Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity
Definition
Percentage of population (households, adults, children) experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity.
In the Canadian Community Health Survey, food insecurity is defined as “the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so” (Household food insecurity in Canada: Overview).
Measurement and Limitations
The Canadian Community Healthy Survey includes a section referred to as the “Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM).” The module is an 18–question, standardized and validated scale of food insecurity that measures inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. Together these questions are used to assess degrees of food security at three levels: food secure, moderately food insecure and severely food insecure. For more information and to view the questions, see Household Food Security Survey Module.
The HFSSM is a household measure; it assesses the food security situation of adults as a group and children as a group within a household, but does not determine the food security status of each individual member residing in the household. It cannot be assumed that all members of a household share the same food security status.
Source
Canadian Community Health Survey (2017-18), Public Use Microdata File, acquired through the Canadian Community Economic Development Network’s Community Data Program.
Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity in the Sustainable Development Goals
Click on the SDG to reveal more information
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.90 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.
Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food.
If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all and generate decent incomes, while supporting people-centred rural development and protecting the environment.
Right now, our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded. Climate change is putting even more pressure on the resources we depend on, increasing risks associated with disasters such as droughts and floods. Many rural women and men can no longer make ends meet on their land, forcing them to migrate to cities in search of opportunities.
A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed if we are to nourish today’s 815 million hungry and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050.
The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues.