Improved food availability for food security in Asia-Pacific region.

Abstract

Food security requires that all people can access sufficient food for a healthy life. Enough food is produced to feed the global population, but more than 1.02 billion people are malnourished. Malnutrition and chronic food insecurity are widespread in some countries of the Asia-Pacific region; as much as 20 to 60 percent of the region's population lacks sufficient food to meet their minimum energy requirement. Food security greatly depends on food availability, although this alone is not sufficient to secure satisfactory nutritional status. Food security at the national level requires an effective framework of food, health, and economic systems coupled with awareness and consideration of environmental conditions. To improve food availability and security in the short term, lower income countries should focus on increasing productivity in the food system to generate higher incomes for workers on-farm and off-farm in the food chain. Over the long term, sustainable and small-scale farming based on ecologically viable systems should be the emphasis for agricultural development. Nutrition and health sectors should help promote food-based approaches that lead to diversification of crops, balanced diets, and ultimately better health.