SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 2

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

OBJECTIVE:
Unfortunately, extreme hunger and malnutrition remain a huge barrier to development in many countries. There are 821 million people estimated to be chronically undernourished as of 2017, often as a direct consequence of environmental degradation, drought and biodiversity loss. Over 90 million children under five are dangerously underweight. Undernourishment and severe food insecurity appear to be increasing in almost all regions of Africa, as well as in South America.

The SDGs aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people–especially children–have sufficient and nutritious food all year. This involves promoting sustainable agriculture, supporting small-scale farmers and equal access to land, technology and markets. It also requires international cooperation to ensure investment in infrastructure and technology to improve agricultural productivity.

HOW ANIMAL EXPLOITATION UNDERMINES THIS GOAL

Since 83% of farmlands is given over to producing feed for livestock and the production of meat and dairy, for a nutrient value that is only 18% of the calories that are consumed by humans, the global commercial production of meat, fish and dairy on the current scale is inherently wasteful and leads to hunger, since much of these scarce resources devoted to animals come from countries where populations are under-nourished.

Furthermore, the nutrient value of a plant-based diet far outweighs that of an animal-based diet. Land currently used for livestock feed crops and grazing could be used to grow plant food crops and feed more people well. Local food production would be enhanced, with less packaging, refrigerating and shipping. Applying veganic crop rotation farming methods and the development of forest gardens could regenerate more arid landscapes and land previously used for animal agriculture could be reforested and rewilded.