essay on food insecurity in english

What Causes Food Insecurity and What are Solutions to It?

What is food insecurity.

Imagine the entire state of California not knowing where their next meal will come from. For 38.3 million Americans—just shy of California’s 39.5 million population—this uncertainty is a reality of daily life.

The effects of poverty are greatly varied, but many of them like homelessness, a lack of healthcare, and low wages, all are frequently a focus of public conversation. But several go largely undetected. One of these issues is food insecurity.

According to the USDA , food security “means access by all people at all times to enough food for a healthy life.” However, over 10% of the U.S. population struggle with food insecurity. Of these 38.3 million, 11.7 million of them—more than New York City’s population—are children.

Such figures lead to difficult questions: why do so many families and individuals struggle with food insecurity, and who are they? What are the consequences for our society when so many people go hungry? And finally, what can we do to fix this massive issue? In this article, we’ll get to know food insecurity and what we can do about it.

Let’s start with the term itself:

Giving Food Insecurity a Definition

Going by the USDA's definition of food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” Food insecurity, therefore, can be understood as any time an individual or family doesn’t experience food security.

Many families and individuals experience food insecurity differently. The USDA gives four general ranges of both food security and food insecurity to understand these differences in experiences:

Food Security:

• High Food Security: The USDA defines high food security as individuals or households that don’t report any difficulties with accessing food or suffering from limitations. These households probably don’t worry about food, at least in any significant way.
• Marginal Food Security: According to the USDA, households with marginal food security have reported their occasional anxiety of having enough food, although they don’t indicate any noteworthy changes to their diet or consumption.

Food Insecurity:

• Low Food Security: Households or individuals with low food security report that they consume lower quality food, less variety of foods, and have a generally less desirable diet, although they don’t necessarily consume less food overall.
• Very Low Food Security: Households with very low food security report that their eating patterns and food intake has been reduced or otherwise interrupted. These are people and families who may take actions such as foregoing meals to stretch their food over a longer period of time.

Essentially, food insecurity occurs when a person or group of people can’t access or afford enough quality food. Food insecurity is not hunger, although hunger may be a symptom of food insecurity.

Who is Food Insecure?

We’ve already briefly touched on how children are impacted greatly by food insecurity—you could populate a city larger than New York with all of America’s food-insecure children—but who are the communities most impacted by food insecurity?

Well, the answer is not so simple. With more than one in ten people in the U.S. being food insecure, you will find food insecurity in every community. However, some communities are more impacted by food insecurity than others. Households composed of Black or Hispanic families or individuals are twice as likely to be food insecure than the national average. Communities of color that have been and are still systematically oppressed and impoverished are the most affected by food insecurity.

What Causes Food Insecurity?

The causes that impact food insecurity are wide in scope, and we won’t be able to cover them all here. They are both historical and present-day, deliberate and unintended, but regardless, they are all real and impact a massive portion of our population here in the U.S.

Geography and urban planning has some impact on food insecurity. A food desert is a popular term used to describe areas where the residents can’t access affordable, healthy foods. This means a majority of the population lives a mile or more from an affordable grocery store in urban areas, and 10 miles in rural areas. For areas that have no public transportation or unreliable transport, individuals who don’t own a car, and individuals who struggle with mobility, healthy, nutritious foods are simply out of reach, both physically and economically.

However, despite their impact, pinning the issue of food insecurity on food deserts conveniently ignores the systemic issues contributing to food insecurity. Most people, even low-income individuals, don’t automatically grocery shop at whichever store is closest to them. They may instead opt for a preferred grocery store or chain with lower prices, or instead choose to shop near their workplace, chaining multiple trips together. 

Thus, access, geographic location, and food deserts actually aren’t the main problems facing food-insecure households. The main cause of food insecurity is poverty . While mobility, transportation, and car-centricity are still issues that are deeply connected with poverty, geographic access, as stated by the USDA in a 2014 report , is not “associated with the percentage of households that [are] food insecure.”

The fact is that 38.3 million Americans simply can’t afford food, or enough quality food; living within a mile of a grocery store and having reliable transportation there and back still wouldn’t change that. Low wages and centuries of discrimination have led to a situation where many low-income households spend over a quarter of their income on food , whereas middle and high-income households spend more money, but still a smaller percentage of their income, on food.

The Impact of Food Insecurity

The impacts of food insecurity are wide-ranging. For one thing, considering that food-insecure households spend upwards of 27% of their income on food, it makes budgeting and prioritizing other expenses painfully difficult. When budgeting the cost of food in the face of other necessary expenses like housing, energy, and healthcare, it creates an impossible balancing act: to choose between staying in your apartment, eating, or taking necessary medications.

Medications, too, are related to food insecurity, as food insecurity has ranging health impacts for both children and adults. Food insecure adults may be at higher risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes , obesity , and depression . 

Now, food insecurity is not permanent. It can be brief while a member of the household is between jobs, or during times of other financial hardship, or it can last over an extended period of time, particularly in the case of individuals who can’t work due to disabilities. However, children who experience extended food insecurity are even more at risk, as its effects can compound throughout their life and development. 

Learning outcomes can also be adversely impacted by food insecurity. Inadequate nutrients from their diets can lead to a weakened immune system in children, which can lead to frequent absences. When food-insecure children are at school, they may be unable to focus, resulting in worse performance and retention. Essentially, when children experience food insecurity, it can set them up for challenges for the rest of their lives.

Solutions to Ending Food Insecurity

Systemic changes.

Continue Modernizing SNAP Benefits: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often known as SNAP , provides benefits to households and individuals struggling with food insecurity. However, while crucial to helping millions of families, SNAP benefits need to be modernized. They are still based on the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which is no longer an accurate measure for food expenditures. The TFP doesn’t even meet all the U.S.’s federal nutrition standards .

SNAP benefits are also equal across the country, regardless of differences in cost of living—a feature that is very beneficial to some, while detrimental to others. Many households living in areas where they must devote a larger portion of their income to expenses like housing often have less money available for food, and SNAP benefits are insufficient in these instances. Additionally, SNAP benefits don’t account for the amount of time it takes to cook and prepare meals, a fact that does a great disservice to the many low-wage workers who need to work long, often odd hours to cover expenses such as rent—they’re already stretched for time.

Reduce Food Waste: According to the USDA , between 30 and 40% of the nation’s food supply goes to waste. Globally, the number is closer to about 30%, which would be enough to feed 2 billion people, effectively eliminating hunger. However, there’s a long way to go in reducing and eliminating food waste. 

Food is wasted at various stages of production. Regardless of how products are wasted, be it through spoilage during transportation, being discarded for aesthetic blemishes, or being binned after passing sell-by dates, an astronomical amount of food in the U.S. goes to waste. 

One solution is to improve transparency and clarity for food safety by instituting consistent labeling conventions. The discrepancies between best-by dates, use-by dates, and sell-by dates often cause confusion for customers and lead to food being discarded before it needs to be. According to the USDA , most foods are safe and wholesome until there’s evidence of spoilage, provided that they’re handled properly. 

Additionally, policies should be set in place that protect national grocery retailers from rare liabilities not covered under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act , so they can donate surplus and unsold goods to charities and local food banks, greatly reducing hunger within communities. 

Offer Free School Lunches For All: School lunch should be free for all students. It is essential for students' ability to remain focused throughout the day and improve learning outcomes. And while learning is one of the most important parts of school, providing free school lunches to all students would come with a host of benefits :

• Reduced stigma around needing school lunch
• Improved variety and quality of foods in students’ diets, particularly with fresh fruits and vegetables
• Improved health and lowered obesity rates
• Higher attendance rates from low-income, food insecure students

School is most beneficial when students are prepared, both mentally and physically, to learn. When students don’t have access to the necessary food and nutrients they need, especially when they’re growing, it reduces their chances of success.

As we’ve said, food insecurity impacts every community. It’s less common in some places, and more common in others, but every state and community is impacted nonetheless. Helping reduce food insecurity is a great way to effect change for the good of your community. There are a few simple ways to get involved and make an impact, regardless of your own comfort level. 

Volunteer: Volunteering with food banks, co-ops, and mutual aid networks is a great way to both fight food insecurity and strengthen bonds in your community. Volunteering benefits everyone involved: it gives you opportunities to make new friends and connections, learn new skills, and is fun (it really is!).

Contact Your Representatives: To create systemic change effectively, you need power. Your representatives, both nationally and locally, are elected to serve you and your community. Use your voice to contact them with your concerns about food insecurity. You can find your local representative here .

Donate: Donations are always welcome by many organizations fighting food insecurity. Whether in the form of money or food products, your donations can go a long way to helping people in need.

Take Action Against Food Insecurity Today

The U.S. is commonly referred to as the most abundant land on the planet. We produce more food than we can consume, and still over a tenth of our population, including millions of children, go hungry and struggle with food insecurity.

While there are countless factors that lead to food insecurity, none is more obvious and culpable than poverty itself. The benefits and support we provide our impoverished brothers and sisters are not enough, and we can afford to do so much more: after all, we currently end up throwing out over 30% of the food we produce. 

Addressing food insecurity is a massive challenge, but it can be done. Progress can be made systemically and on a community level; they’re often one and the same. 

Nation Data

Food Insecurity - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Food Insecurity refers to the lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. Essays could delve into the causes, effects, and possible solutions to food insecurity both in the United States and globally, addressing issues like poverty, agricultural practices, and climate change. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Food Insecurity you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Child Food Insecurity

It is wrong to think that child food insecurity, malnourishment, and other food issues are only present in "third-world" countries because in reality, they occur worldwide ("Woodhouse"). They are especially prevalent in the United States ("Morrissey"), which is considered to be one of the most advanced and affluent countries in the world. Children from low-income families feel the greatest effects of food insecurity in the United States because they have minimal access to fresh foods, which is caused by the […]

Food Insecurity on College Campuses: Prevalence, Consequences and Solutions

Food insecurity in the United Sates has become a topic of high concern due to the rapid rate at which it has increased in recent years. Food insecurity is defined as "the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways" (Holben & Marshall 2017). Food insecurity is an issue that must be addressed, as the consequences are devastating for those that are affected. Until recently, […]

Escherichia Coli – an Overview

Escherichia coli is coliform bacterium of the genus Escherichia and is a Gram negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria. E. coli lives a life of luxury in the lower intestines of warm blooded animals, including humans but when forced out, it lives a life of deprivation and hazard in water, sediment and soil. Most E. coli strain are harmless and are an important part of a healthy human intestinal tract. However, some E. coli are pathogenic cause either diarrhea or illness […]

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The Effects of Food Insecurity in the Community

Abstract Food insecurity is not having the ability to acquire nutritious foods essential for a healthy diet and life (Feeding America, 2011). This problem is a common issue in the Monterey County Salinas Valley, especially among the Latinos, African Americans, single mothers, senior citizens, and children who live in low-income households (Kresge, 2011). Factors that indicate food insecurity are location, unemployment, availability of nutritious foods, and conditions of markets. Effects of food insecurity are health problems, emotional stress, behavior issues, […]

Food Insecurity Among Asian Americans

This study evaluated the prevalence and burden of food insecurity among disaggregated Asian American populations. In this research, prevalence of food insecurity among Asian American subgroups was assessed, with the primary exposure variable of interest being acculturation. This assessment utilized the California Health Interview Survey, the largest state health survey. The results demonstrated that the highest prevalence of food insecurity was found among Vietnamese (16.42%), while the lowest prevalence was among Japanese (2.28%). A significant relationship was noted between the […]

Poor Nutrition and its Effects on Learning

Nutrition is essential to human welfare, however, numerous number of people are badly affected by poor nutrition especially children. Malnutrition is a major concern which ranges from undernutrition to problems of overweight and obesity. It’s usually caused by deficiency in essential vitamins and nutrients needed for intellectual development and learning. The most critical stage for brain development is mainly from conception to the first 2 years of life. It’s highly important that pregnant mothers are given the necessary vitamins and […]

What is Food Insecurity in America?

Throughout the United States, access to healthy food is a privilege. Cumulative institutionalized racism is deeply embedded in the foundation of the country, throughout historical and present public policies, ultimately manifesting injustice within many entities throughout the nation, specifically the food industry (American Civil Liberties Union). This oppressive industry, which includes fast food corporations and agricultural components, takes advantage of vulnerable minority and low-income populations. They do this in many ways, some of which include manipulating the market, pushing out […]

Food Insecurity at Berkeley

During their time in college, many UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students experience some type of basic need insecurity. Contrary to basic needs security, basic needs insecurity refers to the inability to obtain food, housing, and financial stability. Students who face food insecurity undergo the struggles of skipping meals or consuming unhealthy food due to their financial inability to afford healthier or complete meals. According to the “2016 UC Food Access & Security Study”, 48% of undergraduate students across the […]

Hunger in ?olleges

Introduction: The Problem Hunger in colleges is a serious issue that has been existing for years as student's lack access to reliable and affordable food. Food insecurity is "a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food (USDA)." Students in colleges, not only hunger for knowledge but also for food. The food insecurity issue has the potential of undermining academic success. Most students do not get enough to eat and are hence fatigued and worried. […]

Food Insecurity in African American Elders

Food insecurity occurs when the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire them in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain. It is a growing problem in older adults (Sengupta, 2016). Nine percent of older persons who live alone are food insecure, and about 15 percent are at risk. This issue is particularly concerning in African American older adults who are at a greater risk compared to their Hispanic and non-Hispanic white counterparts (16.66%, 13.26%, […]

College Food Insecurity: how Big is the Problem?

Working while attending college or university is also associated with food insecurity. 4,5,9 Higher rates of food insecurity have been reported among students working longer hours. 4,5 Rates of food insecurity for students working over 20 hours per week have ranged from 38-46%. 4,5 In addition, university students who live off campus and those who do not have a meal plan tend to have an increased risk for food insecurity as compared to students living on campus and those with […]

Food Insecurity in Mozambique: Going to Bed in Debt and Waking up Hungry

Abstract Food insecurity is a global problem that varies in magnitude on regional and local levels. It is also a problem that does not receive equal representation or efforts between and within nations. Some of the problems facing food insecurities, however, overlap between nations, for example, climate change, distribution of resources, and governmental roles and impacts. When compared to other nations of the world, which may or may not have dire food insecurities, Mozambique has its unique set of challenges, […]

Food Insecurity in the Bronx

The story of Jettie Young illustrates the widespread problem of food insecurity and how it affects individuals from any area or economic background across the United States. When Jettie Young was looking to purchase a house for her small family in Austin, Texas, affordability was foremost on her mind. She and her husband decided on a starter home in the Hornsby Bend area, a neighborhood made up of many families with young children, much like her own. What she did […]

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The gap between the poor and the rich across the globe is getting broader. As a result, a vast proportion of the world’s population suffers from malnutrition, or worse, is on the verge of hunger and starvation. The United States is no exception, and the number of undernourished is continuously increasing.

So how are developed and developing countries tackling the problem of poor nutrition and food security? Why has food become a means of getting rich instead of ensuring people’s well-being and safety? Is healthy food a privilege of the wealthy?

