Latest news with #WorldFoodDay
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Malaysia's green path to food security on World Food Day 2025
AS World Food Day approaches on Oct 16, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, its theme of "Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future" resonates with Malaysia's ongoing journey towards sustainable food security. Underpinned by the Madani framework's core principles of sustainability, prosperity, and compassion, I, as a plant scientist, believe the answers to our food challenges lie beneath our feet and within our innovative capabilities. Malaysia has made commendable strides in its Global Food Security Index, rising to 41st globally in 2022. Yet, a closer look at our agricultural landscape reveals a persistent reliance on imports for key commodities. In 2023, Malaysia's food import bill soared to nearly RM78.79 billion. Our self-sufficiency levels for essential produce like beef (15.9 per cent in 2023), mutton (10.6 per cent), and even vegetables like round cabbage (41 per cent) and chilli (37.1 per cent) remain below desired thresholds, leaving us vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions and price volatility. The statistics on food waste are equally thought-provoking. Malaysians discard an alarming 16,720 tonnes of food daily, with a significant 24 per cent still edible. This translates to perfectly good food — enough to feed an estimated 12 million people three times a day — ending up in landfills, where it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane. This paradoxical waste, coupled with our import dependency, underscores the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in our current food system. Climate change adds another layer of complexity. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns, including floods and droughts, severely impact agricultural yields. Projections indicate that rice yields in critical granary areas like the Muda granary area could see reductions of 18 to 26 per cent by the late century under various climate scenarios if adaptation measures are not scaled up. This directly threatens our staple food production. So, how can we, hand in hand, cultivate a better future? Firstly, embracing plant science and agricultural technology is not an option but a necessity. We must invest more robustly in research and development for climate-resilient crops, enhanced crop yields, and sustainable farming practices. Innovations in smart farming, vertical farms, and controlled environment agriculture can mitigate land scarcity and climate change impact, ensuring consistent food production closer to consumers. Imagine urban vertical farms supplying fresh produce to cities, drastically cutting down "food miles" and bolstering local food supply. The government's commitment under the Madani framework is evident in recent policy adjustments. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's announcement of a new padi floor price of RM1,500 per metric tonne for 2025, along with the Padi Price Subsidy Scheme set at RM500 per metric tonne, directly addresses farmer welfare. Coupled with the RM150 million subsidy to rice millers to maintain the ceiling price of local white rice at RM2.60 per kilogram, these efforts demonstrate a holistic approach to ensuring both producer livelihood and consumer affordability within our food ecosystem. Secondly, empowering our local farmers, particularly the youth, is crucial. The average age of Malaysian farmers is increasing, and there's a prevailing perception that agriculture is not a lucrative or attractive career. We need to make agriculture "sexy" through technology adoption, attractive financial incentives, and educational programmes that highlight modern farming as a high-tech, entrepreneurial venture. Integrating livestock rearing into existing oil palm plantations, for instance, offers immense untapped potential for both food production and economic diversification. Thirdly, addressing food waste at every level requires collective responsibility. From households to industries, we must adopt a "no waste" mindset. Simple actions like meal planning, mindful consumption, and composting can significantly reduce household food waste. Policies and initiatives that encourage food redistribution to those in need, similar to organisations like The Lost Food Project, should be scaled up. Businesses can leverage technology for better inventory management and reduce pre-consumer waste. Finally, fostering a "seed-to-table" consciousness will strengthen our food security. Consumers have a powerful role to play by supporting local produce, understanding seasonal availability, and appreciating the journey of their food. Government, industry, academia, and civil society must collaborate through a "quadruple helix" approach, aligning policies, investments, and community efforts to build a truly resilient and sustainable food ecosystem and supply chain. World Food Day 2025 is a call to action. By leveraging agricultural advancements, innovative agri-food businesses, empowering our agricultural workforce, and embracing responsible consumption, Malaysia can secure its food future and set an example as the host of the Asean Summit this year.
