Today’s world is characterised by the coexistence of agricultural bounty and widespread hunger and malnutrition.1 Recent years have seen a reversal of a decades old trend of falling hunger, alongside the re-emergence of famine.1 National and global evidence shows that ensuring an adequate food supply is still an important contribution to eradicating hunger.
However, generating more food in the form of staple grains or tubers is not enough. Good nutrition and an end to hunger both require everyone to have an appropriate diet. How can that be achieved?
A recent report for the World Committee on Food Security argued that “malnutrition in all its forms—not only hunger, but also micronutrient deficiencies,
as well as overweight and obesity is a critical challenge not only in the developing but also in the developed countries. Resolving malnutrition requires a better
understanding of the determinants and processes that influence diets.”1 Malnutrition ranges from extreme hunger and undernutrition to obesity (box 1).
Furthermore, malnutrition is found in all countries, irrespective of their economic development, where people lack high quality diets.Thus, solutions to hunger and to all forms of malnutrition need to focus on ensuring an adequate supply of food, but equally, on the quality of diets.
