Posts tagged Food Security

Food early warning systems can stave off famines

0 Comments read Climate Change, Health & Science
Conflicts, climate change flip food security. Photo Credit ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 30.11.2022 (SciDev.Net): As reliable sources of quality food diminish and record numbers of people are driven to hunger due to conflicts, climate change and economic downturns, feeding the global population of eight billion poses a major challenge that demands better food early warning information systems.

Conflict is the biggest driver of hunger, with 60 per cent of the world’s hungry living in areas affected by war and violence. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) simulations indicate that the war in Ukraine could result in 19 million more people facing chronic undernourishment globally in 2023 —  if reduced food exports from the breadbaskets of the Russian Federation and Ukraine continue to impact world food availability.

Acute food insecurity is likely to get worse in many parts of the world during the October 2022 to January 2023 outlook period, requiring urgent targeted humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods, according to the 2022 Hunger Hotspots report of FAO and World Food Programme (WFP).

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The omnipresence of Omicron as we usher in 2022

7 Comments read Features
Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

The incisive eyes of a Powerful Owl were staring at me from the last page of the wall calendar. The days had melted into weeks and then months. 2021 had begun on a note of optimism, ignited by a promise of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, but that ray of hope has been eclipsed by the lengthening shadow of new mutations.

A more transmissible mutation — the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is surging unhindered as we usher in another year of living with SARS-CoV-2. The omnipresence of Omicron has dimmed New Year festivities and disrupted family reunions, just as we were hoping life would return to some form of normalcy.

Globally, on an average one million new coronavirus cases are being recorded daily. Public health systems have been stretched to a breaking point. Doctors, nurses, medical laboratory professionals, pharmacists, scientists and the innumerable health professionals have spent most part of their waking hours over the past two years helping the world cope with the pandemic.

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Is farming harming our health?

0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science
Researchers look at how agriculture is adding to climate change and negatively impacting health outcomes. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.07.2021 (SciDev.Net): While increased agriculture production has reduced hunger, it is also linked to unhealthy diets and increased emissions that are severely affecting human health, says a study.

Published in Environmental Research Communications, the study focuses on the integrated assessment of global climate, air pollution and health impacts of food production and consumption.

“Changing global food consumption patterns towards healthier diets would see reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and dietary health benefits,” says Chris Malley, lead author of the study and senior research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s (SEI) office at the University of York in the UK.

As many as 640,000 premature deaths are associated with high red meat consumption in East and South-East Asia, according to the study. An estimated 4.1 million deaths in 2018 were associated with dietary health risks, 6.0 million with overweight or obesity, and 730,000 infant deaths resulted from malnutrition.

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