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This paper aims to evaluate the progress made in achieving sustainable development goal-2 (SDG 2) in India, with a focus on ending hunger, ensuring food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. The assessment uses data from SDG Index reports, which offer a comprehensive overview of the advancements made by 28 states and 8 union territories (UTs) in India.

The evaluation is based on information derived from three editions of the SDG Index reports, initially published in 2018 and subsequently in 2019 and 2020. These reports provide a detailed analysis of the status and achievements of different states and UTs in relation to SDG 2. The categorization of states and UTs into aspirant, performer, front runner and achiever categories serves as a crucial framework for assessing the progress.

Despite concerted efforts by India, the majority of states and UTs are positioned in the aspirant and performer categories, suggesting that significant challenges persist in achieving SDG 2 targets. The results emphasize the necessity for stronger measures to elevate states and UTs to the categories of front-runners and achievers. The persistent challenges of malnutrition, hunger and their economic ramifications require immediate and strategic interventions to address these pressing concerns.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the progress towards SDG 2 in India, using the insights from the SDG Index reports. The categorization framework used in this assessment offers a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by different regions, highlighting the original contribution of this study. The findings underscore the urgency of targeted efforts to address malnutrition, hunger and related issues, emphasizing the importance of sustained commitment to achieving SDG 2 for the overall well-being of vulnerable populations.

This paper aims to examine the concept of poverty and malnutrition in Africa, implications and the way out.

Several literatures were reviewed on the causes, modes, implications and solutions to the contemporary challenges of poverty and malnutrition in Africa.

Poverty and malnutrition are two sides of a coin that are ravaging the African continent. These were as a result of underdevelopment, maladministration and lack of focus and vision by the generations of leaders saddled with administration in different African countries. Poverty in Africa embraces lack of basic human needs faced by people in African society. Many African nations are very poor, and their income per capita or gross domestic product per capita fall toward the bottom of list of nations of the world, despite a wealth of natural resources. In 2009, according to United Nations (UN), 22 of 24 nations identified as having “Low Human Development” on the UN’s Human Development Index were in sub-Saharan Africa and 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of least developed countries are in Africa. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 233 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry/undernourished in 2014-2016 (its most recent estimate). In total, 795 million people were hungry worldwide. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa was the area with the second largest number of hungry people, as Asia had 512 million, mainly due to the much larger population of Asia when compared to sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank also reported in 2012 that sub-Saharan Africa Poverty and Equity Data was 501 million people, or 47 per cent Poverty has also been reported as the principal cause of hunger in Africa and the principal causes of poverty have been found to be harmful economic systems, conflict, environmental factors such as drought and climate change and population growth.

This study examined the concept of poverty and malnutrition in Africa, the implications and the way out.

Considering Brazil as a food producer with global prominence and the urgency for food security in some developing countries, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the exports of Brazilian dry-beans against food security of its buyers.

The investigation was conducted through analysis of data from official databases as FAO and WHO. This study elaborated dispersion maps crossing characteristics of the international buyers of Brazilian dry-beans considering their food security situations.

Brazil has a high domestic consumption of dry-beans, and exports are seen as a secondary activity. However, its production is superior to their domestic needs. Exports of Brazilian dry-beans are generally volatile and unstable. Evidence suggests that countries with serious problems of child and population’s malnutrition (e.g. India and Angola) buy more Brazilian dry-beans. However, their domestic consumptions are still low.

This research based only on exports of dry-bean is faced as a significant limitation. Future studies adding other staple foods commonly consumed by economically disadvantaged populations may contribute to the investigation of the role of Brazil against the need for food security in developing countries and emerging economies.

Social implications are focussed in the pursuit of malnutrition decrease in the populations of developing countries through the consumption of nutritionally rich and economically viable food, such as dry-beans.

The original value is based on the analysis of Brazilian dry-beans production and trades and its potential to contribute to nutritional safety and food security in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to set the stage for the proceeding articles with background of the impressive yet incomplete progress made in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in China and India.

The paper provides background of the progress and challenges to achieving food security and nutrition in China and India. It then highlights the lessons learned from this special issue, and concludes with remaining knowledge gaps.

The paper summarizes findings from each article in the special issue.

Comparing the experiences of these two countries is essential to share knowledge and accelerate progress in eliminating poverty, hunger, and malnutrition both within these countries and globally.

The nexus between sustainable agri-food production and food security outcomes of farm households in sub-Saharan Africa is attracting policy attention. This study analyzes the effects of crop diversity on the incidence of food scarcity, dietary diversity, and the sale and consumption of own crops.

The study uses panel data collected in 2015 and 2018 on a randomly selected sample of 2553 households from 49 villages in northern Ghana. The study employed a fixed effects modeling approach in the empirical analysis.

The study finds that crop diversity is positively associated with better dietary diversity, reduced hunger, lower food expenditure, and higher consumption of own produce. The results show positive effects of crop diversity on the total harvested output and sale of agricultural production. Whilst sales improved sustainable food and nutrition security by providing purchasing power to buy nutritional inputs in the market, consumption of own produce rather improved food availability by reducing food scarcity and malnutrition.

