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Incorporating nutritional considerations when addressing food insecurity

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Abstract

Addressing the challenges of global food security will benefit from the simultaneous incorporation of nutritional priorities that contribute to the good health of populations. Inclusion of nutritional considerations, when increasing availability and access to food, broadens the scope and objectives of agriculture and food production and thus contributes to an integrated concept of food and nutrition security. The poor quality of food and lack of diversity in the habitual diet of many who live in the developing world imposes enormous costs on societies in terms of ill health, lives lost, reduced economic productivity and poor quality of life. Micronutrient deficiencies are a problem that is much greater than hunger and is a prime example of the need to integrate both food and nutrition security. Sustainable food-based approaches to enable adequate consumption of micronutrients include dietary diversification and biofortification. Agriculture and agricultural biotechnology not only offer the opportunity of increasing crop yields, thereby increasing food security, but also have the potential to improve the micronutrient content of foods, thus contributing to the achievement of both food and nutrition security. Ensuring food and nutrition security will facilitate the attainment of the targets set for the Millennium Development Goals.

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  1. Institute of Human Nutrition, University of Southampton School of Medicine, Tremona Road, Southampton, UK

    Prakash Shetty

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Shetty, P. Incorporating nutritional considerations when addressing food insecurity. Food Sec. 1, 431–440 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-009-0039-6

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