To draw attention to the issue, educational institutions often assign argumentative essays about food insecurity in America. College students should express their views on essay topics like food insecurity and scarcity, its causes and effects, GMOs, and sustainability. They can also work on new methods to ensure we produce enough food for everyone.

When writing your research paper, ensure your introduction contains an intriguing thesis statement for food insecurity. For instance, pose a question or challenge an approach in tackling the problem. Once you frame the hook, continue with the body paragraphs to present your views supported by evidence and credible sources. The final section of your manuscript is the conclusion which wraps up your ideas and offers an overview or solution to the issue.

As always, PapersOwl has the best essay examples on food insecurity solutions you can read for free. These ideas will help you outline the perfect cause-and-effect paper. If your work needs improvement, contact the expert team at PapersOwl, and they will be more than happy to assist you.

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Food Insecurity Among College Students: The Food Pantry Predicament

By Taylor Lance

Food insecurity is an imperative issue in colleges across the country. “Food insecurity” is a broad term for the two types of low food security: low food security and extremely low food security (Yashamiro). This means that these individuals are not consistently getting the food that they need in order to be healthy. Many students attempting to gain a higher education at two-year colleges and four-year universities are facing food insecurity. To help these student’s, colleges are trying out various methods. There are many concerns for students who are experiencing food insecurity, their overall health is at risk, and their grades are destined to suffer. It is extremely concerning how prevalent this issue is. In the article “Why a Food Pantry isn’t Enough” Gwen Dilworth, a   fourth-year student and executive director of The College and University Food Bank Alliance, reported that “…the GAO concluded that about a third of U.S. college students struggle with food insecurity”. Colleges across the country are becoming progressively more aware of this issue and are taking steps to intervene by adding food pantries to help students get the nutrition they need. Although food pantries are helpful and should be supported, they alone are not enough to completely combat food insecurity among college students.

Food insecurity among college students is a critical issue in dire need of a solution. “In studies among children and adults, FI [Food Insecurity] has been associated with poorer nutrition and health outcomes, higher stress and depression, and adverse learning, academic outcomes and/or productivity…Findings were generally consistent across peer reviewed and gray literature, despite using different metrics” (Bruening et al.). These are all reasons to be concerned for students in these situations. These individuals are trying to get a higher education because they simply want to have a successful future and are met with the obstacle of not being able to afford both education and basic needs. Students struggling with food insecurity are not able to get the nutrition they need; therefore, they are unable to focus on their academics. Since students are preoccupied with the struggle of meeting their basic need for food and safety they cannot focus on their studies. One solution has been the introduction of food pantries, although these are helpful, colleges cannot stop at just this.

Food pantries are popping up in many colleges across the country in attempt to reduce food insecurity. While these are showing to benefit the students, there are still limitations to how much they can help. In the case study titled “Hungry for a Higher Education” the author determined that food pantries “may not address larger systematic issues of hunger and poverty experienced by students, but focus on immediate needs” (Yashamiro). Food pantries are not a long-term solution to the problem, their intent is to be a short-term solution. Another reason food pantries are not able to reduce food insecurity among college students on their own is attributable to the students view and perception of the food pantries. “It was reported that 36% of students studied associated the pantry with social stigma and embarrassment…” (Yashamiro). This means that many students are hesitant to take advantage of the food pantry because they fear that people will judge them for it and they do not want to be subjected to that embarrassment. Many students know of the food pantries available but are not aware of how the system works or if they are eligible for this help. “33.8% noted unawareness of how the food pantry worked, and if they would even qualify for the services” (Yashamiro). To improve effectiveness of food pantries some colleges might consider adding more ways to inform students on the operation of food pantries and who among the students might be eligible for access to the food pantries. Colleges should not have the misconception that they have solved the problem by only installing food pantries on campus; there needs to be more long-lasting efforts and programs in place.

In the case study “Hungry for a Higher Education” Connie Moreno Yashamiro discusses some other food insecurity intervention methods such as “developing a single point of contact”. This means having one place that students can go to seek help if they are experiencing food insecurity. By creating a single point of contact the student does not have to keep repeating their situation to numerous people across campus, they can instead, talk to one person to get the help and support they need. Another approach mentioned by Yashamiro was to introduce swipe programs. These programs would make it an option for students that have left-over meals on their cards to donate them to students that are food insecure. The individuals that are food insecure and have received the donated meal swipes will be able to use them the same way as any other student and it would be completely confidential (Yashamiro). This would take away any risk that the students might feel judged or embarrassed by their situation. In addition to those tactics, there are still other ways to help students struggling with food insecurity such as mobile notifications when there is food leftover from events on campus. There is a limitation to this strategy however, students who do not have access to cell phones might not be able to be made aware of when there is food leftover from these events. Gardens on campus can serve multiple purposes, they could be used for agricultural education and could also help supply students in need with healthy foods (Yashamiro). The authors of the scholarly article “Hunger In Higher Education” determined that “While there is public resistance to such efforts, policy changes that expand SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] eligibility or extend the National School Lunch Program to higher education are likely cost effective responses since undergraduates who receive public benefits are more likely to persist than observably similar peers”. These college students are here by choice and have the desire to achieve higher education. Therefore, it makes sense financially to extend the National School Lunch Program to enable these students to be healthy while pursuing an education and working to reach their goals. Although food pantries are a valuable addition to the effort to fight food insecurity, they should not be seen as more than temporary help to students who run out of food.

There are many variations in the food pantries that are in these different schools. Food pantries vary in size, available resources, how much students can take, and hours of operation. It is difficult to measure the success of food pantries when all of them are different. There is a lack of research on the effectiveness of food pantries so in order to get a complete understanding of the help that they provide, more studies need to be done. For these reasons’ colleges need to be cautious of having the mindset that food pantries will be an end-all solution when in reality colleges need to combine various programs and efforts to have the greatest impact.

Food insecurity among college students cannot be solved by merely introducing short term solutions such as food pantries. The combination of many approaches and tactics is the best way to tackle this issue. The steps that need to be taken in order to unravel this type of large-scale problem are efforts that colleges can make, such as the swipe program, alongside policy changes to extend eligibility for assistance.

Works Cited

Broton, K. M., et al. “Hunger in higher education: Experiences and Correlates of Food Insecurity Among Wisconsin Undergraduates from Low-income Families.” Social Sciences,  vol. 7, no. 10, 2018, doi: dx.doi.org.lcc.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/socsci7100179. Accessed 20 Apr. 2020.

Bruening, Meg, et al. “The Struggle Is Real: A Systematic Review of Food Insecurity on Postsecondary Education Campuses.”  Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , vol. 117, no. 11, 2017, pp. 1767–1791., doi:10.1016/j.jand.2017.05.022. Accessed 20 Apr. 2020.

Dilworth, Gwen. “Why a Food Pantry isn’t Enough.” UWIRE Text , 26 Feb. 2019, p. 1. Gale OneFile: News , link-gale-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A575986285/STND?u=lom_lansingcc&sid=STND&xid=4dba1729 . Accessed 20 Apr. 2020.

Yamashiro, Connie Moreno. “Hungry for a Higher Education: A Case Study on Undergraduate Student Experiences with a Campus Food Pantry.” Order No. 13881227 California State University, Long Beach, 2019.  ProQuest.  Accessed 20 Apr. 2020.

Writing LCC by is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Millions of american families struggle to get food on the table, report finds.

Maria Godoy

The increase in food insecurity in 2022 reverses a decade-long decline in the number of U.S. households experiencing hunger. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

The increase in food insecurity in 2022 reverses a decade-long decline in the number of U.S. households experiencing hunger.

Just putting three meals a day on the table was a struggle for millions of people in the U.S. last year. That's the sobering conclusion of a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which found hunger in the U.S. rose sharply in 2022.

The report found that 44.2 million people lived in households that had difficulty getting enough food to feed everyone in 2022, up from 33.8 million people the year prior. Those families include more than 13 million children experiencing food insecurity, a jump of nearly 45 percent from 2021.

"These numbers are more than statistics. They paint a picture of just how many Americans faced the heartbreaking challenge last year of struggling to meet a basic need for themselves and their children," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

The findings reverse a decade-long decline in hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. And they reflect the loss of several pandemic-era measures designed to strengthen the social safety net, says Elaine Waxman , a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who studies food insecurity and federal nutrition programs.

" A lot of the programs that had buffered people's experience during the pandemic were retired or rolled back in some way ," Waxman says.

Shots - Health News

Pandemic food assistance that held back hunger comes to an end.

Those programs included an expanded child tax credit that gave families with children extra money, temporarily increased benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – formerly known as food stamps – and free school meals for every child.

At the same time, food prices and housing costs have shot up, says Kelly Horton , chief program officer at the Food Research and Action Center. And she points out an increasing number of Americans are working in unstable gig-economy jobs, like delivering groceries, driving for ride-share services or completing tasks on demand.

" So all of these things converging...we have a lot of people who are living on the edge," Horton says.

In its report, the USDA found that nearly 7 million households were so financially squeezed last year that they had to skip meals at times because there wasn't enough food to go around. Almost all of these households said they couldn't afford to eat balanced meals. In some 381,000 households with children, kids also experienced the pangs of hunger – skipping meals or going the whole day without eating. Waxman notes this could have significant health consequences, especially for kids.

"In particular, we worry about that for children because their trajectory now influences what happens to them later," says Waxman. She notes research has found children who experience food insecurity are more likely to experience worse health outcomes down the road, including cognitive or developmental delays and higher rates of hospitalization.

Overall, households with children and those of color experienced food insecurity at significantly higher rates than the national average. The rates of hunger for Black and Latino households were both more than double the rates for white households.

Congress tackles food stamp changes in the farm bill

Food access advocates say the findings underscore the importance of protecting social safety-net programs. Right now, there's particular concern when it comes to the fate of the food assistance program known as WIC , which serves pregnant mothers and young children up to age 5.

Since the pandemic-era increases to SNAP benefits ended, more families have been turning to WIC for help with food, says Nell Menefee-Libey , public policy manager at the National WIC Association.

" We know that more families are turning to the program and find themselves needing support from WIC who may previously have not been using WIC services," Menefee-Libey says.

But some lawmakers have proposed funding cuts to WIC benefits, even as the program needs additional funding to serve the increased number of families that are seeking assistance, says Horton of FRAC.

"So there could be a case where WIC runs out of money if Congress does not give them additional funds," Horton says.

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Food Insecurity and Child Development: A State-of-the-Art Review

Danielle gallegos.

1 School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia

2 Woolworths Centre for Childhood Nutrition Research, Queensland University of Technology, South Brisbane, QLD 4151, Australia

Areana Eivers

3 School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia; [email protected]

Peter Sondergeld

4 Library Services, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia; [email protected]

Cassandra Pattinson

5 Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), The University of Queensland, Indooroopilly, QLD 4068, Australia; [email protected]

Associated Data

Converging research indicates that household food insecurity impedes children from reaching their full physical, cognitive, and psychosocial potential. This state-of-the-art review examines the last decade of research to: (1) describe the impact of the severity and persistence of food insecurity on child development; (2) use a socio-ecological framework to examine significant proximal and distal factors which may interplay; and (3) outline directions for future research. We conducted a systematic review of six databases of published papers from 2011 to June 2021. The search was limited to high-income countries and children aged from birth to 12 years. From 17,457 papers, 17 studies were included in the final review. Transitioning between food security and food insecurity had a significant and lasting effect on academic/cognitive function and behavior (i.e., externalizing), however less clear relationships were seen for psychosocial outcomes and other behaviors examined (i.e., internalizing). There was significant variation in the measurement and thresholds used to define both food insecurity and child development outcomes. Subsequently, comparisons across studies are difficult. Several future recommendations, including incorporation of socio-ecological factors, is provided. In conclusion, this review supports the link between food insecurity and sub-optimal child development; however, there is an imperative to improve and extend current understanding to ameliorate the causes of food insecurity.

1. Introduction

Food and nutrition security is a fundamental human right, and exists “when all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to food, which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life” [ 1 ]. It is estimated that nearly two billion people or over one-quarter of the world’s population do not have regular access to a nutritious and sufficient food supply [ 2 ]. While prevalence is much lower in high income countries, it remains a persistent and ongoing issue affecting between 8–11% of the populations in countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, and the United States of America (US) [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. The highest prevalence rates in these countries are seen among those living with disadvantage or marginalization [ 3 , 7 ]. Food insecurity has been identified as a powerful stressor for families, with significant negative implications for child health and development; these include impacts on physical, social, cognitive, and behavioral development, independent of poverty [ 8 , 9 ]. As this problem is ongoing and immediate, there is an urgent need to explore the impact of food insecurity on child development, to inform strategies that minimize and alleviate its risks.

To date, three systematic reviews and one meta-analysis have been published examining the associations between household food insecurity and child development [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. All conclude that food insecurity, independent of economic circumstances, is associated with child development outcomes (cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional). The proposed pathways of influence of food insecurity on child development include interactions with maternal mental health, parenting behavior, and household psycho-social stress. None of the previous reviews have focused, however, on the impact of food insecurity severity (from worrying about to running out of food) and persistence over time. The current review is unique in that it specifically investigates the impact of food insecurity severity and persistence on child development outcomes using the socio-ecological model as a guiding framework [ 12 ]. This model posits that child development is a dynamic process arising from complex interactions across multiple levels of influence (individual, family, institutions, community, society) that are proximal and distal to the child. The overlaying of this framework will assist in identifying not only risk factors but also the protective resources that can be drawn on to strengthen optimal child development [ 13 , 14 ].

As such, this state-of-the-art review will outline the past decade of research to: (1) examine the impact of the severity and persistence of food insecurity on child social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development; (2) utilize the socio-ecological model as a framework to examine the factors which may be protective or exacerbate the effect of food insecurity on child development; and (3) outline key directions for future research on food insecurity.

Definition and Classification of Food Insecurity

Food and nutrition security is underpinned by six dimensions: (1) availability—food of sufficient nutritional quality is able to be grown, bartered or purchased; (2) accessibility—social, economic and physical access to food; (3) utilization—food is able to be used physiologically and there are resources to transform food into meals; (4) stability—that all these elements are stable irrespective of household, civil unrest, or weather conditions; (5) agency—people can choose what they eat and how it is produced with freedom and dignity; and (6) sustainability—indicating long term measures that protect human and environmental health [ 15 ]. Food insecurity occurs when one or more of these dimensions are compromised. Food insecurity experiences are most commonly measured at the household level and generally reported by the primary caregiver.

One challenge to the conceptualization of food insecurity is that it may differ in both persistence and severity, with potentially differing consequences for child development. A reason for this variability is that economic disadvantage is dynamic. Households may move in and out of poverty, or at times have greater access to supporting resources than at other times. The chronicity and cyclical nature of disadvantage are, thus, potential moderators of long-term child development outcomes [ 16 , 17 ] and are therefore, key variables of interest within the current review.