Daily Maverick
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Ten unacceptable facts about hunger in South Africa on World Hunger Day
World Hunger Day is more appropriate than World Food Day for South Africa to commemorate. Lack of food is not a problem in our country; hunger is the problem. Many South Africans have heard of World Food Day (16 October), but probably way fewer have heard of World Hunger Day (28 May). In 2011, The Hunger Project launched World Hunger Day to call attention to the global food crisis. The vision for World Hunger Day 2030 is a world where no person lacks access to adequate nutritious food. Importantly, World Hunger Day does not see donating meals to hungry people as a sustainable solution. Instead, the solution lies in empowering hungry people, and addressing the underlying social and economic inequities that cause hunger. Ending hunger requires systemic change. By empowering communities facing hunger, we can transform the systems of inequity that keep hunger in place. We argue that World Hunger Day is more appropriate than World Food Day for South Africa to commemorate. Lack of food is not a problem in our country; hunger is the problem. This apparent paradox is easy to explain. There is more than enough food in South Africa, but millions of South Africans do not have access to sufficient food, because of poverty, unemployment, food waste, and inadequate government interventions such as social grants. Here are 10 reasons why South Africans should take World Hunger Day seriously. Ten unacceptable facts about hunger in South Africa A total of 1,000 children die from severe acute malnutrition every year. Malnutrition is the underlying cause of a further 10,000 child deaths every year, accounting for one-third of all child deaths in South Africa. More than 5 million children under five (29%) are stunted, or too short for their age. This has increased from 27% in 2016. The global target is to halve stunting by 2030. Only one in five infants (22%) under six months old are exclusively breastfed. The global target is 50% by 2025. A total of 10 million tons of food goes to waste every year, equivalent to one-third of 31 million tons This wasted food could generate 30 billion meals, enough to feed all hungry people in South Africa for more than a year. The Child Support Grant, at R560/month, is 30% below the food poverty line, and 42% less than the cost of a nutritious diet for a child. Farm workers suffer severe seasonal hunger, rising from less than 50% in summer (farming season) to over 85% in winter (when they have no work). A worker earning the national minimum wage (R28.79/hour), after electricity and transport costs, can buy less than half (41%) of a nutritious diet for a family of four. A total of 14 million South Africans, or 25% of the population, survive below the food poverty line, which is set at R796 per person per month. One in five households (21%) have inadequate access to food. Female-headed households are more affected (24%) than male-headed households (18%). Twenty-four percent of black and 19% of coloured South Africans, but only 3% of Indians and whites, have inadequate access to food. The Union Against Hunger The Union Against Hunger (UAH), a social justice movement with founding members that include civil society organisations like the Healthy Living Alliance (Heala) coalition, Grow Great and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, see World Hunger Day as an opportunity to spotlight food injustice and advocate for upholding the constitutional right to food. On World Hunger Day 2025, the Union Against Hunger and partners are organising public meetings in three cities: Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The UAH has also launched a petition (sign it here) calling on Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht to bring food prices down urgently. Reducing food prices is one of 10 demands that the UAH is making. Others include: halve child stunting by 2030; raise the Child Support Grant to the food poverty line and introduce a Maternal Support Grant; extend early childhood development and school nutrition to all children; address seasonal hunger, especially of farm workers; and pass legislation to reduce food wastage. A recent Daily Maverick article revealed that 155 children have died of malnutrition in public health facilities since January, according to official statistics provided by the minister of health. An unknown number — probably much higher — have died of hunger outside hospitals and clinics. This is not ' normal '. It is unnecessary and unacceptable, as World Hunger Day reminds us. The government, the private sector, civil society and the general public should all unite to fight the scourge of hunger and malnutrition in South Africa, until no one goes to bed hungry, let alone dies of entirely avoidable malnutrition. DM
Eyewitness News
28-05-2025
- Eyewitness News
Food insecurity identified as a driver of poverty, crime in SA
CAPE TOWN - Civil society organisations, women seasonal farm workers, and academics in the Western Cape have identified food insecurity as one of the drivers of poverty and crime in the country The Union Against Hunger is holding a mini-indaba in Cape Town for World Food Day on Wednesday to support communities in asserting their right to food. ALSO READ: Union Against Hunger: Plans in place to reach goal of eradicating hunger in SA The Union Against Hunger said, despite constitutional rights to food and nutrition, 15 million people in South Africa go hungry. Speakers at the event want both government and industry leaders in the agriculture sector to be held accountable for hunger and food insecurity in the country. Women on Farms activist Colette Solomons said it's unjustifiable that women farm workers who've been working the land for decades remain landless and hungry. 'Food insecurity, for us, is the food system that puts profits above people, making it unaffordable for the women who produce the food.' Yandiswa Mazwana from the Masiphumelele Creative Hub in Fish Hoek explained the impact of food poverty in her community. 'Food insecurity, for us, it's the areas of our communities that we call wetlands where people go and just give up and start all over each and every year of their lives.' The Union Against Hunger said the mini-indaba is part of a series of community-led events taking place nationwide.
