Global hunger: a challenge to agricultural, food, and nutritional sciences

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2014;54(2):151-62. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2011.578764.

Abstract

Hunger has been a concern for generations and has continued to plague hundreds of millions of people around the world. Although many efforts have been devoted to reduce hunger, challenges such as growing competitions for natural resources, emerging climate changes and natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy, and diseases are posing threats to food security and intensifying the hunger crisis. Concerted efforts of scientists to improve agricultural and food productivity, technology, nutrition, and education are imperative to facilitate appropriate strategies for defeating hunger and malnutrition. This paper provides some aspects of world hunger issues and summarizes the efforts and measures aimed to alleviate food problems from the food and nutritional sciences perspectives. The prospects and constraints of some implemented strategies for alleviating hunger and achieving sustainable food security are also discussed. This comprehensive information source could provide insights into the development of a complementary framework for dealing with the global hunger issue.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Food Handling
  • Food Supply
  • Food Technology* / methods
  • Food Technology* / trends
  • Global Health
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Humans
  • Hunger*
  • Malnutrition / epidemiology
  • Malnutrition / prevention & control
  • Nutritional Sciences* / education
  • Poverty