Food security & nutrition

Food security is deteriorating in many parts of the world, despite the presumed capacity of the planet to feed its entire population. Crises (socio-natural disasters, armed conflicts, etc.) further erode people’s ability to meet their nutritional needs. How can aid organisations improve their operations in this sector, both in rural and urban contexts?

To have food security, people need to have a sufficient quantity of food available in their environment (availability); the means of getting it (accessibility) and all the necessary conditions (good health, means of preparing food, etc.) to use the foodstuffs properly (use).

More than 70% of the poorest people in the world live in rural areas, and the majority of food security programmes are conducted in these contexts and concern households and farmers.

They consist not only of reinforcing food production but also improving nutritional capacities.

In parallel to this, pauperisation has accentuated the rural exodus and led to the growth of urban populations on the outskirts of cities, highlighting food security issues in cities and the links between crisis-affected rural and urban environments.

It is therefore important to improve the understanding and analysis of vulnerabilities in rural and urban environments, develop needs assessment methods and tools, find innovative approaches to emergency and medium-term response in the nutrition and food security sectors, accompany crisis resolution, and help rebuild the farming and nutrition sectors.