Food Security in Developing Countries

Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe whether or not people have access to sufficient quality and quantity of food. They are affected by factors such as poverty, health, food production, political stability, infrastructure, access to markets, and natural hazards. Improved food security is important for global reduction of hunger and poverty, and for economic development. One aim of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce by half the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015. Currently, 820 million people are affected by hunger in developing countries and numbers are not falling quickly enough to achieve the goal, particularly in Africa and Southern Asia. This POSTnote examines food security in the developing world and options available for its progress, including increasing access to food and higher agricultural production.