How $ 200 billion can transform global food systems ?

By (Prof) Dr Anuj Chugh

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$ 200 billion is just one-tenth of what the entire world spent on military and defence in the year 2021.

Either the world is a terrible place with terrible leaders or the general populace is full of apathy.

If we use that amount productively, the world can witness miracles.

The key is to revamp and overhaul our global food systems to make it more effective, sustainable, creating social equity, promoting social justice and fairness to all.

All humans may not be equal or ‘created equal’ but all must have more or less equal access to earth's bounty and what grows on it to promote their mental, physical, emotional health and development so that they can take charge of their lives and not perish due to avoidable causes of hunger, malnutrition, stunted growth and starvation.

How do I propose $ 200 billion be spent ? So what's the big plan ?

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-Sustainable agriculture practices using renewable sources of energy.

(Investment of $ 10 billion)

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-Mandatory worldwide composting of all organic waste generated worldwide to save soil.

(Investment of $ 25 billion)

-This also results in Zero organic waste being sent to landfills.

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-Urban farming so as to grow and feed the city population in the cities itself hence reducing transportation and logistics costs wherever we can.

(Investment of $ 15 billion)

-To this effect, vertical farming and Miyawaki method to be implemented creating urban agro-forests and practising agri-voltaics.

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-Remediation and biomining of all landfills worldwide. When proper remediation is done scientifically, we finally free a lot of organic waste rotting away in the world's landfills and compost it into manure which can be given back to the soil.

(Investment of $ 25 billion)

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-Ensure crop rotation is followed among all the small-scale landholders and farmers in the developing countries.

(Investment of $ 5 billion)

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-All the world's vulnerable population including both adults and children in all the countries must be provided food free of cost until they are able to stand on their own feet. We can have common kitchens to this effect that have the capability to cook food for as many as 50,000 people at one site.

(Investment of $ 25 billion)

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-Hunger is a worldwide problem and not restricted to African countries, we can see the rising instances of hunger in Latin America, Asia and in the USA itself which wastes 40% of its food.

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-The problem is never food production, it is rampant food wastage. Supermarkets being the major culprits who would throw away and send to landfills, food fit for consumption than to distribute it among the needy. Heavy penalties should be imposed on supermarkets throwing and wasting away food. It is a criminal offense in a world where an estimated more than 44,500 per day are dying due to hunger and starvation.

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-Elimination of hunger leads to elimination of poverty. A person who has nutrition rich food in their diet will be able to not only work well but work their way out of poverty. Nobody wants to live in poverty. However, it is a vicious circle as they can't get out of poverty because they do not have enough to eat and can't find work or if they have work they don't have the strength to work and can't afford a nutrient rich diet.

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-Elimination of all food losses taking place in transit and in all the farmlands worldwide, and all the food losses due to lack of storage infrastructure and cold storage facilities.

(Investment of $ 13 billion)

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-Informing the general public about the importance and benefits of better daily dietary choices so we can kill the artificial food processing / fast food / junk food industries which are harmful to the public and are also causing rising medical and healthcare costs globally.

(Investment of $ 2 billion)

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Total investment = $ 120 billion

We still have $ 80 billion surplus left for addressing emerging challenges while pursuing this great endeavour.

This $ 120 billion investment will rid the world of hunger, save our soil, eliminate food waste and food loss, reduce the size of the world's landfills and will lead to an exponential rise in global GDP.

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The point is to enlighten the world how much can be achieved when we have our priorities right in a world of plenty which does not even bat an eyelid when it wastes 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year, let as many as 95,000 people per day die of hunger (according to UN estimate) and yet has the audacity to spend insane amount of money on wars and armed conflicts.