FOOD SECURITY
Is the process of keeping food clean and safe at every stage until the food is consumed. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life
Components of food security
The four components of food security and supporting elements
1. Food availability. Enough nutritious food of sufficient quality needs to be available to people for their consumption. Availability can be affected by:
-Production: how much and what types of food are available through food that is produced and stored locally.
-Distribution: how is food made available (physically moved), in what form, when, and to whom.
Exchange: how much of food that is available can be obtained through exchange mechanisms such as barter, trade, purchase, or loans.
2. Food access. Individuals and households must be able to acquire sufficient food to be able to eat a healthy, nutritious diet, or have access to sufficient resources needed to grow their own food (e.g. land). Access can be affected by:
-Affordability: the ability of individuals, households or communities to afford the price of food or land for producing food, relative to their incomes.
-Allocation: the economic, social and political mechanisms governing when, where, and how food can be accessed by consumers and on what terms. For example, food may be unequally allocated according to age and gender within households.
-Preference: social, religious, and cultural norms and values that influence consumer demand for certain types of food (e.g. religious prohibitions or the desire to follow a specific dietary pattern such as vegetarianism).
3. Food utilisation. People must have access to a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their nutritional needs but must also be able to eat and properly metabolise such food. Utilisation can be affected by:
-Nutritional value: the nutritional value provided by the foods that are consumed, as measured in calories, vitamins, protein, and various micronutrients (e.g. iron, iodine, vitamin A).
-Health status: the effect of disease (e.g. HIV/AIDS or diarrhoea) on the ability to consume the food and absorb and metabolise its nutrients.
-Food safety: access to food free from food spoilage or from toxic contamination introduction during the producing, processing, packaging, distribution or marketing of food; and from food-borne diseases such as salmonella.
-Preparation and consumption: the resources (e.g. cooking tools and fuel), knowledge and ability to prepare and consume food in a healthy and hygienic way.
4. Stability. Food may be available and accessible to people who are able to utilise it effectively, but to avoid increases in malnutrition and in order for people not to feel insecure, this state of affairs needs to be enduring rather than temporary or subject to fluctuations.
Strategies that support household food security
Consume all meal soon after preparation
Cook a meal at a time
Store leftover food in a container or chilled in a refrigerator
Store cooked food and uncooked food items well protected from vectors
Do not mix uninfected and infected food material during storage
Check stored food periodically
