90
R.S.V. Pullin
to food fi sh is dif fi cult, because most mainstream literature on food security and
most food security policies emphasize, mainly or exclusively, food energy security,
with hunger de fi ned on the basis of inadequate per caput food energy intake per day.
FAO de fi nes the per caput hunger threshold as 1,600–2,000 kcal/day. Food security
policy emphasizes the foods that provide the most energy: staple cereals, oils and
fats, and sugar and related products. From that food energy security perspective,
animal products (meat, offal, dairy products and fi sh) and other foods (fruit and
vegetables) are often lumped together as minor contributors. FAO ( 2009a ) gave
average dietary energy contributions for high (H) and low (L) income countries as:
cereals – H, 48%, L, 55%; oils and fats – H, 13%, L, 9%; sugar and related products –
H, 11%, L, 9%; and totals for all these components – H, 72%, L, 73%.
Good nutrition, or comprehensive food security, involves much more than food
energy security. This is where fi sh and fi sh products become important.
Comprehensive food security requires adequate availability and affordability of all
human nutritional requirements: proteins that provide all essential amino acids;
lipids that provide for normal development and functioning of tissues and organs,
especially cell membranes and the central nervous system; and micronutrients
(essential vitamins and minerals). Emergency interventions by governments and by
organizations such as the World Food Programme ( www.wfp.org ) and Oxfam
( www.oxfam.org ) recognize this. For the purposes of this chapter, food security
means that same suf fi ciency in all human nutritional requirements, including assurance of food safety.
The very word security implies that the resources upon which food production
and distribution depend be managed for their sustainability. The sustainability of
food production is therefore synonymous with food security. In this context, sustainability does not necessarily mean reliance on the same foods and food producing
ecosystems, as long as others are accessible and affordable. This is inevitable because
of seasonal variations in the availability of many food products, short-term climatic
uncertainties and long-term climate change, and changing dietary preferences.
However, ringing the changes on human food items and their production and distribution systems should, as far as possible, avoid constraining the options of future
generations. This was made explicit, as follows, in the following de fi nition of sustainable development in the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development, Our Common Future: “Sustainable development is development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” ( www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm ).
Dimensions of Food Security
Food security is required at household level, at sub-national (village, district or
province) level (for which the present author prefers the term local), and at national
level (Alamgir and Arora 1991 ) . All household members must avail of a minimum
necessary food intake, relative to their age and size, gender, type of work and, for
R.S.V. Pullin
to food fi sh is dif fi cult, because most mainstream literature on food security and
most food security policies emphasize, mainly or exclusively, food energy security,
with hunger de fi ned on the basis of inadequate per caput food energy intake per day.
FAO de fi nes the per caput hunger threshold as 1,600–2,000 kcal/day. Food security
policy emphasizes the foods that provide the most energy: staple cereals, oils and
fats, and sugar and related products. From that food energy security perspective,
animal products (meat, offal, dairy products and fi sh) and other foods (fruit and
vegetables) are often lumped together as minor contributors. FAO ( 2009a ) gave
average dietary energy contributions for high (H) and low (L) income countries as:
cereals – H, 48%, L, 55%; oils and fats – H, 13%, L, 9%; sugar and related products –
H, 11%, L, 9%; and totals for all these components – H, 72%, L, 73%.
Good nutrition, or comprehensive food security, involves much more than food
energy security. This is where fi sh and fi sh products become important.
Comprehensive food security requires adequate availability and affordability of all
human nutritional requirements: proteins that provide all essential amino acids;
lipids that provide for normal development and functioning of tissues and organs,
especially cell membranes and the central nervous system; and micronutrients
(essential vitamins and minerals). Emergency interventions by governments and by
organizations such as the World Food Programme ( www.wfp.org ) and Oxfam
( www.oxfam.org ) recognize this. For the purposes of this chapter, food security
means that same suf fi ciency in all human nutritional requirements, including assurance of food safety.
The very word security implies that the resources upon which food production
and distribution depend be managed for their sustainability. The sustainability of
food production is therefore synonymous with food security. In this context, sustainability does not necessarily mean reliance on the same foods and food producing
ecosystems, as long as others are accessible and affordable. This is inevitable because
of seasonal variations in the availability of many food products, short-term climatic
uncertainties and long-term climate change, and changing dietary preferences.
However, ringing the changes on human food items and their production and distribution systems should, as far as possible, avoid constraining the options of future
generations. This was made explicit, as follows, in the following de fi nition of sustainable development in the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development, Our Common Future: “Sustainable development is development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” ( www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm ).
Dimensions of Food Security
Food security is required at household level, at sub-national (village, district or
province) level (for which the present author prefers the term local), and at national
level (Alamgir and Arora 1991 ) . All household members must avail of a minimum
necessary food intake, relative to their age and size, gender, type of work and, for