Imagine a world where no one goes to bed hungry. A world where every child has the nourishment they need to grow and thrive. This is the vision behind Goal 2: Zero Hunger, a critical step towards a just and sustainable future for all.
Despite significant progress, hunger remains a global crisis. Millions face food insecurity, malnutrition, and the devastating consequences of undernourishment. Climate change, conflict, and poverty exacerbate this issue, threatening the very foundation of human well-being.
The Targets
The UN has outlined eight ambitious targets to guide our path towards a hunger-free world:
Target 2.1: Universal Access to Safe and Nutritious Food: By 2030, ensure that all people, especially the poor and vulnerable, including infants, have year-round access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.
Target 2.2: End All Forms of Malnutrition: Eliminate all forms of malnutrition, including achieving the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age by 2025. Address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons.
Target 2.3: Double the Productivity and Incomes of Small-Scale Food Producers: Double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers. This can be achieved through secure and equitable access to land, other productive resources, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
Target 2.4: Sustainable Food Production and Resilient Agricultural Practices: Foster sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that enhance productivity and production while maintaining ecosystems. These practices should strengthen our capacity to adapt to climate change, extreme weather events, drought, flooding, and other disasters, and progressively improve land and soil quality.
Target 2.5: Maintain the Genetic Diversity in Food Production: Preserve the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and farmed and domesticated animals, including their related wild species. This can be achieved through well-managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional, and international levels. Promote access to and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.
Target 2.6: Invest in Rural Infrastructure, Agricultural Research, Technology and Gene Banks: Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development, and plant and livestock gene banks to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, particularly least developed countries.
Target 2.7: Prevent Agricultural Trade Restrictions, Market Distortions and Export Subsidies: Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round.
Target 2.8: Ensure Stable Food Commodity Markets and Timely Access to Information: Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives. Facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, to help limit extreme food price volatility.
How You Can Make a Difference
Ending hunger requires collective action. Here is how you can contribute:
- Support a Goal 2 charity: Every contribution, no matter the size, can make a difference! Consider supporting our chosen charity: MITSkills Fundraiser or a cause close to your heart.
- Buy local and in-season produce: Support local farmers and reduce your carbon footprint.
- Reduce food waste: Freeze fresh produce and leftovers to prevent spoilage. Purchase fruits and vegetables that may not meet conventional cosmetic standards, helping to reduce food waste.
- Reduce meat consumption: Consider adopting a vegetarian diet one day a week to minimise the environmental impact of meat production.
- Stay informed: Follow local news and stay connected with the Global Goals online or on social media at @TheGlobalGoals.
By taking these steps, we can all contribute to a world where hunger is a distant memory, and everyone has access to the nutritious food they deserve.