Vulnerabilities Podcast
Vulnerabilities
Marvi Memon & Layla Hameedi
Food Insecurity and Malnutrition - episode of Vulnerabilities podcast

Food Insecurity and Malnutrition

24 minutes Posted Dec 16, 2020 at 7:50 am.
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Over 2 billion people in the world today do not have access to safe and nutritious food. As we grapple with COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people facing acute hunger is expected to have doubled as we start 2021; and so are famines in conflict zones.  Alleviating food insecurity and its countless effects - for instance, malnutrition, stunting,  reduced GDP growth rates, increased displacement and exacerbated gender inequity - must be seen as a global policy priority. Layla Hameedi chats with Marvi Memon, who led Pakistan’s largest social safety net, the BISP with a budget size of $1.25 billion yearly being spent mainly on food supplements, which ensured food security to over 6 million chronic poor women.  The podcasts discusses some of the solutions to this crisis ranging from a combination of policy options for the most vulnerable: from nutrition conditional cash transfers, to food banks, to school meals, to micro credit, to climate smart agriculture.