Food Security and Nutrition

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Reducing hunger and malnutrition is, and should be, a fundamental concern of the state and several agencies and institutions such as ours, that seek to help states to fulfill their obligations. That the causes of hunger and malnutrition are multisectorial is no longer debated, nor that such problems do require actions on several fronts and cannot be solved by anyone discipline or sector. However, for such actions to be complementary in the most effective way, it is necessary to have a common perception and understanding of the problems and of their major causes. At the time of the World Food Conference in 1974, the debate on the causes of malnutrition focused on food supply and population growth (National Research Council, 1977). However, in the last few years, an international consensus has been emerging around the importance of three underlying factors as causes of malnutrition, factors related to food, health and care (UNICEF, 1990; ACC/SCN, 1991; Maxwell and Frankenburger, 1992). The most recent international affirmation of this consensus is the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) which recommended that, in order to achieve nutrition objectives, each country develop strategies related to food (improving food security and food safety), preventing and managing infectious diseases, and improving breastfeeding and the care of vulnerable groups (FAO/ WHO, 1992). The Declaration and Plan of Action for nutrition which emerged from the Conference were adopted by 159 Member States.