Next week the government will host the UK global food security summit. As faith-based organisations working in countries with high burdens of food insecurity and malnutrition, we welcome its promise to galvanise action to tackle hunger and malnutrition. It is our deep hope that the summit will result in urgent action and a renewed approach to building a resilient and nutritious food system.
It is morally unacceptable that malnutrition takes the life of a child every 11 seconds. The number of people at crisis levels of food insecurity has almost doubled from 146 million in 2019 to 278 million in 2022. Climate change and conflict continue to exacerbate the inequalities we see in our food system, most acutely in east Africa, where five failed harvests have left 46 million people severely food insecure.
But it does not have to be this way. Malnutrition is preventable. When the UK provided leadership, we contributed to almost halving the number of malnourished people globally between 1990 and 2015. That progress has gone into reverse. Cuts to the aid budget disproportionately had an effect on global nutrition and food insecurity – reducing our ability to respond to acute need fuelled by conflict, climate change and Covid – and has limited long-term investment in sustainable food systems. Access to good nutrition must be prioritised again.
In Inter-Faith Week, from 12-19 November, faith communities are considering how to create a just and peaceful world. Access to nutritious food is foundational to achieving this. Many other development goals, from education to economic development and gender equality, are dependent on it.
So, we call on the UK and international leaders to forge partnerships with affected countries, scale up the humanitarian response, and create a new food system strategy that prioritises nutritious food, tackles the climate crisis, and delivers sustainable livelihoods for food producers. This summit is an opportunity to build healthy futures and a more peaceful world. It is an opportunity not to be missed.
Osai Ojigho Director of policy and public campaigns, Christian Aid, Bert Smit CEO, ADRA UK, Waseem Ahmad CEO, Islamic Relief UK, Nigel Harris Chief executive, Tearfund, Christine Allen Director, Cafod
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