Food Security in the Era of the SDGs

This book addresses the challenges to achieve food security, which can arguably be one of the axis of any transformational solution to the structural production and reproduction of hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. According to the picture depicted in the book, access to sufficient and safe food is not guaranteed for approximately 2.4 billion people, with women and children in rural areas being the most significantly affected. Particularly, the situation concerning children has set off all the alarms. Based on the data offered in the different chapters, the authors estimate that would be very difficult -if not impossible- to achieve the most important global objectives that the international community has committed to achieving by 2030: ending poverty, hunger, and food insecurity. This way, the most ambitious and well-intended development initiative the international community was able to put together in the history of humankind (the Agenda 2030) is derailing. Urgent expansion in the supply of the nutritious foods that constitute a healthy diet and a shift in consumption patterns are required -among other things- to effectively address SDGs targets. The book presents and discusses contributions of authors who have been thinking and facing those challenges in the academia and decision-making spheres. It is also a relevant contribution to rethinking the public policies of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, as well as the technical cooperation and financial assistance schemes for the region. The rethinking exercise sketched here places LAC both as a critical scenario and as a laboratory for envisioning innovative solutions that have the potential to not only transform the regional reality but also to be replicated in other regions with the proper adaptation to different contexts. Alberto D. Cimadamore is career Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research of Argentina (CONICET) based at the Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy (IIEP) of the University of Buenos Aires and CONICET. Carlos B. Cherniak is a career Ambassador in the Foreign Service of Argentina, currently on leave. He was the former Permanent Representative of Argentina to FAO, IFAD and WFP and member of their governance structures until 2024.