Definition and Basic Elements of Food Security

Since 1990s, the food security has been a consistent theme raised in specific contexts in various conferences convened by the United Nations and other organizations. The joint FAO/WTO Conference on Nutrition, Rome, 1992, made two important declarations as follows:

• “Hunger and malnutrition are unacceptable in a world that has both the knowledge and the resources to end this human catastrophe”
• “Access to nutritionally adequate and safe food is a right of each individual”

That every individual enjoys right to food, was also emphasized in the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 1993. In 1994 at Cairo, the International Conference on Population and Development emphasized the linkage between Population Growth and Food Production and the need to evolve global measures to satisfy the ever-growing food needs.

Food Security: Definition and Basic Elements

The concept of food security has evolved over last three decades. According to a 1983 FAO concept; food security implies physical and economic access to the basic food to all the people at all the times of their need. Thus, availability of food and ability to acquire it are the essential elements of Food Security.

A household is food secure when it has access to the food needed for a healthy life for all its members in adequate quality and quantity; and there is no undue risk to lose such access.

In a wider approach, Food security also includes livelihood security; access to safe drinking water; access to primary education, healthcare and sanitation.

Chronic and Transitory Food Insecurity

According to World Bank, Chronic food insecurity reflects continuous inadequate diet caused by the inability to acquire food. It affects household that persistently lack the ability to either buy food or to produce their own. On the other hand, transitory food insecurity is defined as a temporary decline in the household’s access to enough food. It results from instability in food prices, food production and household income. The transitory food insecurity in its worst form produces famine.