsened in particular in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South-Eastern Asia and Western Asia, and these deteriorations have been observed most notably in conflicts and conflict combined with droughts or floods. Climate change may also be implicated.
The current parameter for monitoring food security, prevalence of undernourishment, has a significant limitation: it only addresses one aspect of the triple burden of malnutrition, which includes undernourishment, micronutrient deficiency, and over-nutrition. To provide a more comprehensive view of nutritional status at global, regional, and national levels, the Global Nutritional Index (GNI) was developed (Rosenbloom et al., 2008) and later updated (Peng and Berry, 2018).
The overall trends of the GNI from 1990 to 2015 showed a decreased under-nutrition and increased over-nutrition, which has become a major cause of malnutrition worldwide (Peng and Berry, 2018). This trend poses new challenges to achieve overall food security and nutrition.
A sustainable food system (HLPE, 2017) could offer a viable solution. Discussions increasingly link food security, nutrition, and sustainability. Incorporating food security explicitly into the sustainability agenda would significantly advance this objective. Ultimately, all these efforts aim to achieve sustainable food security and nutrition for our planet.
Major Activities include:
- Strengthening safety nets to ensure that vulnerable families have access to food and water–and money in their pockets to make vital purchases.
- Delivering expedited emergency support by fast-tracking financing through existing projects to respond to crisis situations.
- Engaging with development partners to address food security challenges. Instruments include rapid diagnostics and data-based monitoring instruments and partnerships such as the Famine Action Mechanism and the Agriculture Observatory.
- Encouraging farming systems that utilize climate-smart methods and generate a more diverse array of foods can enhance the resilience of food systems, boost farm incomes, and ensure the greater availability and affordability of nutrient-rich foods.
- Improving supply chains to reduce post-harvest food losses, improve hygiene in food major distribution channels, and better link production and consumption centers.
- Implementing an integrated “One Health” strategy to address and manage risks related to animal, human, and environmental health.
- Backing investments in research and development to enhance the micronutrient levels in foods and raw materials.
- Championing policy and regulatory changes to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of domestic food markets while lowering obstacles to food trade.
- Working with the private sector, government, scientists, and others to strengthen capacities to assess and manage food safety risks in low and middle-income countries.
Conclusion
Food security is a multifaceted concept encompassing availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability, with sustainability emerging as a crucial fifth dimension. It’s a dynamic and interconnected pathway from production to consumption, influenced by various factors including climate change, conflicts, and economic crises.
Measuring food security accurately remains complex, requiring a combination of indicators across national, household, and individual levels. Despite progress in reducing undernourishment globally, recent trends signal challenges ahead, with worsening food insecurity in certain regions and the emergence of over-nutrition as a concern.
To address these challenges, a sustainable food system approach is essential, emphasizing safety nets, emergency support, climate-smart farming, improved supply chains, and policy changes. By integrating food security into the sustainability agenda and fostering collaboration across sectors, we can strive towards achieving sustainable food security and nutrition for all.
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