SDGs #1 and #2 - No Hunger and Zero Poverty
SDGs #1 and #2 - No hunger and zero poverty
Food for thought: working towards no poverty and zero hunger benefits us all
Food is life. Not only the Friday night culinary experience with your friends, but more importantly, the crops that form the foundation of the food systems that power us all.
But is it really all of us? While the pandemic left England with a few empty shelves in supermarkets, it skewed global food inequality to the extreme. Rural, remote communities dependent on agricultural activity are especially affected as selling or importing harvest became harder during the global health crisis.
The Covid-19 outbreak has opened the world’s eyes to the scale of the change needed.
Our practices are unsustainable socially as well as environmentally. Our society’s overconsumption and wasteful habits place an avoidable burden on our planet, ecosystem, and climate that in turn affects agriculture-dependent communities across the globe. We exhaust natural resources to then waste the food we buy, while others go without proper nutrition for days. We, as a society, as businesses and as individuals must change the way we take food for granted as well as our food practices.
As we rebuild the disrupted trade and food networks, it is ever more important that we keep sustainability and social justice in focus. We must turn to circular, sustainable practices to limit soil degradation and protect both biodiversity and the communities practicing farming.
October’s sustainable development goals are no povery and zero hunger
In an ideal world, basic human rights, such as access to education, sufficient food, clean water, sanitation, and the right to one’s dignity are a given. Eradicating poverty and hunger are vital for a better, fairer future. It is in all of our interests to build a healthy society that can then foster innovation and prosperity.
Achieving SDG #1 and #2 will be a challenge, but not an impossibility. It will require swift and collective action if we want to keep the momentum working towards Agenda 2030. Everyday, almost 10% of the population struggles to meet their basic needs for education, sanitation, and sufficient nutrition. The distribution of the underprivileged is also unequal between the Global South and the Global North, with 42% of Sub-Saharan Africa living under the poverty line. The economic fallout caused by the pandemic has threatened to further undermine the cause: another half a billion people are at risk of being pushed into extreme poverty as a consequence.
Hunger, mal- and undernutrition are among the most common effects of poverty. Worldwide, 690 million people go hungry day after day. The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates an additional 87 to 132 million people to face similar difficulties as a result of the pandemic and the disruption in the global economy. When over 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy, and nutritious diet, we can only wonder: What can we do to help?
The integrity, and health of our food systems should be a top priority – not only is it the single most important thing that sustains us all as living creatures, but agri-food systems employ 1 billion people globally, making it the largest employer on the planet.
what can we do?
Experts reassuringly say that if we act now, the goal of eradicating poverty and hunger by 2030 is not out of reach. More and more people are commiting to meaningful lifestyle changes to support those in need - both locally and globally.
As individuals and businesses, we can all:
Stop food waste: don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach. Use what you buy and buy only what you need.
Use apps like Too Good To Go and Karma to relieve restaurants and retailers of surplus food
Buy funny veg – there is nothing wrong with a brown banana or a bruised carrot. Their nutritional value is just as high but they often get thrown out
Eat seasonally – shipping non-seasonal fruits and vegetables costs a fortune and is hugely polluting. Farming ‘trendy’ foods exhausts farmers’ resources who should be allowed to concentrate on growing seasonal produce in harmony with their local climate and seasonal patterns.
Recycle kitchen waste – contribute to a circular economy by enabling your kitchen waste to be reinvested into growing fresh food.
Donate unused belongings – there will be plenty of people whose life will change by your gently used clothes, books, and other belongings. Help children access education by donating school supplies.
As a leaders and businesses, there are many ways to help stop poverty and end hunger. Firstly, encourage your employees to adopt environmentally and socially friendly practices mentioned above. And then:
Sign the End Hunger and Nourish the Future pledge outlined during the International Food Systems Summit last month.
Be informed. Research the issues and do your best to understand Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2 – both as individual goals and as essential components of the wider SDG framework.
Invest in the excluded. Investing in rural communities has multiple advantages, both for those whose lives you are directly impacting, to business advantages including potential growth of a new market to strengthening company ESG credentials
Invest in the women of food systems: Rural women who work in agriculture - and the households that depend on them - were especially hit by the pandemic
Join community projects – find a local organisation that helps those in need and support them.
If you operate a canteen within your office space, make sure to make it ethical. This makes it easy for your employees to put their money in the right place.
Sign up to the UK government’s Kickstart Scheme – give a future to a young individual at risk of long-term unemployment
Poverty, hunger, the climate crisis, and gender inequality are all intertwined. But if we all do our parts: if regulations change, consumer habits become greener, farming practices more innovative, supply chains more inclusive, labour laws fairer and markets more open; we can combat poverty and hunger to build a global society where we all prosper.
16th OCTOBER IS WORLD FOOD DAY
In addition to celebrating our wonderful cuisines this week, think of those in need: volunteer your time at your local food bank, or donate to Goal #1 and #2 charities. On World Food Day, take an extra sandwich to work and give it to someone who needs it on your commute.
Food systems formed an important part of the UN’s September discussions at the UN High Forum - we covered this in our SDG blog last month.
If you want to know more about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, have a look at our Guide to the UN’s SDGs along with recent blogs on SDG#7 Clean Energy or SDG#12 Responsible Consumption and Production.
Next month we’ll focus on SDG#13 - Climate Action.