Food security: a plant pathology perspective.

Abstract

Abstract Food Security has four dimensions: food availability, food access, economic access to food and food utilization. There is a fifth dimension, sometimes referred to as stability of food. Embedded within each of these four dimensions are sub-dimensions. Historically, production was the focus of concern, but today there is more interest in imports and stockpiles because almost every country in the world today relies on trade and imports with food security. No country is totally self-sufficient in food in today's environment. Plant diseases play a major role in the production of food. Their influence on food security is expressed by the epidemics they cause, the reduction in production and post-harvest deterioration reducing available food for a hungry world.