Background

Human dignity cannot be fully realized until we ensure that every individual has access to proper nutritional resources. Even as our world has made leaping technological strides in the arenas of food production and storage, it is a cause of deep concern that the world order is still unable to meet the food requirements of people in satiating this deeply human need. 

Food insecurity broadly refers to the unavailability of adequate safe and nutritious food required for the holistic growth of the human body which is critical to leading an active and happy life. The 2023 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) estimates that there are around 258 million people in 58 countries who faced acutely severe food insecurity in 2022, which means that at its most extreme, these people have gone days without eating. The number will greatly increase if it were to factor in moderate food insecurity, which is also a cause of grave concern. While hunger and starvation endanger the physical, mental, and emotional health of vulnerable people, the excruciating discomfort induced by starvation is an excruciatingly dehumanizing feeling that no human should have to endure.

This calls for urgent action. If eradicating hunger by improving the resilience of agrifood production systems is a unanimously agreed upon goal, enshrined as Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2), it needs a paradigm shift towards addressing the root structural causes of the food crises through coordinated efforts between governments, international organizations, and civil society. The Food Independence Initiative is an attempt in precisely this direction as it is committed to the cause of mitigating food scarcity through improving access to food resources in underserved communities, and thereby preventing subjugation of people to this agonizing abjection.