Crop diversity is one of the pathways for promoting sustainable agri-food production systems to ensure the food and nutritional security of vulnerable populations and promote biodiversity to achieve environmental goals in sub-Saharan Africa. Crop diversity reduces food expenditure and raises rural incomes through improved outputs and sales, which empowers farm households to diversify their dietary options to be able to overcome incidences of hunger and malnutrition in periods of food scarcity.

The present study improves the understanding of sustainable agri-food production through crop diversity and its implications on food and nutrition security outcomes. The panel data and fixed effects modelling approach address the endogeneity problem between crop diversity and household tastes and preferences.

The purpose of this paper is to provoke reflections on the potential contribution of food tourism experiences to achieving the sustainable development goals for eradicating hunger and malnutrition.

In line with the creative analytic practice in scientific inquiry, this study develops and discusses a futuristic scenario inspired by a factual company. The case is based on ideas derived from studies on educational and food tourism and entrepreneurship, more precisely ecopreneurship.

Food tourism can offer an opportunity for discussing food challenges in the context of ideas and projects to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. This study shows that imagining such possibilities and projects is challenging because of the complexity of the issue.

This study suggests that despite some limitations, educational food tourism experiences might go well beyond the issues of regional development, localism and authenticity. Practitioners, including tourism entrepreneurs and private and public food and tourism organisations, might be essential to exploring alternative food tourism futures in ways that truly contribute to urgent global challenges.

The value of this paper lies in the use of a scenario to imagine and to reflect on the future of food tourism in relation to the global challenges of hunger and malnutrition. The paper suggests that the ideas from tourism studies and ecopreneurship can offer interesting perspectives on future developments in the sector.

Improving food security at the household level is very crucial in India as here many people are suffering from persistent hunger and malnutrition. In India, mounting pressure of population, adverse threats of climate change, fragmented land holding, high input cost etc. are very important which prevent to ensure food security. In India, there is malnutrition in all age groups, especially among children. Problem of low birth weight due to undernutrition of mother during pregnancy and underweight of children is very common in the country. The purchasing power of certain section of the society is so low that they cannot access food at the market price. They need the safety net of food subsidy. In India, food problem in the normative sense still continues to exist as millions of poor suffer from persistent hunger and malnutrition. This is the task to which food security system must address itself in future. There are some important factors which can increase yield growth and domestic supply of food substantially. Among these factors education and knowledge regarding improving farm efficiency, provision of an improved agricultural technology to the farmers, delivery of modern farm inputs, technical know-how, institutional credit to the farmers, and crop diversification are very essential to build a huge stock of food grains in India. Educated and trained people can acquire new skills and technologies required for growing agricultural output to meet the domestic demand.

This review aims to reexamine the main issues of the food problem under a new concept coined as “Four Ss with one F”. It aims to provide a stimulus for thinking food problems through a simple formula “Four Ss with one F” for getting the “full” story at a glance.

This descriptive paper is based on an extensive literature review as well as personal observations gained from previous studies.

The three Ss, security or insecurity, safety, and sovereignty have been major topics in the public agenda for a long time as food‐related problems. When the basic idea “food for all” is considered, these are not inclusive enough. The fourth concept can be described as shareability. These concepts are not competitive but complementary, even overlapping to some extent. Food sovereignty and shareability can be considered opposing concepts to the available free‐market based approaches in the efforts to bring all people food security and food safety. This revision evidenced that despite the many efforts in this field for several decades, present free market oriented approaches have not led to solutions to the problem of food security and providing safe food to all people, i.e. “food for all”. Hunger does not result from a shortage in the food supply as generally argued. The food problem is related to poverty and the inability to purchase food. It is not possible to solve hunger and nutrition problems and maintain a permanent social peace without equality and justice in income distribution throughout the world in such a way that poor people have enough income to access vital basic food needs.

This paper introduces a new concept in food science as shareability along with considering previous concepts of food, security, safety and sovereignty, all together.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges, interplay and potential directions for future service research to address the first three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of no poverty, zero hunger and good health and well-being.

This commentary examines how service research has addressed these SDGs in the literature, and through the development of a theory of change, the authors propose an agenda for service research going beyond serving, to enabling and transforming service systems, expanding the current focus on individual to community and population well-being through promotion and prevention.

Service research has increasingly advocated human-centered approaches but requires a shift towards an all of humanity perspective. Individual and collective well-being have gained attention in service research, emphasizing the importance of considering collective well-being.

The commentary underscores the need for a comprehensive approach to develop services that contribute to the well-being of the human species. It calls for research that transcends dyadic interactions, considers systemic dynamics and broadens the focus from individual to collective and population well-being.

This paper discusses important societal issues of poverty, hunger and good health and well-being and the need for integrated and ecosystem approaches to develop equitable and sustainable solutions for collective well-being.

While SDGs 1, 2 and 3 address individual goals, they collectively underpin the well-being of communities and societies.