2. Materials and Methods

The Cochrane Collaboration [ 18 ] and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination [ 19 ] guidelines were used in the development of this review. We report findings per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement [ 20 ]. We searched MEDLINE (via EBSCOhost), ProQuest (Education; Health & Medical; Nursing & Allied Health; Psychology; Social Science; Dissertations & Theses Global), PsycINFO (via EBSCOhost), SCOPUS, and Web of Science Core Collection for empirical research on links between food insecurity and child development from 2011 to June 2021. We included only full text, English language, peer reviewed publications. Table 1 summarizes eligibility criteria.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

We searched the Cochrane Library to identify primary studies in relevant systematic reviews. No additional records were identified via hand-searching the reference lists of records meeting eligibility criteria. We adapted search terms and search syntax for each database (see Supplementary Table S1 ). Papers were limited to ones published within the last decade (2011–2021) and to those including children from birth to 12 years only.

Risk of Bias

From 17,457 studies screened, 17 met the final inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two assessors determined the inclusion of papers, extracted data and evaluated the quality of each of the studies using the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies [ 21 ]. This tool assesses quality across sixteen criteria. Any conflicts were discussed and finalized by the group. Just under half (47%) of the studies were rated as being of good quality, with the remaining papers rated as fair (see Supplementary Table S2 ). Figure 1 depicts the study selection process.

PRISMA diagram of search, adapted from [ 20 ].

3.1. Measurement of Food Insecurity Severity and Persistence

All but two of the 17 studies identified used the United States-Household Food Security Survey Module (US-HFSSM; Table 2 ). This tool distinguishes between households which are food secure and food insecure. Households are categorized as food secure if they have high food security (no anxiety, consistently able to access food) or marginal food security (some anxiety about accessing adequate food but no changes to food intake). Households are categorized as food insecure if they have low food security (where the quality of food is compromised but quantity and eating patterns are not altered); or very low food security (where some or all members of the household had disrupted eating patterns and this reduced the quantity of food consumed) [ 22 ]. In addition to being able to determine a food security status, the tool can provide a continuous variable where higher scores are indicative of more severe food insecurity. Furthermore, the US-HFSSM can be used to distinguish between food security among adults (the first ten questions) and among children (the remaining eight questions) in a household. There are difficulties, however, when child food insecurity is measured in relation to households as measures do not necessarily capture food security status for all children in the household, with younger children often protected by adults over older children [ 23 ].

Food security measurement tools and characteristics used in identified studies.

Y = Yes; N = No. FS = Food secure; MFS = Marginal food security; FI = Food Insecure; LFS = Low Food Security; VLFS = Very Low Food Security; T1 Time 1; T2 Time 2. * FS as per USDA guidelines, i.e., includes <3 affirmative responses unless otherwise stated (FS + MFS); FI ≥ 3 responses (LFS + VLFS). # Responses to 10 question adult module to give household FS status; Responses to eight-question child module to give child food security status within household.

Fifteen (82%) studies reviewed here used the 18-item or 10-item US-HFSSM measure. Of the remaining two studies, one study used the two-question screener from the US-HFSSM [ 24 ] and the other used a four question screener that had been previously validated [ 25 ]. All studies categorized households as food secure or food insecure; three studies also examined food insecurity as a continuous variable [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].

Nine (53%) of the 17 studies reviewed, dichotomized the HFSSM scale into food secure versus food insecure, thereby not distinguishing severity of household food insecurity. One of these studies included those with marginal food security in the food insecure category [ 29 ], which is at odds with recommended practice [ 22 ] and makes comparisons between studies problematic. Six studies (35%) did distinguish food insecurity severity. Four of these studies did so by comparing the trichotomous outcomes of food secure, marginally food secure, and food insecure [ 24 , 26 , 30 , 31 ]. This may be important as there is converging recognition that parental anxiety or worry about food, regardless of objective food security status, may impact on child development through indirect mechanisms such as parenting and home environment [ 30 ]. The remaining two studies distinguished severity within the food insecure category, that is, between low and very low food security [ 26 , 31 ]. Nagata and colleagues [ 26 ] examined continuous and categorical values of food insecure, with food secure versus marginally food secure, low, and very low food security. Given that very low food security is associated with compromised quality and quantity of food, there are physiological implications for child development with this level of food insecurity [ 32 , 33 ]. In high income countries the number of households with very low food security is often low (between 3–5%) [ 31 ] and, is frequently not able to be analyzed separately.

Two studies used the US-HFSSM to distinguish the experiences of food insecurity for adults from that of children in the same household [ 27 , 34 ]. Given that children can be protected in food insecure households by adults, determining whether children are experiencing food insecurity (albeit based on caregiver report) provides a more nuanced understanding of the impact of food insecurity on child development.

Persistence/trajectory of food insecurity was measured in seven (41%) longitudinal studies [ 25 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. These papers highlight a growing understanding of the impact of cycling through transient phases of food insecurity over time, as well as the impact of persistent food insecurity at different stages of child development. Transient phases of food insecurity may indicate precarious or chaotic environments (characterized by uncertainty, frequent moving, and lack of routines), which have been linked to poorer child development outcomes [ 39 , 40 ]. Only one study examined the combined impact of severity (food secure, marginal food security and food insecurity, which included both low and very low food security) and persistence across two time points of development ( Table 2 ) [ 37 ].

3.2. Measurement of Child Development

In line with the recent review by de Oliveira et al. [ 9 ], the current review found that the measures used to assess child development (see Table 3 ) varied widely across studies and included a mix of non-standardized single items, summed multiple single-item responses (to get an overall functioning score), and standardized tests [ 9 ]. No study provided a rationale for using a measure, even when other validated and more commonly used scales existed. This is problematic as it limits comparability across studies and cohorts. More consistent measures and use of standardized measures are vital as is ensuring context generalizability outside the US. It should be noted that 10 (60%) of the reviewed papers were based on two large cohorts from the United States—the Early Childhood Longitudinal (ECLS) Birth and Kindergarten cohorts and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS)—where the choice of tools was pre-selected.

Summary of food security and child development outcomes.

Note: FI: Food Insecure; FS: Food Secure; NR: Not Reported; PEDS: Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status; ↑—increased; ↓—decreased. Studies: ECLS-B and –K: Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth and Kindergarten cohorts; FFCW: Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study; QLSCD: Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. # Control variables are presented in order of appearance in the respective papers, for ease and readability we have tried to present a selection of the key variables controlled for in the analysis. The number of additional variables that were controlled in the analyses are presented with the “+” symbol. ^ Baseline Cohort reported in this instance. a This table only reports the overall social skills score, please refer to the original manuscript for full report of findings. b The subject-specific model represents the most conservative estimate of effects, please refer to the original manuscript for full report of findings. * anxiety and depression were classified under behavior as they are often categorized under internalizing behavior.

3.3. Food Insecurity and Child Development Outcomes

Academic/cognitive outcomes: Seven studies investigated the association between food insecurity and academic outcomes/cognitive functioning ( Table 3 ). None investigated the impact of severity of food insecurity on cognitive outcomes; however, five of the seven studies examined the impact of food insecurity persistence.

There were two cross-sectional investigations with mixed findings. Hobbs and King [ 42 ] indicated that, compared to children in FS households, children in food insecure households had lower scores on measures of both vocabulary and letter-word recognition, but these effects were different for children in different ability percentiles ( Table 3 ). Huang and colleagues [ 44 ] reported that, after adjusting for immigrant protective and risk factors, there were no significant differences in reading or math scores according to food security status.

Of the five longitudinal studies, four reported a significant negative effect of food insecurity persistence on academic/cognitive outcomes. Two studies [ 29 , 31 ] found that both transient and persistent food insecurity were associated with decreased approach to learning [ 29 , 31 ] and reading and math scores [ 31 ]. An additional study reported that persistent, but not transient food insecurity was associated with decreases in reading scores [ 38 ]. Similarly, Grineski et al. found that only children in households who transitioned from marginally food secure to food insecure (deepening food insecurity) had lower math and working memory scores [ 37 ]. Finally, Kimbro and Denney [ 36 ] found no associations between either persistent or transient food insecurity and academic outcomes (reading, math or science) across two time points.

Behavior: The effect of food insecurity on behavior (externalizing, internalizing, self-control, self-regulation, general conduct) has had considerable attention over the past decade with 12 studies specifically examining this association. Five were cross-sectional and eight were longitudinal ( Table 3 ). Three of four cross-sectional studies reported positive associations between food insecurity and behavioral problems [ 24 , 43 , 44 ]. Hobbs and King [ 42 ] reported that this effect was greatest in those children who had higher behavioral problems to begin with. Encinger and colleagues [ 24 ] found that marginal FS was indirectly associated with poorer self-regulation, mediated through parenting stress. Nagata et al., however, found no direct association between food insecurity and behavior problems [ 26 ].

Eight papers examined the effect of food insecurity persistence on behavior and the results were mixed. Four papers examined self-control, all finding significant negative associations with food insecurity [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 38 ]. The association was particularly marked where there were transitions into and out of food insecurity, indicating that some level of uncertainty regarding food security within a household may impact child self-control.

Four of the eight longitudinal studies examined the association between internalizing and externalizing behaviors and food insecurity persistence [ 27 , 31 , 37 , 38 ]; one study investigated externalizing behavior outcomes only [ 29 ]. Two papers reported that emerging food insecurity (food secure at Time 1 moving to food insecure at Time 2) was associated with increased externalizing behavior [ 36 , 37 ]; this finding was replicated by Huang et al. [ 35 ], but for boys only. Grineski et al. [ 37 ] reported a significant positive association between persistent food insecurity (food insecurity at both time points) and externalizing behaviors. Only two studies found an association between food insecurity persistence and internalizing behaviors [ 35 , 36 ]. Kimbro and Denney indicated a significant positive effect for persistent food insecurity on internalizing behaviors; Huang et al. found a significant positive association between emerging food insecurity and internalizing behavior but, again, for boys only [ 36 ]. King [ 27 ] found increasing internalizing behaviors in children in households where adults only were food insecure; and increasing externalizing behaviors in children in households where both adults and children were food insecure.

Among the remaining longitudinal studies, a study by Johnson and Markowitz [ 31 ] found that food insecurity at any earlier time point was associated with increased hyperactivity and conduct problems in kindergarten. Another study, by Melichor and colleagues, found no longitudinal association between food insecure and hyperactivity and inattention, aggression, or depression [ 25 ].

Taken together, these results indicate that food insecurity persistence may differentially affect behavior in children when experienced at different times in their development. Shorter and more transient forms of food insecurity were associated with increased externalizing behaviors, while more persistent food insecurity was associated with internalizing and self-control behavioral issues. Results are mixed, however, and further analysis is needed to disentangle these effects.

Development: Three cross-sectional studies examined food insecurity and developmental concerns ( Table 3 ): all reported that food insecurity was associated with increased developmental concerns reported by parents using the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS). These studies each controlled for critical child (birth weight, feeding) and caregiver characteristics (age, education, employment, and marital status) [ 30 , 36 , 42 ]. Both marginal food security and food insecurity were associated with increased developmental concerns [ 45 ].

Psychosocial: Four studies assessed the associations between food insecurity and psychosocial outcomes using a variety of measures, with few recognized and standardized measures being used. Potentially due to this, the patterns of these findings were mixed. Two studies were cross-sectional and two were longitudinal. In a cross-sectional analysis, Nagata et al. [ 26 ] reported that after adjusting for child, maternal, and household factors, on all five of the Child Behavior Checklist subdomains, experiencing food insecurity was only significantly associated with declines in pervasive development. Cook et al. [ 45 ] found that food insecurity but not marginal food security was associated with decreased odds of the child having “well child” status compared with children in food secure households.

Of the two longitudinal studies, Howard [ 29 ] reported that children who transitioned from food insecure in the first grade to food secure in third grade had lower social skills scores, an effect that was significant overall, in boys, and trending towards significant in girls. However, it is noted that there were no other significant associations between social skill scores and food insecurity persistence found, including in those who became food insecure in third grade or those experiencing any food insecurity by fifth grade. Grineski and colleagues [ 37 ] found that remitting marginal food insecure (marginally food secure at kindergarten and moved to food insecure at grade 1) and persisting marginal food security (marginally food secure at both kindergarten and grade 1) were associated with declines in teacher-rated interpersonal skills, even after controlling for child and school factors. In combination, these longitudinal studies suggest that transitioning between food security and food insecurity matters, especially in the early years. Furthermore, the results from Grineski et al. [ 37 ] suggest that the effects of even marginal food security may impact on children’s interpersonal skills and development, even after food insecurity is no longer a significant household problem.

4. Discussion

4.1. mechanisms of how food insecurity impacts on child development.

Food insecurity has been linked to adverse child development through multiple mechanisms, including decreased quantity of food, compromised food quality, and heightened stress and anxiety associated with finding food [ 46 , 47 ]. A decrease in quantity of food, where children skip or have smaller meals, or potentially changes in the quality of food provided (that is, cheaper nutrient-poor, energy-dense alternatives over nutritious meals) may result in inadequate consumption of required nutrients. For instance, sub-optimal energy, protein, and micronutrient intake in the first five years of life can limit neural plasticity and lead to impaired cognitive functioning [ 48 , 49 ]. Finally, food insecurity may influence child development through exposure to increased stress and anxiety. For some families, maintaining the household (i.e., energy, water, housing) brings considerable stress and anxiety. Heightened levels of stress and anxiety can impact children and parents physiologically (via triggering the stress-related hypothalamic–pituitary axis), psychologically and socially; including affecting parenting practices and subsequently, child development [ 47 ]. As household time and resources are increasingly spent managing food access and availability, the emotional and financial support to facilitate child development may decrease [ 30 ]; for example, observed through less money to spend on extracurricular learning/interactive environments. A clear finding of the studies reviewed, was that there are a multitude of variables which are associated with food insecurity and child development outcomes which may protect or amplify the effects of food insecurity. Moreover, food insecurity experienced as worry, or the compromising of food quality and quantity for adults and/or children in a household, has an impact on child development. Child development is also impacted if food insecurity exists for shorter transient or for longer more persistent periods of time. As such, additional factors may need to be considered in exploring the association between food insecurity and child development and using a socio-ecological approach may be key for improving future research.

4.2. Applying a Socio-Ecological Lens

When examining the effect of food insecurity on child development it is important to consider multiple risk and protective factors; the socio-ecological model allows us to do this across systems. As part of this review, we categorized the factors taken into consideration by each of the studies as they pertained to each of the systems ( Table 3 and Figure 2 ).

Socio-ecological proximal and distal factors impacting food security and child development (author generated).

The effects of food insecurity on child development are likely mediated by individual and proximal factors such as the quality of home and school environments, caregiver-child relationships and interactions, parental mental health, and individual differences in biology and temperament [ 46 , 47 , 50 ]. For example, in this review the important role that maternal mental health, parenting stress and parenting practices played in enhancing or reducing the risks of food insecurity for children’s development was evident [ 46 , 47 , 50 ]. This was especially apparent for behavioral outcomes. The impact of other caregivers’ mental health [ 50 ] and exposure to broader caregiving systems (grandparents and other kinship networks) beyond the immediate home environment tended not to considered. These factors are increasingly recognized as influential on child development outcomes [ 14 ].

Distal factors of influence identified included access to social support (borrow money, find emergency childcare) [ 27 ] and urbanicity [ 31 ]. A number of papers considered societal level factors such as utilizing a food safety net (school meals, SNAP, WIC) [ 26 , 27 , 36 ], eligibility for social protection measures (TANF, low income energy assistance) [ 28 , 30 , 36 ], and access to health insurance, which is a pertinent issue in the USA due to the high cost of health care [ 34 , 44 ].

Emerging research in food insecurity is exploring other distal factors that impact on the ability of children to reach their full potential. Recent research has explored broader societal issues, such as lack of social cohesion [ 51 , 52 ], racism [ 53 , 54 ], violence [ 55 ], and neighborhood safety [ 56 ], and how these impact food insecurity. The links between these factors and child development are well established (see for example [ 17 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]). The next step is exploring the intersection between food insecurity, child development and these concepts.

The socio-ecological framework indicates that children do not operate solely within microenvironments bounded by the household but are influenced by both proximal and distal factors including the broader policy environments influencing food access, availability, affordability, and utilization. Exploring household, family, school, and community environments together will allow a more nuanced picture of the relationship between food insecurity and child development outcomes. This picture will then be able to inform public policy strategies that seek to alleviate poverty and improve the environmental conditions (for example: home, school, community) that contribute to food security, thus influencing child development.

4.3. Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted several salient issues regarding food security and child development outcomes. One pertinent issue raised is the fragility of the food systems including food relief and the financial security on which families are dependent. Lockdowns and ongoing uncertainty have increased levels of family stress. This is due to increased demands of balancing childcare/home-schooling/work, financial instability, decreased access to food, and increased incidence of domestic violence [ 62 , 63 ]. The COVID-19 disruption is independently heightening levels of psychological problems, post-traumatic stress symptomology, anxiety, and depression among children [ 64 ]. In particular, the pandemic has resulted in childcare and school closures and has highlighted the integral role school food services have in feeding children in families with fragile financial health [ 65 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the myriad of connections and networks across micro-environments and the community that support child development. The effects of the pandemic are yet unrealized but early indications are that consequences will be profound, both in the short and long term.

4.4. Limitations

This state-of-the-art review represents food insecurity and child development outcomes over the past decade; however, there are limitations to note. Only papers written in English were reviewed and as such work presented in languages other than English that may represent broader child development outcomes in settings that are not USA-centric may not have been included. We employed broad search terms to capture the food insecurity concept including for example; access, availability, insufficiency. However, given the complexity of the concept, papers that used an alternative term may have been missed. Unlike previous reviews, a majority of papers identified in the last decade used the USDA-HFSSM tool or some variation. This is indicative of the state of current research with the USDA-HFSSM tool being used as a gold standard, however, other tools are available and therefore prior studies using different tools are not represented in the findings of this review. The current review includes a combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies and, while longitudinal studies provided stronger evidence of potential pathways through which food insecurity may impact on child developmental outcomes, they do not provide causal pathways.

4.5. Future Research Directions

There are several significant issues hindering our ability to determine the effects of food insecurity on child development. These include the inconsistent measurement of and thresholds used to define both food insecurity and child development outcomes. Subsequently, the associations and effects reported are difficult to interpret and our ability to generalize and compare across studies is limited. As such, having assessed the current state of the art literature, we identified the following recommendations and potential opportunities for the future direction of this line of research. These include:

• Consistent measurement and operationalization of FI including accounting for severity, specifically separating out marginal food security from being fully food secure.
• High quality studies that explore severity together with persistence/trajectories of FI and its impact on child development.
• Consistent and standardized measures of child development outcomes.
• A systematic and socio-ecological (proximal and distal) approach to incorporation of covariates in models.
• Research conducted beyond the U.S. Given the differences in childcare arrangements, social welfare policies, and practices across countries, the associations between child development and food insecurity needs to be examined in other high-income countries.
• Exploration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and its influence on child development. The pandemic has been a significant, global event with pervasive socio-cultural consequences that could have long-term impacts on child outcomes.
• Research that incorporates evidence of children’s diet quality linked to food insecurity severity and persistence and developmental outcomes.
• Research that asks children about their experiences of food security. To date, only two studies were located [ 66 , 67 ] that asked children directly about their experience.

5. Conclusions

This state-of-the-art review indicates that food security status, severity, and persistence do adversely impact upon child development outcomes. The strongest evidence of an effect of food insecurity has been found in academic/cognitive outcomes and externalizing behaviors. The relationship with psychosocial outcomes and internalizing behavior is less clear. Furthermore, longitudinal research on developmental risk and food insecurity is critically needed.

That children in countries producing a surfeit of food are denied the right to quality food is untenable and indicates a failure of political and public will. Furthermore, this situation has likely been exacerbated in recent times with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in countries where welfare is not easily obtained. The longitudinal socioeconomic effects of this global pandemic are yet to be revealed, but it is foreseeable that there will be significant consequences for ongoing food security, even in many high-income countries, and hence for concurrent and downstream child development outcomes. As such, the time to act is now. What is evident, from this review is that food insecurity is a significant issue in high-income countries. Even if children are not hungry, a level of anxiety about where the next meal is coming from does seem to adversely impact child development. In addition, moving in and out of food security as well as experiencing persistent marginal food security or food insecurity contributes to adverse child development outcomes across cognitive and behavioral domains.

There is an imperative to improve understanding of the association between food insecurity and child development, and further, elucidate the causes of food insecurity. In ameliorating the causes, the right to food can become a reality for all.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Stuart Leske and Claire Archer as research assistants in the writing of this review. This research was supported (partially) by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Project ID CE200100025).

Supplementary Materials

The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph18178990/s1 , Supplementary Table S1: Search and Boolean Terms; Supplementary Table S2: Quality assessment ratings of included studies.

Author Contributions

D.G. and C.P. conceptualized the review and undertook screening, quality assessment, data extraction, and drafting, reviewing, and finalizing the manuscript. P.S. developed the search terms, undertook searches, screened records and reviewed the final manuscript. A.E. undertook data extraction and quality assessment, before drafting, reviewing, and finalizing the manuscript. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Conflicts of interest.

D.G. is currently supported by funding from the Queensland Children’s Hospital Foundation via a philanthropic donation from Woolworths. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. All remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

ESSAYS ON FOOD SECURITY, HEALTH, AND IMMIGRATION

Food security is an essential goal for policy makers around the world. In developing countries, recent increases in migration rates have borne new challenges and opportunities in meeting the goal of eliminating hunger, which have potentially important policy implications in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. In developed countries, such as the United States, food insecurity remains a persistent obstacle for millions of people to living healthy, active lives. This is especially true for minority groups such as immigrants. This dissertation makes an effort to fill some of the gaps in the literature through theoretical and empirical work linking food security, health, and immigration. I begin by examining food insecurity as a determinant of migration behavior in low- and middle-income countries. Results show food insecurity is an important determinant of both migration intentions and migration decisions. I also find that these relationships vary significantly by gender. Next, I examine the effects of receiving remittances on the food security status of household members in the countries of origin in low- and middle-income countries. Results show, controlling for endogeneity, domestic and international remittances decrease food insecurity. However, the magnitudes are much larger for international remittances than for domestic remittances. Remittances also provide greater protection against food insecurity in lower-income countries than in middle-income countries. Lastly, I examine the effects of food insecurity on the cardiometabolic health and health trajectories of immigrant adults in the United States. Results show food insecurity is strongly associated with poor cardiometabolic health among working-age immigrant adults, and that poor cardiometabolic health increases with the severity of food insecurity. Food insecurity also significantly accelerates the effects of acculturation on poor cardiometabolic health for working-age immigrant adults. Given the recent rise in immigration rates and the broader international policy debate around meeting the food needs of a growing global population, a better understanding of the linkage between food insecurity and immigration is critical for current international policy decisions. Additionally, in the United States, a better understanding of the relationship between food insecurity and health is vital for developing appropriate public health interventions for an increasingly multicultural U.S. population.

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Food Insecurities

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Introduction, causes of food insecurity, consequences of food insecurity, solutions to food insecurity.

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The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023

Chapter 2 food security and nutrition around the world, 2.1 food security indicators – latest updates and progress towards ending hunger and ensuring food security.

• 2.2 Cost and affordability of a healthy diet
• 2.3 The state of nutrition: progress towards global nutrition targets

The global assessment of the state of food security and nutrition in 2022 presented in this edition of the report is a snapshot of the world still recovering from a global pandemic and now grappling with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which has further rattled food and energy markets. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and livelihoods was devastating, producing a global economic recession that ended three decades of global progress in poverty reduction, contributing to an estimated increase of close to 90 million people facing hunger in just one year (from 2019 to 2020). The year 2021 marked a partial recovery from the pandemic-induced contractions that was highly uneven, across countries and within countries; the pace of recovery was much slower in low- and lower-middle-income countries, and disadvantaged segments of the population everywhere were still struggling to recover from the income losses suffered during the peak of the pandemic the previous year. This contributed to a further increase of about 38 million in the estimated number of people experiencing hunger in 2021. In February 2022, just as the weight of the pandemic was beginning to lift, the war in Ukraine erupted involving two major producers of agricultural commodities in the world, sending shockwaves through commodity and energy markets, weakening the recovery and adding even greater uncertainty. 1

It is in this context of continued slow and uneven recovery from the pandemic and global repercussions of the war in Ukraine that this assessment of the state of food security and nutrition in 2022 is presented. Encouraging signs of economic recovery from the pandemic and projections of a decline in poverty and hunger have been tempered by rising prices of food, agricultural inputs and energy.

This chapter presents an annual update of the global assessment of food security and nutrition up to the year 2022 and a report on progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 with a special focus on SDG Targets 2.1 and 2.2: end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round; and end all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

Section 2.1 presents an assessment of progress towards achieving the SDG 2 targets for hunger and food insecurity. It includes global, regional and subregional updates of the two Target 2.1 indicators: the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) and the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), revised up to 2022 based on the most recent data available to FAO at the time of writing this report. Updated projections of what the global PoU may be in 2030 are also provided. A comparison of the food insecurity status of men and women is presented, as well as, for the first time, a look at differences in food insecurity among rural, peri-urban and urban populations.

Section 2.2 presents updated estimates of the indicators of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet (CoAHD). These indicators provide evidence regarding people’s economic access to diverse, nutritious foods, which is one critical aspect of achieving healthy diets. In this year’s edition of the report, the cost and affordability indicators are updated to 2021. Lack of recent data on estimated income distributions, purchasing power parities (PPPs), and detailed food prices at the country level prevents an update to 2022.

Section 2.3 presents an assessment of the state of nutrition and progress towards the global nutrition targets defined by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2012 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG 2.2). Updates are provided for five nutrition targets: low birthweight, exclusive breastfeeding, and stunting, wasting and overweight in children under five years of age.

• ➔ Global hunger, measured by the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) (SDG Indicator 2.1.1), remained relatively unchanged from 2021 to 2022 but is still far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels, affecting around 9.2 percent of the world population in 2022 compared with 7.9 percent in 2019.
• ➔ It is estimated that between 691 and 783 million people in the world faced hunger in 2022. Considering the midrange (about 735 million), 122 million more people faced hunger in 2022 than in 2019, before the pandemic.
• ➔ The economic recovery from the pandemic observed in 2021 slowed in 2022. Rising prices of food, agricultural inputs and energy, magnified by the impact of the war in Ukraine, undermined the recovery of employment and incomes of the most vulnerable people, hindering a decline in hunger.
• ➔ The relative lack of change in hunger between 2021 and 2022 at the global level hides substantial differences at the regional and subregional levels. While progress was made towards reducing hunger in Asia and in Latin America, hunger was still on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and all subregions of Africa.
• ➔ The PoU in Africa rose from 19.4 percent in 2021 to 19.7 percent in 2022, driven mostly by increases in Northern and Southern Africa. The number of people facing hunger in Africa has increased by 11 million people since 2021 and by more than 57 million people since the outbreak of the pandemic.
• ➔ The PoU in Asia fell from 8.8 percent in 2021 to 8.5 percent in 2022 – a decrease of more than 12 million people, mostly in Southern Asia. However, this is still 58 million above pre-pandemic levels. There were improvements in every subregion except Western Asia, where the PoU increased from 10.2 percent in 2021 to 10.8 percent in 2022.
• ➔ A turnaround also occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the PoU fell from 7.0 percent in 2021 to 6.5 percent in 2022 – a decrease of 2.4 million in the number of people facing hunger, but still 7.2 million more than in 2019. The decrease was driven by South America and masks a notable increase in the Caribbean, from 14.7 percent in 2021 to 16.3 percent in 2022.
• ➔ A much larger proportion of the population in Africa faces hunger compared to the other regions of the world – nearly 20 percent compared with 8.5 percent in Asia, 6.5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.0 percent in Oceania.
• ➔ It is projected that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, pointing to the immense challenge of achieving the SDG target to eradicate hunger. This is about 119 million more than in a scenario in which neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine had occurred, and around 23 million more than if the war in Ukraine had not happened. Most progress is expected to occur in Asia, whereas no progress is foreseen in Latin America and the Caribbean, and hunger is projected to increase significantly in Africa by 2030.
• ➔ Following a sharp increase from 2019 to 2020, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity at the global level (SDG Indicator 2.1.2) remained unchanged for the second year in a row but was still far above the pre-pandemic level of 25.3 percent. About 29.6 percent of the global population – 2.4 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure in 2022, 391 million more than in 2019.
• ➔ The prevalence of severe food insecurity at the global level declined slightly from 11.7 percent in 2021 to 11.3 percent in 2022, the equivalent of 27 million fewer people. However, the number of severely food-insecure people was still about 900 million in 2022, which is 180 million more than in 2019.
• ➔ The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity rose slightly in Africa and in Northern America and Europe, and decreased non-significantly in Asia from 2021 to 2022. The only region showing encouraging progress is Latin America and the Caribbean, where moderate or severe food insecurity decreased from 40.3 percent in 2021 to 37.5 percent in 2022, the equivalent of 16.5 million fewer people in one year, mainly in South America.
• ➔ A comparison of food insecurity among rural, peri-urban and urban populations reveals that global food insecurity, at both levels of severity, is lower in urban areas. Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 33.3 percent of adults living in rural areas in 2022 compared with 28.8 percent in peri-urban areas and 26.0 percent in urban areas.
• ➔ Food insecurity affects women more than men in every region of the world. However, the gender gap in food insecurity at the global level, which had widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowed from 3.8 percentage points in 2021 to 2.4 percentage points in 2022, suggesting that the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women’s food insecurity have eased globally and in some regions. The gender gap diminished notably in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean, but widened in Africa and in Northern America and Europe.

Estimates of how many people are facing hunger in the world are always the best possible approximations given the information available. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal data collection activities in 2020 and 2021, creating additional challenges for the assessment of the state of food insecurity in the world and inducing greater uncertainty around the estimates. While the main effects of the pandemic have receded, and data collection activities have begun to normalize, data reporting by countries was still not fully back up to speed by 2022. Thus, estimates of the global PoU (SDG Indicator 2.1.1) are presented as ranges beginning in 2020 to reflect the additional uncertainty since the pandemic.

