Evidence Brief: Food Security

Because many of the world’s poorest people work in agriculture, raising farm productivity is critical to improving nutrition and limiting food insecurity.

Key Points: 

• The food security of the world’s poorest citizens has improved significantly in recent years, but about one in ten people worldwide are still not properly nourished. More than a fifth of all children are stunted, considered a key indicator of undernourishment.
• Poverty is the single biggest driver of food insecurity. Because most of the world’s poorest people work in agriculture, raising farm productivity is critical to improving nutrition.
• Conflict, air quality, and digestive disorders are emerging areas of investigation among food security specialists, illustrating the complexity of the issue.
• With so many approaches to improving food security under consideration, development specialists need tools to quickly assess what works and what does not.