Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) two may not be achievable in the year 2030.
This means hunger may not be eliminated in the world for the next nine years as envisaged by the United Nations SDG two framework.
Also, the quest to reduce stunted growth of children under five by 40%, anaemia in women within the reproductive age by 50% and children born with lesser weight by 30% in the year 2025 is not likely to be achieved, which means 2025 Global Nutrition Target may be a mirage.
Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, who disclosed this at the launch of the National Dialogues on Ghana’s Food Systems, said the current statistics in the global food systems suggest that the framework of the SDG two was not attainable.
She said reports emanating from the global food systems have revealed that globally, over 690 million people go to bed with hunger and over 3 billion people were unable to afford healthy diets.
She described the situation as disturbing, adding that the challenges pose by COVID-19 have the potential to worsen matters if world leaders do not find solutions early.
“Under these circumstances, we need renewed energy to address global food systems and the call by the UN Secretary-General to convene the Food System Summit to find pragmatic solutions to a dire global situation is therefore timely”, she added.
She said that the theme for Ghana’s National Dialogues: “Towards Resilience for Improve Food Security and Nutrition” was apt because COVID-19 has exposed the weaknesses of the country’s food systems and has taught Ghana that it was time she developed resilient systems that work and could withstand shocks such as the pandemic.
She, therefore, urged all stakeholders in the food system to work hard to improve food production to increase food availability and affordability for all mankind.
The National Dialogues forms part of the UN Secretary-General’s intended meeting on a Food Systems Summit in September 2021, as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
The Summit will be organised through dialogues at global, continental, national, and sub-national levels to awaken the world, especially in the face of COVID-19, to rethink the Food Systems of countries and the world to ensure that countries recover strongly to meet the SDGs.
Ishmael Batoma, ISD