As always, the PoU estimates for the most recent year (2022) are obtained by nowcasting the values of the three needed parameters using the most recent information available to FAO regarding the food supply and based on reasonable assumptions on the extent of inequality in access to food ( Annex 2 , Section A ).

The assessments of the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity based on the FIES (SDG Indicator 2.1.2) are informed by official estimates as reported by countries, whenever available, and by FAO estimates based on data collected annually by the Organization through data collection service providers in over 140 different countries (see Annex 1B ).

SDG Indicator 2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment

The assessment of global hunger in 2022, measured by the PoU (SDG Indicator 2.1.1), reveals that it remained far above pre-pandemic levels. The proportion of the world population facing chronic hunger in 2022 was about 9.2 percent, compared with 7.9 percent in 2019 ( Figure 1 ). After increasing sharply in 2020 in the midst of the global pandemic, and rising more slowly in 2021 to 9.3 percent, the PoU ceased to increase from 2021 to 2022, providing some hope of a possible turnaround. b

FIGURE 1 Global hunger remained virtually unchanged from 2021 to 2022 but is still far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels

It is estimated that hunger affected between 691 and 783 million people in the world in 2022. Considering the projected midrange (about 735 million in 2022), 122 million more people faced hunger in 2022 than in 2019, before the pandemic.

The relative lack of change in hunger at the global level from 2021 to 2022 hides substantial differences at the regional level ( Table 1 , Table 2 and Figure 2 ). Many places in the world are still facing serious food crises ( Box 1 ). Hunger has been on the rise in Africa since 2010, with a sharp increase in all subregions in 2020 followed by a gentler rise in 2021. In 2022, the PoU in Africa continued to rise from 19.4 percent in 2021 to 19.7 percent – the equivalent of 11 million more people in one year and nearly 57 million more since the outbreak of the pandemic. Moreover, hunger increased throughout all subregions of Africa in 2022. The PoU in Northern Africa rose from 6.9 percent to 7.5 percent, equivalent to nearly 2 million more people facing hunger in 2022. In sub-Saharan Africa, hunger increased from 22.2 percent to 22.5 percent, which translates into 9 million more people compared to 2021. The largest increase in PoU occurred in Southern Africa, at 1.1 percentage points, followed by Middle Africa with an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Marginal increases of 0.1 percentage points occurred in Western and Eastern Africa from 2021 to 2022. In terms of numbers of people facing hunger, these percentage-point increases are equivalent to about 1 million more people in Southern Africa, 3 million more in Middle Africa and also in Eastern Africa, and 2 million more in Western Africa. All subregions in Africa registered either a prevalence or a number of undernourished people well above pre-pandemic levels.

TABLE 1 Prevalence of undernourishment, 2005–2022

TABLE 2 Number of undernourished people, 2005–2022

FIGURE 2 Progress was made towards reducing hunger in most subregions in Asia and in Latin America, but hunger is still on the rise in Western Asia, the Caribbean and all subregions of Africa

BOX 1 How does the evidence on chronic food insecurity align with the evidence on acute food insecurity in food crisis countries?

The evidence presented in this report points to the fact that, although the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) at the global level remained relatively unchanged from 2021 to 2022, hunger was on the rise in many parts of the world. The negative impacts on food security of the war in Ukraine (and other conflicts), soaring food prices and extreme weather events were felt more strongly in some places than in others. Consistent with this, the most recent edition of the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2 reinforces these conclusions.

The GRFC and this report are both multipartnership efforts that provide international assessments of food security; however, their objectives and geographical scope are distinct, and they rely on different data and methodologies. On the one hand, this report has the broad objective of monitoring chronic food insecurity in the entire world, on a regular basis, by reporting on SDG Indicators 2.1.1 and 2.1.2. Chronic food insecurity is defined as a structural, long-term situation of food deprivation. The PoU, for example, measures hunger (chronic undernourishment) defined as the long-term or persistent inability to meet minimum dietary energy requirements and, within a country, it is estimated to be representative of the whole population. The GRFC, on the other hand, focuses more narrowly on acute food insecurity in countries experiencing food crises for the purpose of guiding immediate humanitarian response. Acute food insecurity refers to a short-term (possibly temporary) inability to meet dietary energy requirements, related to sporadic crises that may sometimes be protracted and are of a severity that threatens lives or livelihoods. Assessments of food insecurity prioritize the use of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification/ Cadre Harmonisé (IPC/CH), applied in a set of countries that are susceptible to food crisis situations and, therefore, potentially in need of humanitarian assistance. * These assessments are not statistical measurements, but rather the result of a process of convergence of evidence reached by a country team of analysts, based on the most recent available information from various sources. Within a country, rough estimates of the number of people facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity are presented that refer to the specific populations covered by the analysis, and not necessarily to the whole population at the national level.

Because of these conceptual and measurement differences, a direct comparison of figures from both reports is not possible. However, acute and chronic food insecurity are not unrelated phenomena. Repeated shocks and persistent crises can provoke situations of chronic food insecurity. Because of this, one expects some alignment, at least in trends, of the results of the two reports.

Having this in mind, the 2023 GRFC 2 points to an increase of around 37 million people facing acute food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) from 2021 to 2022 in the same 48 countries analysed in both years. ** That is equivalent to an increase in the prevalence of acute food insecurity from 21.8 percent to 22.5 percent of the analysed population. An analysis of hunger (PoU) restricted to the same group of 48 countries analysed by the GRFC shows an increase of 14 million in the number of people facing chronic undernourishment, equivalent to an increase in the PoU from 20.8 percent to 21.3 percent of the combined populations of those 48 countries ( Figure A ). This reveals convergence in the assessments of the trends and points to the existence of persistent food crises in many parts of the world, reinforcing the need to better understand the nexus between acute and chronic food insecurity, particularly in food crisis countries.

FIGURE A ESTIMATES OF ACUTE FOOD INSECURITY FROM THE GRFC AND OF CHRONIC UNDERNOURISHMENT BASED ON THE PoU IN THE SAME 48 COUNTRIES SHOW SIMILAR TRENDS FROM 2021 TO 2022

The PoU estimate for Asia for 2022 points to a turnaround in the trend of hunger, which had been on the rise in the region since 2017. The PoU fell from 8.8 percent in 2021 to 8.5 percent in 2022 – a decrease of more than 12 million people, mostly in Southern Asia. However, this is still 58 million above pre-pandemic levels. Every subregion except Western Asia experienced a turnaround, with the largest improvement in Southern Asia, the subregion with the highest PoU (15.6 percent in 2022). In Western Asia, more than 2 million additional people were facing hunger in 2022 compared to 2021 – an increase of 0.6 percentage points, from 10.2 percent to 10.8 percent.

A turnaround also occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean , where the PoU fell from 7.0 percent in 2021 to 6.5 percent in 2022 – a decrease of more than 2.4 million in the number of people facing hunger, though still 7.2 million more compared to 2019. There was a sharp increase in the Caribbean subregion from 14.7 percent in 2021 to 16.3 percent in 2022. However, notable improvements occurred in South America in the same period, where the PoU decreased from 7.0 percent to 6.1 percent, equivalent to 3.5 million people, but still 6 million above 2019 levels.

The proportion of the population facing hunger is much larger in Africa compared to the other regions of the world – nearly 20 percent compared with 8.5 percent in Asia, 6.5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7.0 percent in Oceania ( Table 1 ).

While the regional prevalence estimates reveal the magnitude of the burden of hunger in each region, converting them into numbers of people indicates where most of the people facing hunger in the world live ( Table 2 and Figure 3 ). While the PoU in Asia is less than half that in Africa, Asia is nevertheless home to the majority of people facing hunger – 402 million, representing 55 percent of the total number of undernourished people in 2022. About 38 percent (282 million) of undernourished people live in Africa and about 6 percent (43 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

FIGURE 3 In 2022, Asia was home to 55 percent (402 million) of the people in the world affected by hunger, while more than 38 percent (282 million) lived in Africa

Economic recovery hampered by new challenges to food security

At the end of 2021, global food security was on high alert due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as new and ongoing conflicts and weather-related shocks. A combination of an unequal economic recovery after a dramatic decrease in economic activity observed in 2020, and rising food, fuel and transportation prices produced by the recovery itself, thwarted progress in food security.

Just as global economic conditions appeared to be more favourable for 2022 and the prospects of a reduction in hunger and food insecurity towards pre-pandemic levels seemed possible, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine sent another shock through the global economy. As a result, the recovery observed in 2021 slowed further in 2022 and global gross domestic product (GDP) grew in 2022 by 3.4 percent, one percentage point more slowly than predicted at the beginning of 2023. 3

The shock caused by the war acted mainly through the global food and agricultural markets, as it involved two major global producers of agricultural commodities: the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In 2021, either the Russian Federation or Ukraine (or both) ranked among the top three global exporters of wheat, maize, rapeseed, cake of sunflower seed, and sunflower oil. c , 4 The Russian Federation is also a prominent exporter of fertilizers. In this context, one of the main impacts of the war has been to increase international prices of food. Although global food commodity prices were rising steadily even before the war, the added uncertainty induced by the war contributed to a surge in food prices. The FAO Food Price Index jumped to an all-time high in March 2022, and although the index steadily declined throughout the year, it remained much higher than before the pandemic. 5 As a result of the high international food prices, import costs of food rose, affecting especially countries that are highly dependent on food imports. The world food import bill was estimated to have reached an all-time high in 2022 of nearly USD 2 trillion, an increase of 10 percent (nearly USD 181 billion) from the 2021 level, driven mostly by higher prices. 6 World fertilizer prices also soared, mainly as a result of rising energy and natural gas prices. The global agricultural input import bill was estimated to increase by 48 percent in 2022 to USD 424 billion. 7 All of these factors have contributed to higher prices of food at the local and national levels, which in turn have contributed heavily to overall inflation. Inflation rose throughout 2022 in almost all economies, and global headline inflation exceeded 9 percent in the second half of the year, the highest level since 1995. 8

In this context, global trends in hunger reflect the combination of two factors interplaying at the household level. First, an income effect produced by the economic recovery in 2022 likely contributed to an increase in household disposable income and improved access to food, particularly for the poorest households that suffered heavy income losses during the pandemic. Globally, employment increased by 2.3 percent in 2022 from a meagre annual growth of 0.2 percent in the period from 2020 to 2021. 9 Employment growth was faster in low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) than in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). Concomitantly, global unemployment declined significantly in 2022 to 205 million, down from 216 million in 2021 and 235 million in 2020, but still above its 2019 level. 9

The second factor affecting the trend in hunger is the price effect. Increases in food prices and general inflation can erode income gains and worsen access to food. In the short term, this is particularly true for the poorest segments of the population who spend a larger share of their income on food. In the long term, however, some households may manage to adapt their consumption patterns to lessen the impacts, and poor rural populations engaged in agriculture may even benefit from higher prices for their agricultural products. d , 10

The stalled situation in global hunger observed for 2022 is thus the result of the interaction of these two factors. The economic recovery helped to stem the rising tide of hunger at least at the global level. However, the positive effect could have been even greater without the countervailing winds caused by the global repercussions of the war in Ukraine and the price inflation for food, agricultural inputs and energy, together with other drivers of food insecurity such as conflicts and weather-related events. As a result, hunger remains far above pre-pandemic levels globally and in all regions.

At the regional level, this dynamic of income and price effect is visible in multiple subregions, with varying results. In Southern Africa , for instance, the uptick of hunger in 2022 stemmed from increasing inflation, following the upsurge in international commodity prices, as well as domestic challenges such as persistently high levels of unemployment and vulnerability to shocks. 11 Although there was sustained GDP growth in 2022, this often did not translate into improved socioeconomic conditions for the poor. Agricultural production, at the same time, suffered from severe droughts and floods, and the surge in international fertilizer prices. In Middle Africa , the increase in hunger has mainly resulted from food inflation and increasing food import bills, as well as extreme climate events, which have counteracted the positive effects of economic growth, driven by buoyant oil export revenues in some countries. 11

In Western Asia , many countries benefited from increased oil revenues, but these did not always translate into lower levels of hunger in 2022. Political instability in some countries and conflicts have continued to disrupt food supplies, markets and distribution systems, resulting in higher food prices and food shortages. In addition, domestic inflation has soared in several countries, making access to food more difficult. 12 In Southern Asia , on the other hand, the outcome of sustained economic growth, especially in agriculture, has likely prevailed over inflation, thus contributing to an overall improvement in food security conditions. More than one country in the region has also enacted policy measures that have contributed to this overall improvement, including supplying fertilizers to farmers, providing cereal subsidies to vulnerable population groups, and reducing customs duties on imported cereals. 13

In the Caribbean , more than one small island developing state has suffered from high food inflation and increased import bills, given the widespread dependence of the subregion on imported food and agricultural products. At the same time, export revenues have been declining in key sectors, including tourism, resulting in reduced disposable income and increased food insecurity. 14 On the contrary, the observed decline in hunger in 2022 in South America , a net exporter of food and agricultural products, stemmed largely from positive development in labour markets, which counteracted the surge in inflation, as well as from social protection policies. 14 Additionally, some countries in the region have benefited from the surge in oil and gas prices that boosted export revenues. This has translated into improved public budget resources (which could be used to finance social protection programmes) and investment in agriculture and food distribution systems.

At the country level, these countervailing forces have played out in different ways with unequal impacts on trends in hunger. A comparison across country income groups of changes in the PoU between 2019 and 2022 shows that LICs are still struggling the most to recover. Globally, 58 percent of countries had a PoU in 2022 that was still above pre-pandemic levels. However, the percentage is much higher in LICs; 77 percent of LICs have not returned to PoU levels observed in 2019, in contrast to 47 percent of UMICs ( Figure 4 ).

FIGURE 4 The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is still higher in 2022 than before the pandemic in 58 percent of countries, and the situation is worse in low-income countries (77 percent)

The halt in the rise in global hunger observed in 2022 is also consistent with nowcasts of poverty available for 2022. 10 Projections for 2022 are that, despite an expected reduction in poverty between 2021 and 2022, the pace of reduction will further stall given the downward revised prospects of global growth in 2022 and higher prices of food, agricultural inputs and energy. It is estimated that the number of people in extreme poverty will have decreased by 5 million from 2021 to 2022, based on a scenario that takes into consideration the relatively greater impact of high food inflation among the poor.

Towards ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1): projections to 2030

As in previous editions of the report, an exercise was conducted to project how many people may be facing hunger in 2030 based on what can be inferred from available forecasts of fundamental demographic and economic variables. The projections were obtained by separately projecting each of the parameters that inform the model used to estimate the PoU (see Annex 2 , Section B ).

Trajectories are presented under three scenarios: “current prospects”, which aims to capture current projections of the PoU in 2030 based on the world economic prospects presented in the April 2023 edition of the International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook database; 3 “projections before COVID-19”, calibrated to reflect the situation of the world economy before the pandemic, as described by the World Economic Outlook published in October 2019; 15 and “projections before the war in Ukraine”, which does the same but considering the October 2021 edition of the same publication 16 before the outbreak of the war.

