Feed the Future IPM Innovation Lab: A Critical Role in Global Food Security

The need: food security

The World Food Summit of 1966 defined “food security” as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Food insecurity is part of a continuum that includes hunger (food deprivation), malnutrition (deficiencies, imbalances, or excess of nutrients) and famine. Although difficult to measure, food security statistics indicate that there is a food crisis in a stressed world. Consider these facts:

• 805 million people suffer from malnutrition. • Most of the 805 million are in Southern Asia (35%), sub-Saharan Africa (27%), and Eastern Asia (19%). • 99% of the undernourished live in developing countries. • 642 million people in Asia and the Pacific are undernourished. • 6 million children’s deaths/year are linked to malnutrition.