The issue of world food security must be balanced with global need
for energy security, improving the livelihoods of human populations,
(especially those dependent on agriculture) and ecological
intensification and sustainable use of natural resources.
The literature on food security identifies three fundamental dimensions
historically, which are applicable to products of animal origin:
availability of food, access to food,
and effective and safe utilisation of food.
A fourth dimension of sustainability and adaptability
is now increasingly recognised.
- Availability of food, for a given country, reflects both production
by suppliers of food commodities and also the balance of international trade. The
contribution made by livestock in mixed farming systems by fertilising arable land and providing
draught power remains an essential source of gains in crop yield and is generally underestimated.
- Access addresses the physical and financial capacity of households
to provide food for themselves. The first component concerns the effect of distance
from the consumer to the market or to producers and the stability of temporal supply
cycles including the processing of perishable food and second pricing factors.
- Utilisation of food relates to the quantities ingested, the overall
quality (nutritional, sanitary, etc.) of the products (intake of proteins, micronutrients
or energy), socio-cultural preferences (religious customs, etc.) and food consumption patterns. This
includes both malnutrition and overconsumption but also specific micronutrient balance.
- Sustainability and adaptability of the food system refers to the
capacity for sustainably maintaining agricultural production (including animal production),
national and international trade, storage and supply at the national level and food consumption
that will meet the demand in the long term, even in the context of new constraints.
It involves holistic perspectives which consider social, economic, technical, political and environmental factors including water,
land, biodiversity as well as greenhouse gases within a combined land use context.