Plenary, Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3)
Saving the harvest to feed and nourish a hungry world for healthy living – the role of postharvest science and technology in a sustainable future
Professor Umezuruike Linus Opara Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Many observers would argue that the world is at major cross-roads in efforts to find sustainable solutions to the existential challenges facing it. From climate change and rising temperatures to rising human population, loss of biodiversity, conflicts, and the challenge of food and nutrition insecurity, scientists, policy makers and development practitioners are challenged to find solutions to assure a sustainable future. In 2014, the African Union adopted Agenda 2063 – the Africa We Want, as the blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. Agenda 2063, which embodies 7 Aspirations, is considered the strategic framework for delivering on Africa’s goal for inclusive and sustainable development and a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress, and collective prosperity pursued under Pan- Africanism and African Renaissance. Goal #1 (A high standard of living, quality of life and well-being for all, including ending hunger), #3 (Healthy and well-nourished citizens), and #5 (Modern agriculture for increased proactivity and production) of Aspiration 1 (A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development) are particularly relevant to the first theme of this Conference. In September 2015, a UN Sumit adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address many of the great challenges facing our planet. Goal #2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture, while Goal # 3 aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. These Goals of both Agenda 2063 and SDGs are well aligned. Ending hunger requires the attainment of food and nutrition security at individual, family, national and global levels. The link between food security, good health, and overall human well-being has been established, and agriculture plays a critical role, which has led to the call for nutrition-sensitive agriculture. High incidence of postharvest losses and food waste has been reported globally, with losses higher in developing countries and waste higher in developed countries. The negative impacts of postharvest losses and food waste in exacerbating food and nutrition insecurity, natural resources over-exploitation, and environmental degradation, are now increasingly realised and documented through scientific inquiry. While efforts in the past century to address the challenge of food and nutrition insecurity focused largely on increasing production through the expansion of cultivated areas and promotion of intensive cultivation, we argue that the combination of saving the harvest and promoting sustainable consumption offers a new set of tools to feed and nourish both a hungry world and fragile planet. In this lecture, we also highlight the research and innovation at the South African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology, which focuses on reducing postharvest losses and food waste, adding value to agri-food value chains, and linking production to markets. A case study of an integrated approach to pomegranate research and value-addition is presented, underpinned by a multi-disciplinary approach to building South Africa’s and Africa’s human, infrastructural and institutional capacity for research and innovation to deliver the future of the Africa We Want in a sustainable world.
© The Author(s), 2023
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog