From food security to food and nutrition security: role of agriculture and farming systems for nutrition

The concept of food security developed over the last 50 or more years addressed primarily the need for the production and access to adequate food grains to feed the world's increasing population. Nutrition security, a later development, was a much broader concept since nutritious and safe diets alongside adequate biological and proper social environments ensures appropriate growth and development in childhood and helps promote health and prevent disease in adulthood. The need for a paradigm shift in policy formulation from focusing on food security at the aggregate level to nutrition security at the level of each child and adult implied that the definition 'food and nutrition security' integrates both the conceptual frameworks of food security and nutrition security. This integrated approach aspires not merely to address the micronutrient malnutrition which is a bigger problem than food energy deficiency, but is a food-based approach that also tackles non-food factors such as water, sanitation and care practices.