The current scenario shows that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, pointing to the immense challenge of achieving the SDG target to eradicate hunger ( Figure 5 ). This is about 119 million more undernourished people than in the scenario in which neither the pandemic nor the war in Ukraine had occurred (the “projections before COVID-19” scenario) and around 23 million more than in the scenario where the war had not happened (the “projections before the war in Ukraine” scenario). The latter provides an indication of the additional setback the war may have caused in the global fight against hunger.

FIGURE 5 Projected numbers of undernourished indicate that the world is far off track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030

Figure 5 also shows how the situation is currently expected to evolve in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The different trajectories are evident, demonstrating that practically all the progress in the fight against hunger is expected to be made in Asia, where the number of undernourished is projected to fall from the current 402 million to 242 million people by 2030. The number of undernourished is expected to remain constant in Latin America and the Caribbean and to increase significantly in Africa, where it is projected that close to 300 million people may be facing hunger in 2030. Much stronger efforts are needed to address the fundamental structural problems that afflict the African continent.

SDG Indicator 2.1.2 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale

SDG Target 2.1 challenges the world not only to end hunger, but also to work to ensure access for all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. SDG Indicator 2.1.2 – the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the FIES – tracks progress towards this ambitious goal.

New estimates of the prevalence of food insecurity based on the FIES confirm that for 2022 no progress was made on food insecurity at the global level. Following a sharp increase from 2019 to 2020, the global prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity remained unchanged for the second year in a row, far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels ( Figure 6 and Table 3 ). In 2022, an estimated 29.6 percent of the global population – 2.4 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure, meaning they did not have access to adequate food ( Table 3 and Table 4 ). This is still 391 million more people than in 2019, before the pandemic, and 745 million more compared to 2015 when the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was launched.

FIGURE 6 Moderate or severe food insecurity remained unchanged at the global level from 2021 to 2022, with worsening food insecurity levels in Africa and in Northern America and Europe, and improvements in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean

TABLE 3 Prevalence of food insecurity at severe level only, and at moderate or severe level, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, 2015–2022

More than one-third (38 percent) of people facing moderate or severe food insecurity in the world in 2022 – over 900 million – were severely food insecure, indicating that they had run out of food at times during the year and, at worst, gone an entire day or more without eating. The prevalence of severe food insecurity at the global level showed a marginal decline from 11.7 percent in 2021 to 11.3 percent in 2022, the equivalent of 27 million fewer people ( Figure 6 , Table 3 and Table 4 ). While it is encouraging that the upward trend in severe food insecurity of the past six years has not continued, the global prevalence is still far above pre-pandemic levels – equivalent to 180 million more people compared to 2019 ( Table 3 and Table 4 ). At the global level, the slight decrease in severe food insecurity, and unchanged prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, suggest that the gravity of the food insecurity situation of some people may have transitioned from severe to moderate from 2021 to 2022.

TABLE 4 Number of people experiencing food insecurity at severe level only, and at moderate or severe level, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, 2015–2022

As expected, the global trends in the prevalence of severe food insecurity are similar to the trends for the PoU ( Table 1 ). This is because people experiencing severe food insecurity are unlikely to be able to acquire enough food to continuously fulfil their dietary energy requirements, and thus may become chronically undernourished. Both indicators provide evidence regarding the proportion of the population facing severe constraints on food access, albeit based on very different methodologies and sources of data (see Annex 1B ).

Despite the lack of change in the prevalence of food insecurity at the global level, there were divergent trends at the regional level. Improvements in some regions were offset by worsening situations in others ( Figure 6 , Table 3 and Table 4 ).

The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Africa increased by one percentage point in one year to 60.9 percent in 2022. The increase is much smaller compared to the previous year, when it rose by 4 percentage points. From 2021 to 2022, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity rose in Eastern Africa, Middle Africa and Southern Africa by 2.4, 3.0 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. The prevalence in 2022 ranged from 25.9 percent in Southern Africa to 78.4 percent in Middle Africa. The increase in moderate or severe food insecurity in Africa from 2021 to 2022 is mostly due to more people facing moderate food insecurity, as the rise in severe food insecurity in the region was marginal. Nevertheless, nearly one in four people in Africa (24.0 percent) was facing severe food insecurity in 2022. The prevalence of severe food insecurity rose in Northern Africa, Middle Africa, Southern Africa and Western Africa by 0.8, 1.3, 1.5 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively – the equivalent of 2.4 million more people in Northern Africa, 4.8 million more in Middle Africa, 1.1 million more in Southern Africa, and 3.6 million more in Western Africa facing severe food insecurity in 2022 compared to 2021.

A non-significant decrease in food insecurity was registered in Asia , where 24.2 percent of the population was facing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2022 compared with 24.5 percent in 2021. The situation improved somewhat in Central Asia and Western Asia, where the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity fell by 2.7 and 3.2 percentage points, respectively, even as severe food insecurity increased slightly in Western Asia. Moderate or severe food insecurity remained virtually unchanged in the other subregions of Asia, although there are still large differences in prevalence between subregions. The percentage of people facing moderate or severe food insecurity ranged from 6.2 percent in Eastern Asia to 40.3 percent in Southern Asia, which is home to more than one-third of the world’s moderately or severely food-insecure population – about 809 million people. Southern Asia also has the highest prevalence of severe food insecurity on the continent, although this did decrease by 1.6 percentage points from 2021 to 2022, the equivalent of 28.7 million people.

Latin America and the Caribbean showed encouraging progress in 2022, as the proportion of the population facing moderate or severe food insecurity decreased from 40.3 percent in 2021 to 37.5 percent in 2022, the equivalent of 16.5 million fewer people in one year. The improvement was driven by a decrease in South America, from 40.9 percent in 2021 to 36.4 percent in 2022. The prevalence of severe food insecurity also declined in South America, from 15.1 percent in 2021 to 12.7 percent in 2022. In Central America and the Caribbean, on the other hand, the food security situation deteriorated from 2021 to 2022. In the Caribbean, which is the subregion most affected by food insecurity, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity increased from 59.5 percent to 60.6 percent, and severe food insecurity increased from 25.7 percent to 28.2 percent.

In Oceania , the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was 13.0 percent in 2022. An estimated 3.4 percent of the population in Oceania was facing severe food insecurity in 2022, down from 4.5 percent in 2021.

In Northern America and Europe , the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity rose slightly in 2022 to 8.0 percent, while severe food insecurity remained unchanged. Moderate or severe food insecurity increased by approximately 2 percentage points in Northern Europe, reaching 6.6 percent in 2022, whereas the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity decreased by about 1 percentage point in Southern Europe to 7.5 percent.

It is interesting to compare how the regions have fared in the fight against hunger since the pandemic emerged in late 2019. Three years later, parts of Asia and Latin America appear to be rebounding, whereas Africa is still struggling to turn things around. Regardless, food insecurity levels in all regions are still far above pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 7 shows that, of a total of 2.4 billion people in the world facing food insecurity in 2022, nearly half (1.1 billion) were in Asia; 37 percent (868 million) were in Africa; 10.5 percent (248 million) lived in Latin America and the Caribbean; and around 4 percent (90 million) were in Northern America and Europe. The figure also illustrates the different proportions of severe food insecurity in relation to moderate or severe food insecurity across regions. Severe food insecurity represents a larger share of the combined total of moderate plus severe food insecurity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean – 39.4 percent, 39.9 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively – compared with 18.8 percent in Northern America and Europe.

FIGURE 7 The concentration and distribution of food insecurity by severity differ greatly across the regions of the world

Differences in food insecurity across rural, peri-urban and urban areas

The availability of georeferenced FIES data collected by FAO in 2022 has made it possible to present, for the first time, a comparison of food insecurity in rural, peri-urban and urban populations at the global, regional and subregional levels. e The Degree of Urbanization (DEGURBA) classification, a new international standard, was used to distinguish among populations living in: i) rural areas; ii) towns and semi-dense areas (peri-urban areas); and iii) cities (urban areas), based on population density and size, in a globally comparable way. f , 17 The prevalence of food insecurity among adults within each group was then calculated.

Results show that at the global level, food security improves as the degree of urbanization increases ( Figure 8 ). g Moderate or severe food insecurity affected 33.3 percent of adults living in rural areas in 2022 compared with 28.8 percent in peri-urban areas and 26.0 percent in urban areas. The prevalence of severe food insecurity was 12.8 percent in rural areas, 11.6 percent among peri-urban residents, and 9.4 percent among urban residents.

FIGURE 8 Food insecurity, at both levels of severity, is higher in rural areas than in urban areas in all regions except Northern America and Europe

At the regional level, the differences across regions are interesting. Africa clearly follows the global pattern of worsening food security when moving from urban, to peri-urban, to rural areas. In Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, food insecurity is significantly higher in rural areas compared to urban areas, at both levels of severity, but the differences between peri-urban and rural areas are less clear. In Northern America and Europe, on the other hand, food insecurity, at both levels of severity is worse in urban areas than in rural areas.

These differences in regional patterns may be partially explained by looking at rural–urban differences in food insecurity by DEGURBA through a country income group lens ( Figure 8 ). In LICs, rural and peri-urban populations are more food insecure compared to urban populations, whereas in LMICs, food insecurity is highest in rural areas but only marginally worse in peri-urban than in urban areas. The situation is markedly different in UMICs and HICs. Among UMICs, the prevalence of food insecurity, at both levels of severity, is highest in rural areas and lowest in peri-urban areas. In HICs, on the other hand, it is the urban population that is at higher risk of moderate or severe food insecurity, with virtually no difference for severe food insecurity.

Gender differences in food insecurity

Persistent gender inequalities are revealed by the new FIES data. Food insecurity is more prevalent among adult women than men in every region of the world. The gender gap in food insecurity at the global level widened considerably in 2020 and 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as women were more affected by job and income losses and bore a larger responsibility for additional, unpaid caregiving duties. 18 , 19 Women living in rural areas were even more likely to be food insecure, 20 as job and income losses were much higher for women than for men particularly in agrifood systems. 21 In 2021, the gender gap reached 3.8 percentage points, with 28.6 percent of women in the world being moderately or severely food insecure compared with 24.8 percent of men ( Figure 9 ).

FIGURE 9 Globally and in every region, the prevalence of food insecurity is higher among women than among men

For 2022, the food insecurity gap between men and women appears to have narrowed considerably at the global level, which may partially reflect a return of women to economic activities as pandemic-related restrictions were eased, and a weakening of the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women’s food insecurity. In 2022, 27.8 percent of adult women were moderately or severely food insecure, compared with 25.4 percent of men, and the proportion of women facing severe food insecurity was 10.6 percent compared with 9.5 percent of men. The difference in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity between men and women decreased from 3.8 percentage points in 2021 to 2.4 percentage points in 2022, and the gap for severe food insecurity narrowed from 2.4 to 1.1 percentage points ( Figure 9 ). h

There were encouraging improvements in the gender gap in both Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean from 2021 to 2022. The gap narrowed by more than 2 percentage points for moderate or severe food insecurity in both regions, and by about 2 and 1.3 percentage points for severe food insecurity in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean, respectively. In Africa and in Northern America and Europe, however, the gap increased marginally for moderate or severe food insecurity and remained about the same for severe food insecurity.

• 1 FAO. 2023. Global food security challenges and its drivers: conflicts and wars in Ukraine and other countries, slowdowns and downturns, and climate change. Council, Hundred and Seventy-second Session, Rome, 24–28 April 2023. CL 172/5. Rome. www.fao.org/3/nl652en/nl652en.pdf
• 2 FSIN (Food Security Information Network) & Global Network Against Food Crises. 2023. Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2023 . Rome. www.fsinplatform.org/global-report-food-crises-2023
• 3 IMF (International Monetary Fund). 2023. World Economic Outlook (WEO) database, April 2023. In: IMF . [Cited 10 May 2023]. www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April/download-entire-database
• 4 FAO. 2023. FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products. In: FAO . [Cited 18 May 2023]. www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/TCL
• 5 FAO. 2023. FAO Food Price Index. In: FAO | World Food Situation. [Cited 4 May 2023]. www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex
• 6 Schmidhuber, J. & Qiao, B. 2022. Global food import bill set to increase at a slower pace in 2022, nevertheless to another record level. In: FAO, ed. Food Outlook – Biannual Report on Global Food Markets , November 2022 , pp. 76–78. Rome. www.fao.org/3/cc2864en/cc2864en_indicator_1.pdf
• 7 FAO. 2022. Food Outlook – Biannual Report on Global Food Markets . November 2022. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2864en
• 8 World Bank. 2023. Global Economic Prospects, January 2023. Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38030
• 9 ILO (International Labour Organization). 2023. World Employment and Social Outlook. Trends 2023. Geneva, Switzerland. www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_865387.pdf
• 10 World Bank. 2022. Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022. Correcting course . Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-and-shared-prosperity
• 11 World Bank. 2023. Macro Poverty Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. Country-by-country analysis and projections for the developing world. Annual Meetings 2023. Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/en/publication/macro-poverty-outlook/mpo_ssa
• 12 World Bank. 2023. Macro Poverty Outlook for Middle East and North Africa. Country-by-country analysis and projections for the developing world. Annual Meetings 2023. Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/en/publication/macro-poverty-outlook/mpo_mena
• 13 World Bank. 2023. Macro Poverty Outlook for South Asia. Country-by-country analysis and projections for the developing world. Annual Meetings 2023. Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/en/publication/macro-poverty-outlook/mpo_sar
• 14 World Bank. 2023. Macro Poverty Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean. Country-by-country analysis and projections for the developing world. Annual Meetings 2023. Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/en/publication/macro-poverty-outlook/mpo_lac
• 15 IMF. 2019. World Economic Outlook (WEO) database, October 2019. In: IMF . [Cited 10 May 2023]. www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2019/October
• 16 IMF. 2021. World Economic Outlook (WEO) database, October 2021. In: IMF . [Cited 10 May 2023]. www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/October
• 17 European Union, FAO, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) & World Bank. 2021. Applying the Degree of Urbanisation. A methodological manual to define cities, towns and rural areas for international comparisons. 2021 edition. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/15348338/KS-02-20-499-EN-N.pdf
• 18 FAO. 2020. Gendered impacts of COVID-19 and equitable policy responses in agriculture, food security and nutrition. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9198en
• 19 UN Women. 2020. Whose time to care? Unpaid care and domestic work during COVID-19 . New York, USA. https://data.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Whose-time-to-care-brief_0.pdf
• 20 Mane, E., Macchioni, G.A., Cafiero, C. & Viviani, S. (forthcoming). W hy are women more food insecure than men? Exploring socio-economic drivers and the role of COVID-19 in widening the global gender gap . Background paper for The status of women in agrifood systems 2023 . Rome, FAO.
• 21 FAO. 2023. The status of women in agrifood systems . Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc5343en

b The entire series of PoU values is revised with each new edition of this report to reflect new data and information that FAO has obtained since the release of the previous edition. As this process usually implies backward revisions of the entire PoU series, readers should refrain from comparing series across different editions of this report and should always refer to the current edition, including for values in past years.

c The two countries combined accounted for 19 percent of global output of barley, 14 percent of wheat, and 4 percent of maize, between 2016/17 and 2020/21. Their contribution to the global production of oilseeds was particularly important for sunflower oil, with just over half of world output, on average, originating in the two countries during this period.

d Poverty assessments conducted during the food price crises of 2008 and 2011 demonstrated that higher food prices have the potential to boost agricultural income growth and wages. 10

e See Annex 2 , Section C for details on the methods used to obtain disaggregated estimates.

f The DEGURBA classification was developed by the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT), the International Labour Organization (ILO), FAO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the World Bank and was approved at the 51st session of the UN Statistical Commission in March 2020 (see Box 2 in Chapter 3 ). 17 This differs from the Urban Rural Catchment Areas (URCA) criteria used for the analyses of subsets of countries in Chapter 4 (see Box 3 ).

g See Table A1.3 in Annex 1A for prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, and severe food insecurity only, by degree of urbanization in 2022 by region and subregion.

h See Table A1.4 in Annex 1A for prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, and severe food insecurity only, among adult men and women in 2022 by region and subregion. See Annex 2 , Section C for the methodology.

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Food Insecurity Is a Source of Toxic Stress

• 1 Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
• 2 Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
• 3 George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC
• 4 Elevance Health, Indianapolis, Indiana

Food insecurity is a pervasive and persistent issue in the United States that disproportionately affects families with children and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. 1 Food insecurity has been associated with psychological, cognitive, and behavioral health consequences in children, contributing to lifelong socioeconomic and health inequities. 2 Identifying pathways by which food insecurity affects children’s health is critical to informing intervention efforts to eliminate childhood food insecurity. We posit that toxic stress is a prominent pathway underlying food insecurity and children’s health and advocate for research, clinical, and policy approaches to better address the root causes of food insecurity and promote lifelong health.

Read More About

Leung CW , Odoms-Young A , Essel K. Food Insecurity Is a Source of Toxic Stress. JAMA Pediatr. 2024;178(4):327–328. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.6400

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Food Security in India

Last updated on April 25, 2024 by ClearIAS Team

Food security in India has been a significant policy concern for many years. India’s economy may be the one that is booming most rapidly in the world, but it is also seeing an increase in food price inflation. Read here to understand the food insecurity in India.

The price of food began to rise rapidly in 2019 and has continued to grow ever since. Annual inflation in July 2023 hit 11%, which was the highest level in a decade.

A portion of the population may have difficulty obtaining food with sufficient nutritional content as a result of the ongoing high food price inflation.

The term “food security” refers to the availability, accessibility, and affordability of safe and nutritious food for all individuals in a country.

Table of Contents

Food insecurity in India

Food insecurity in India has been a longstanding and complex issue, despite significant improvements in food production and distribution over the years. Several factors contribute to food insecurity in the country:

• Poverty: A significant portion of India’s population lives below the poverty line. Low income and lack of economic opportunities can limit people’s access to nutritious food.
• Unequal Distribution: While India produces enough food to feed its population, the distribution of food is unequal. Food often doesn’t reach those who need it the most, leading to food shortages in certain regions.
• Price Fluctuations: Price fluctuations in essential food commodities, such as rice and wheat, can make them unaffordable for many people during times of high inflation.
• Agricultural Challenges: India’s agriculture sector faces challenges such as unpredictable weather patterns, water scarcity, soil degradation, and inadequate infrastructure. These factors can lead to lower crop yields and affect food production.
• Land Ownership: Unequal land ownership patterns can limit small-scale farmers’ access to land and resources, making it difficult for them to produce sufficient food for their families.
• Food Wastage: A significant amount of food is lost or wasted during production, storage, and distribution. This wastage contributes to food scarcity.
• Malnutrition: Food insecurity is often linked to malnutrition. Even when food is available, it may lack the necessary nutrients for a balanced diet, leading to malnutrition issues, especially among children.
• Urbanization: Rapid urbanization has led to changes in dietary habits, with a greater reliance on processed and less nutritious foods, contributing to health-related food insecurity issues.
• Natural Disasters: India is prone to natural disasters like droughts, floods, and cyclones. These events can disrupt food production and lead to food shortages in affected areas.
• COVID-19 Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns further exacerbated food insecurity by disrupting supply chains, affecting livelihoods, and increasing the vulnerability of marginalized populations.

While India has implemented various food security programs like the Public Distribution System (PDS) , the National Food Security Act (NFSA), and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, there are often challenges in their effective implementation, including issues related to leakages and corruption.

Also read: Global Food Security Index 2021

Food security in India

India has made significant progress in improving food security, but challenges still exist.

• Food Production: India has made remarkable progress in increasing food production, particularly in staple crops like rice and wheat. The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s played a crucial role in boosting agricultural productivity.
• Buffer Stocks: India maintains strategic grain reserves, known as buffer stocks , to stabilize food prices and meet emergencies. These stocks are managed by agencies like the Food Corporation of India (FCI) .
• Addressing Malnutrition: India has implemented programs to address malnutrition, particularly among children and pregnant women. These programs focus on improving nutritional intake and health outcomes.
• Containing Pandemic Impact: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in India’s food security system, as lockdowns disrupted supply chains and livelihoods. The government implemented relief measures, including distributing free food grains to vulnerable populations.
• Nutrition Quality: While food availability has improved, the focus is shifting toward improving the quality of food and addressing issues of hidden hunger, where people lack essential vitamins and minerals in their diet.
• Sustainable Agriculture: There is a growing emphasis on sustainable agriculture practices, including organic farming, to ensure long-term food security while protecting the environment.
• Climate Change Resilience: Building resilience to climate change is a priority for ensuring food security in the face of changing weather patterns and extreme events.
• Role of Technology: Technology is being increasingly harnessed for better crop management , weather forecasting, and food distribution, which can enhance food security efforts.

Government initiatives

National Food Security Act (NFSA)

• The NFSA, enacted in 2013, is a landmark legislation aimed at providing legal entitlements to food for a large section of India’s population. It aims to ensure that a specified quantity of food grains is made available to eligible beneficiaries at affordable prices.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

• The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which began on October 2, 1975, is one of the Government of India’s flagship programs and one of the world’s largest and most innovative early childhood care and development programs.

Public Distribution System

• It is defined as the system in which food procured by the FCI is distributed among the weaker or poorer sections of society.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

• This scheme was launched in December 2000. Under this scheme, one crore of the poorest among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system was identified. In this scheme, the State Rural Development Department has identified poor families through the Below poverty line survey.

Other schemes and initiatives:

• Eat Right India Movement
• POSHAN Abhiyan
• Food Fortification
• National Innovations Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

Way forward

Improving food security in India is a multifaceted challenge that requires a combination of policies, programs, and initiatives aimed at increasing food availability, access, and utilization.

Enhance Agricultural Productivity:

• Invest in agricultural research and development to develop high-yield and climate-resilient crop varieties.
• Promote sustainable farming practices, including organic farming and precision agriculture.
• Improve access to modern farming technologies, such as improved seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation systems.

Increase Crop Diversification:

• Encourage diversification of crops to reduce dependency on a few staple crops and improve dietary diversity.
• Promote the cultivation of nutritious crops, fruits, and vegetables to address malnutrition issues.

Support Small-Scale Farmers:

• Provide small-scale farmers with access to credit, affordable crop insurance, and agricultural extension services.
• Promote farmer cooperatives and self-help groups to enhance collective bargaining power.

Water Management:

• Invest in water conservation and management techniques to address water scarcity issues.
• Promote efficient irrigation practices, such as drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting.

Infrastructure Development:

• Improve rural infrastructure, including roads, storage facilities, and markets, to reduce post-harvest losses and connect farmers to consumers.

Food Distribution and Supply Chain Enhancement:

• Strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other food distribution networks to ensure efficient and equitable access to food.
• Address issues related to food wastage during storage and transportation.

Nutrition Education:

• Launch public awareness campaigns to educate people about balanced nutrition and healthy eating habits.
• Implement school-based nutrition programs to improve the health and nutrition of children.

Social Safety Nets:

• Expand and strengthen social safety net programs like the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme to provide subsidized food to vulnerable populations.

Support for Women in Agriculture:

• Empower women in agriculture by providing training, credit, and land rights.
• Recognize and value the crucial role of women in food production and household nutrition.

Climate Resilience:

• Develop climate-resilient farming practices and provide support to farmers to adapt to changing climate patterns.
• Promote agroforestry and sustainable land use practices.

Reduce Food Loss and Waste:

• Implement measures to reduce food loss and waste at all stages of the supply chain, from farm to fork.
• Encourage food donation and redistribution programs to redirect surplus food to those in need.

Research and Innovation:

• Invest in research and innovation to find solutions to food security challenges, including crop diseases, pests, and climate-related issues.

Policy and Governance:

• Strengthen governance and transparency in food-related policies and programs to reduce corruption and ensure effective implementation.
• Monitor and evaluate food security initiatives to assess their impact and make necessary improvements.

International Cooperation:

• Collaborate with international organizations and neighbouring countries on food security initiatives, trade agreements, and disaster response.

Also read: Malnutrition in India

Addressing food insecurity in India requires a multi-pronged approach that includes improving agricultural practices, ensuring equitable distribution, reducing food wastage, enhancing access to social safety nets, and addressing poverty and malnutrition.

Government policies and programs, as well as international cooperation and support, play crucial roles in mitigating food insecurity and improving food access for all segments of the population.

India has made significant strides in improving food security, but challenges such as poverty, inequality, and the impacts of climate change continue to influence the nation’s efforts to ensure that all its citizens have access to adequate and nutritious food.

Addressing these challenges requires ongoing policy measures, investment in agriculture and rural development, and a commitment to social safety nets and nutrition programs.

Also read:  Biofortification;  Agri-food Policies for Soil, water, air, and Biodiversity

-Article by Swathi Satish

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Food Security Crisis Resolution Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Global governance, importance and aids by global governance, works cited.

Food is one of the fundamental needs of human. Food security is the ability to access food by those who need it. Every household is termed as secured food wise if it has access to safe and enough food hence freedom from hunger. The World Food Organization describes this security as access to nutritious, safe and sufficient food to cater for the basic human desires.

The rapid increase of population all over the world is the major result for food insecurity (Harman 18). To ensure the situation does not run out of hand, the global body Food and Agricultural Organization has been at the forefront since time immemorial to cater for issues related to this basic human need. Central to this organization is governance. This can ensure that even if there is increased population, there can be enough resources or produce to cater for the increase and even shortages.

Food security has become a complex task to achieve with the development of globalization. Initially the main focus of the governing body was on agriculture. This ensured carefully monitoring of production and even the surplus that are stored. Today, different issues of concern have cropped up. These are in terms of food processing, food distribution and food consumption. Governance of food security has become challenging with the forms of contradictory policies that exist.

Most third world countries have weak connections with the global governance (Harman 18). These countries are always the worst hit groups when there is hunger breakout. On the other hand America and most of its environs have high influence in the global governance. Their exports have greatly increased while other third world countries exports have reduced. These countries used to export in a massive way but have since declined in production.

These countries are not promising at all. Therefore they have less influence of the global investment kitties. One will find that those countries that are stable in terms of agricultural production and are also doing great in the processing have much attraction to investment and are therefore considered a priority by the governing bodies

Several methods have been employed to cater for increasing cases of food insecurity. One of these methods is research. The cases of reduced land for tenure have been the main cause of low agricultural production. Currently, researchers have introduced novel ways of producing crops.

This has been aided greatly by biotechnology. This new research concept has enabled the production of crops that can resist adverse conditions. In addition, other crops can also do well in green houses. Unfortunately, other countries cannot afford this. Although global governance has given out these good options, some countries cannot afford. This is because their government cannot afford the finances in one way or another (Harman 18). This paints a bad picture of the governance while it is evident that it is not their fault.

Other forms of governance that would improve food security include Rule of law, internal peace, improvement of infrastructure from rural areas and support from the government for research. These proposals are best when employed on the ground. Developed countries have already put these practices in place and are ahead. There have been problems caused by global warming and other related disaster but this has been solved by having alternative methods. This does not mean that the conventional methods have been neglected.

Adoption measures have been for the purpose of bridging the gap between production and consumption. There is need for all countries to be stakeholders of global food programmes and government. This will ensure that there is a legitimate process for handling problems and also providing solutions for future activities. Unfortunately, the developing countries do not take part in the same footing. This therefore calls for a better government that will have honor for legitimate, political and democratic process.

Current Global Economic Situation

This is an economy which comprises all the economies of the world. The issue of globalization brought a great revolution in the economy of the world. This revolution comprised of merging of trade markets, free trade in international stock markets and many more. Initially, this impacted nations in a positive way (Harman 18). There was expansion of markets and industries, creation of employment opportunities for both the young and old the people and a paradigm shift from job search to creation of jobs. More so was the issue of innovation that brought about great investment both in foreign and indigenous countries.

Developed and developing countries have had different effects due to the dynamic global economy. Currently, the economy is at its worst. The economic metrics stand at a free fall at the moment. Some are quite rapid that it has become so scary. The situation has continued to deepen day by day from banks bail out to individual country bail outs.

Central to this crisis is the unavailability of basic commodities such as food. In addition, oil prices have posed the hardest hit to most countries. The oil crisis was brought about by the unstable situation in Japan and Northern part of America. These unrests led to reduced production of oil from the main oil producing countries such as Libya. The rising oil prices have been due to the scarce in the commodity or the raw material. This crisis has also translated to the current energy crisis

On the other hand is food crisis. This has also arisen due to globalization of the economy. Increased industries led to the deterioration of the environment. This consequently led to global warming. Global warming has had a great impact on Agriculture. The climate of the globe has changed tremendously towards the negative. This has contributed to the accumulation of greenhouse gases hence global warming.

Therefore the climate has changed affecting the agricultural activities. This has directly affected food prices mostly for people living in poor countries and the Asian community. This has since resulted in high increase in food prices. For instance, in Asia the food prices have increased to 10%. This has affected about sixty five million people in the country.

Another factor that has put the current economy at risk is the weakening of the Dollar. This has led to the rapid rise in market prices. The American people have huge debts to pay hence this has greatly affected their economy and even the grand global economy. Goods traded across the global market are as expensive as has never been experienced before.

The most affected are the developing countries which have to add an extra coin to get goods across the global market. There has been cumulative unemployment for fresh college students in both developing and developed nations. Also there has been a rebound in the trade globally. In 2010 the increase in trade was about 12% which was positive.

Resolution for the Crisis

The main resolution strategy to the current economic crisis is the issue of changing policies. This can be achieved by using neutral bodies that can help save the matter starting with the matters that are of priorities. First of all the weakening of the Dollar is one crisis that should be resolved. It actually affects the global markets and hence touches every part of the world. The crisis in the economic sector unfortunately combines almost all international affairs from trade, agriculture, social status, political status and many more affairs.

