About this Research Topic

Background

The task of feeding over 7 billion people around the world remains a serious challenge to critical stakeholders and governments of nations, especially for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) 2022, it was estimated that between 702 and 828 million people in the world experienced hunger in 2021. In recent times, world hunger witnessed a surge under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to an additional 150 million people facing hunger. The report of SOFI 2022 also revealed that Africa is the region with the heaviest burden of hunger globally where one in five people (20.2 % of the population) experienced hunger in 2021, with 9.1% in Asia, 8.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5.8% in Oceania, and less than 2.5% in North America and Europe. However, Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), also referred to as Zero Hunger, is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations (UN) to tackle food and nutrition insecurity among nations and declare member nations to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030.

Since the release of the UN SDG2 agenda in 2015, many member nations have been working hard in formulating and adopting a series of food and nutrition-sensitive policy interventions geared towards achieving the Zero Hunger target by 2030. Recently, Africa and other regions have been finding it difficult to achieve a remarkable reduction in hunger owing to some challenges such as; extreme poverty, population growth, unemployment, social exclusion, extreme weather conditions, corruption, violent conflicts, wars, and insurgencies. Also in recent times, the United Nations Food System Summit was conducted across various countries of the world with the goal to promote adequate food production and tweak food systems to address the persisting scourge of malnutrition.

This Research Topic aims to x-ray the progress achieved in the fight against hunger, the SDG 2 synergies among other SDGs, and the foreseeable opportunities and challenges of Africa and other regions of the world in achieving the Zero Hunger target by 2030. The goal is to explore the Zero Hunger plans and programs of African nations and other countries that incorporate the five SDG 2 principal targets; (i) end hunger and ensure access to safe nutritious, and sufficient food (ii) end all forms of malnutrition (iii) double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers (iv) ensure sustainable food production systems and implementing resilient agricultural practices and (v) maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, plants, and animals.

Submissions to this Research Topic should focus on studies related to progress, synergies, opportunities, and challenges of the Zero Hunger target in Africa and other regions of the world. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following themes
 Food and nutrition-sensitive intervention programs
 Zero Hunger (SDG 2) policy and programs
 Malnutrition among rural and urban households
 Scorecards for SDG 2 target
 Social Safety Net Programs and SDG 2
 Corruption, violent conflicts, climate change, and SDG 2
 Resilient Food Production Systems
 Issues related to resilient agricultural practices such as climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable intensification, among others
 All issues that are linked with access to productive resources such as secure and equal access to land, inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.

Keywords: SDG2, Malnutrition, Food (In)security, Corruption, Conflict Events, Nutrition Security

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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