Future smart food: Hidden treasures to address zero hunger in a changing climate

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 calls for the eradication of hunger and all forms of malnutrition. Food and nutrition security is achieved when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, WFP and IFAD, 2012). The challenge of achieving Zero Hunger becomes more profound if contextualized at a global scale, especially when considering climate change. During previous decades, crop production has focused on the cultivation of several starchy crops. While this approach of concentrating on a few high-yielding crops that respond well to high inputs has increased total food production and reduced food insecurity, it has left a significant nutrition gap due to the focus on a food basket that provides sufficient calories but a limited range of nutrients. Currently, most staple crops have reached their inherent growth limits, and future yield increases will not keep pace with population growth, leaving a production gap. Climate change is likely to reduce the area suitable for the cultivation of the current main staple crops, which would have enormous negative effects on agricultural production. This is especially important in Asia, where rice, a waterdependent crop, often dominates cropproduction. It follows from this scenario that Asian countries will not achieve Zero Hunger by following conventional approaches to agricultural development.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Zero Hunger