This then means that there is need to restructure the financial operations. As mentioned above, a policy reform is the ways to go. International organizations dealing with specific global issues should sit down and allow room for policy interventions that will be able to advocate for the independence of countries in terms of control of each country resources (Pacula etal., 276).

For instance, every country should have the sovereign authority to strategize on self sufficiency. That is, every country should have the capacity to state their productivity, consumption and even surplus without being influenced externally. Central regulation has proven to lack transparency hence failure in the part of governance.

The issue of central control can be avoided by having each country regulate their resources and present what they have to the international organizations. This does not mean that the mandates of these international organizations are being neglected but it means that the essence of external interventions is nullified.

Another critical sector that needs quick salvaging is the financial sector. There are policies that were imposed by the World health organization, World Bank, international Monetary Fund and the regional and bilateral trade (Pacula etal., 276).

These policies have tremendously caused the current financial crisis that has been predicted to last for about two years before it picks up in a steady state. It is speculated that the years 2012 and 2013 will be bad years for more so the developed countries. Controls such as the forced quotas, regulated market prizes, control of imports should be solely left within the agreements by countries.

In the case of finances, the issue of financial literacy needs to be worked out. The current crisis means that there has been inefficiency in management of money matters. It there was a well sophisticated system able to work out the financial problem and even speculate the trends in an actual way then the issue of global crisis could not be a pandemic at the moment. For example, the issue of high mortgage ownership in developed countries has led to the banks running in huge debts hence a need for bailouts.

If there were plans put in place to train the consumers who were taking credits then there would not be the issue of debt default. This would mean that the consumers would be aware of the steps they are taking and would only participate in taking debts that they are able to clear. This can also translate in the global credit acquisition by countries. There have been increasing complexities in the financial markets both in individual countries and globally. Having financial literacy would solve the issue of this crisis.

Approach to Crisis Resolution

Fortunately, these approaches are underway as there have been non partisan groups that are lobbying for reforms and policy change in international organizations. Having and ear for the cry of these lobbyists will be a good step taken by the developed countries and even the international organization in working out the crisis. Therefore, to have success, there should be great interest by these organizations and countries to take part in reforms especially on the issue of financial education which is very important.

Harman, Chris. “Financial and Economic Crisis”. The Guardian Weekly 3 Aug. 2007: 18. Print.

Pacula etal. “Politics of the United Nations”. Journal of Political Economy . 95.2 (2006): 107-300. Print.

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World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

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As people in Haiti continue to deal with growing hunger, UN agencies are striving to deliver goods and services to populations in need.

The World Food Programme ( WFP ) distributed more than 74,000 hot meals to over 15,000 displaced people in the besieged capital, Port-au-Prince, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Thursday, providing an update on the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation.

In addition, about 2,400 children received mental health and psychosocial support from child protection experts, he said.

At the same time, humanitarian agencies provided information sessions to more than 4,000 people sheltering in displacement sites on such critical issues as gender-based violence, protection and sexual abuse.

Nearly 1.6 million people are facing acute food insecurity levels in Haiti, according to UN agencies.

The UN Spokesperson also reported that civilians in displacement sites in Port-au-Prince had received about 13 million litres of water from UN agencies, partners and Haiti’s civil protection department since the beginning of March.

In the Artibonite region, Mr. Dujarric said WFP has provided cash assistance to over 13,000 people as part of its emergency activities and another 6,000 people in this region received food.

Following the recent tornado in the Bassin Bleu commune, which damaged more than 300 houses, WFP will also provide food for nearly 3,800 residents, he said.

Violence and blocked borders impede aid access in Gaza

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ) said on Thursday that increased violence and blocked borders continued to restrict aid access in the enclave where hundreds of thousands of people are in need.

Humanitarians are experiencing “movement restrictions” to border areas which are causing delays in planned missions to collect resources from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the UN Spokesperson said.

“We need Israeli authorities to swiftly facilitate access to the crossing so that aid workers can safely reach the crossing to pick up supplies,” he said. “We also need safe and unimpeded passage to distribute that assistance to scale to people in need, wherever they may need it in Gaza.”

‘Catastrophic levels of hunger’

The UN and its humanitarian partners are doing all they can to aid civilians in Gaza, he said, adding that  WFP is calling for blocked borders in Gaza to be opened since this impacts their ability to reach people in need.

“Constrained access to southern parts of Gaza risks causing the same catastrophic levels of hunger that has been seen in the north, and in central and southern Gaza, hunger levels are deteriorating fast,” Mr. Dujarric said.

He said WFP reported that some commercial supplies have reached the enclave, but the high cost means many civilians cannot afford the goods.

‘Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA’

The UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA , which serves more than 5.9 million Palestinians in the region, said conditions are dire, and in the last two days alone, more than 32,000 people have fled the escalating fighting in Rafah.

In a guest essay published on Thursday in The New York Times , UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini referred to unproven allegations Israel had made earlier this year against the UN agency and efforts to restrict its work in war-torn Gaza.

“As I write this, our agency has verified that at least 192 UNRWA employees have been killed in Gaza,” he said in the essay. “More than 170 UNRWA premises have been damaged or destroyed. UNRWA-run schools have been demolished; some 450 displaced people have been killed while sheltered inside UNRWA schools and other structures.”

He also said that since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October, Israeli security forces have “rounded up UNRWA personnel in Gaza, who have alleged torture and mistreatment while in detention” in the Strip and in Israel.

“Israeli officials are not only threatening the work of our staff and mission, they are also delegitimising UNRWA,” he wrote. “Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA.”

First ever International Day of Potato

It’s the world’s first ever  International Day of Potato , and the theme is Harvesting diversity, feeding hope , with a focus on the ancient vegetable’s contribution to the lives of producers and consumers as well as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The General Assembly designated 30 May to pay tribute to the potato, an 8,000-year-old crop originating in the Andes mountains in South America that is now a staple food consumed by about two thirds of the world’s population.

Climate-friendly and resistant to drought, cold and barren land with wide adaptability, the potato contributes to the food security, nutrition, livelihoods and employment of people in rural and urban areas the world over.

Key crop around the world

Indeed, 159 countries cultivate potatoes, and there are 5,000 varieties worldwide. Nearly 50 per cent of current crops produced are used as the household staple food or vegetable.

Potatoes are a key crop across diverse farming systems globally, ranging from smallholders producing diverse heirloom varieties by hand in the Andes to vast commercial, mechanised farms in different continents.

Building on the International Year of the Potato, marked in 2008, today’s observance also recognises the roles of small-scale family farmers, a significant proportion of whom are women, in safeguarding the wide spectrum of the crop’s diversity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ).

By 2030, the total production of potatoes is expected to rise by 112 per cent of current harvests, reaching 750 million tonnes, of which more than half is predicted to be produced in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As communities around the world mark the day, both the cultural and culinary dimensions of the crop’s cultivation and consumption are also being celebrated, from pierogis to dum aloo.

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DATELINE: 03 JUNE 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters

03 JUNE 2024, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press room dais 3. Wide shot, journalists 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head, Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The narrowing space that is left for civilians to conglomerate and leave is becoming more and more limited and more and more crowded. It's impossible as of today to move from Mawasi- where some of our premises are - to go to Khan Yunis or Deir el Beleh without literally navigating through a wave of people that are everywhere. 5. Wide shot, journalists 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head, Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The living condition within the tent is so hot during the day, and of course there is lack of water for people within the tents. And so, people basically are going to the sea to find some opportunity to cool themselves down because of the high temperature of the day. And by doing this also they take the opportunity to wash themselves, because there is no other way that people can obtain some decent hygiene.” 7. Wide shot, press room dais 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head, Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The rule of the strongest is becoming the only rule that is prevailing simply because there is so little for people to survive that only the strongest can have access to that, and that has eroded and penetrated even the relations within family members.” 9. Wide shot, press room dais 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head, Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We estimate more or less there are 20,000 pregnant women that will again lose any point of reference for bringing their pregnancy to an end in conditions that are suitable for, and adequate for a proper delivery for their babies.” 11. Med shot, journalist asking question 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head, Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “So, for me the idea of extending this war for another six months or seven months is simply terrible. But we will stay and deliver. We will keep on trying and doing our job day in and day out, to the end of our ability. And the concern for me is how people will cope with this.” 13. Wide shot, end of presser

OCHA - JUNE 2024, DEIR EL BELEH, MIDDLE AREA GOVERNORATE

14. Various shots, community kitchen 15. Various shots, temporary learning space 15. Various shots, water distribution

The Head of OCHA's Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) Andrea De Domenico, today (03 Jun) told reporters in New York that “the idea of extending this war for another six months or seven months is simply terrible.”

Briefing via video teleconference from Jerusalem upon his return from Gaza, Domenico said in Rafah “the narrowing space that is left for civilians to conglomerate and leave is becoming more and more limited and more and more crowded.”

Within the tent, in the camps, he said, it is “so hot during the day, and of course there is lack of water for people within the tents. And so, people basically are going to the sea to find some opportunity to cool themselves down because of the high temperature of the day.”

He said, “by doing this also they take the opportunity to wash themselves, because there is no other way that people can obtain some decent hygiene.”

Commenting on the erosion of civility within Gaza, Domenico said “the rule of the strongest is becoming the only rule that is prevailing simply because there is so little for people to survive that only the strongest can have access to that, and that has eroded and penetrated even the relations within family members.”

The humanitarian official estimated “more or less there are 20,000 pregnant women that will again lose any point of reference for bringing their pregnancy to an end in conditions that are suitable for, and adequate for a proper delivery for their babies.”

He said OCHA “will keep on trying and doing our job day in and day out, to the end of our ability. And the concern for me is how people will cope with this.”

A staggering one million people have now fled Rafah in southern Gaza, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday, amid fresh reports of overnight attacks in southern, central and northern locations by Israeli forces.

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Mexico’s Women Are Speaking. Will a Female President Listen?

By Cristina Rivera Garza

Ms. Rivera Garza’s book “Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice” is about one of the many women killed by femicide in Mexico.

My mother was born in 1943 in a country where she was not allowed to vote. The Mexican government did not grant women the right to vote in national elections — or the right to hold public office on a national level — until Oct. 17, 1953. Now, almost 71 years later, for the first time two women are leading the race to be Mexico’s next president: Claudia Sheinbaum, who is the front-runner, and Xóchitl Gálvez. It is no small feat for a country with a longstanding and complex relationship with machismo , and where every day some 10 women or girls are killed on average.

And yet this accomplishment has often felt like an afterthought during this historic election. Ms. Sheinbaum, a scientist running on the ticket of the ruling Morena party, and Ms. Gálvez, a businesswoman representing a mix of parties from the political establishment, have nodded at the achievements of feminism and its influence on Mexico’s public life. But they have been cautious about lingering too long on women’s issues in their campaigns, conspicuously tiptoeing around abortion and reproductive rights, seemingly out of deference to conservative voters. Neither candidate has put forth a strong agenda to serve the women who put them where they are today.

For as Mexico descended into its nightmare of generalized violence, from the U.S.-backed war on drugs to the government of Felipe Calderón and the administration of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, it has been women — their tireless work, infinite rage and deepening sorrow — who have provided a moral compass to this nation. Women’s mobilizations have grown stronger and louder in the face of government indifference and repression, mounting the only serious opposition against the status quo and making women’s issues and gender justice central to any discussion of our shared future.

To be fair, male candidates have not historically been required to present their agenda for women either. They are seldom even asked about it. But women constitute a little over half of the Mexican electorate; it is imperative that Ms. Sheinbaum and Ms. Gálvez discuss their views and positions on issues that will affect women’s bodies, security and everyday life — not because they are women, but because they are presidential candidates, striving to represent all of us in the highest political office in the country.

On June 2, a woman will almost certainly be given a mandate to govern all of us. She will preside over an electorate that is deeply concerned about insecurity and corruption. The security policy of the current administration — known as “Hugs Not Bullets” — has failed to meaningfully de-escalate the violence unleashed by America’s failed drug policy, a fact painfully brought home by the ever-growing number of disappearances and high rates of gender-related violence. A staggering number of victims’ collectives, made up mostly of the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the disappeared, travel the nation with little to no funding or institutional support, sometimes unearthing the remains of their loved ones.

The women in my family tell more than the story of suffrage in Mexico. We are also among the countless families seeking justice for their murdered daughters in a country where impunity and corruption regularly obstruct them, particularly in cases of femicide. One among the many pending cases in Mexico today is that of Liliana Rivera Garza , my younger sister, who was killed on July 16, 1990. The man who is presumed to have killed her has never been arrested, despite a warrant.

But this is only part of the picture. The next president of Mexico will also run a country that is home to a vocal and energized women’s movement. In Mexico, femicide is a distinct crime; a specialized prosecutor’s office for the crime of femicide was created in Mexico City in 2019, when Ms. Sheinbaum was mayor. While the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in 2023. There is much work to be done — for economic justice, equal access to education, and labor rights, and against racism and homo- and transphobia. But this young generation of Mexican women has made genuine progress, helping find language that is precise, compassionate and forceful enough to dismantle the narratives that have forcibly silenced them and normalized gender violence for too long.

Their success is part of something bigger. Across Latin America, women have been at the forefront of the fight against military dictatorships in Chile (the arpillera movement, for example) and Argentina (the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo). Today, they are holding states responsible for violence and reclaiming public space to remind us that they — that all of us — have the right to live and thrive in safety. On Nov. 25, 2019, during a celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis performed the protest song “Un violador en tu camino” (“A rapist in Your Path”), rallying thousands of us to chant against our governments. The next president of Mexico should be aware that the energy unleashed by these actions, which reverberate in Latin America and beyond, is here to stay.

It is these struggles and demands that have shaped the political arena in which Ms. Sheinbaum and Ms. Gálvez now stand. Will the first female president of Mexico be willing and able to honor such history, acknowledging that women’s equality and gender justice are not peripheral issues but crucial to the country’s future? Will she be ready to face the immense challenge of organized crime, both within and outside the government, to secure a violence-free life for all? Will she preserve and defend the safety of the journalists and activists who risk their lives as they hurl hard questions at power? Unlike former presidents, will she listen?

I believe women are complex human beings “with the full range of saintly and demonic behaviors this entails, including criminal ones,” as Margaret Atwood once wrote. And many female leaders — Margaret Thatcher and Corazón Aquino, to mention just two — demonstrated that a woman running the country does not necessarily translate into support for women. Like all presidents in the past, and in the future, the next leader of Mexico will be judged not by her gender but for the decisions and actions of her government.

My mother’s story is part of one Mexico — the one where women have worked together to lift two female candidates to this moment. My sister Liliana’s story warns of another Mexico, one where violence ends things before they get started. Two years before her death, Liliana exercised her right to vote, on July 6, 1988, and enthusiastically joined the crowds that congregated at the main square in Mexico City afterward. She was ready to defend our emerging democracy and oppose the pervasive electoral fraud that kept the Institutional Revolutionary Party in office at the time.

She, like the countless other victims of violence against women in Mexico, cannot vote this week. We can cast our vote only if we are alive.

Cristina Rivera Garza is the author of “Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice,” which won a Pulitzer Prize this year.

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