Ecology and Human Nutrition

Adequate nutrition lies at the heart of the fight against hunger and poverty (Sanchez et al. 2005). Great strides in reducing hunger through increases in agricultural productivity have been made worldwide; however, more than 900 million of people remain chronically underfed, i.e. do not have access to continuously meet dietary requirements (FAO 2008). It has long been known that malnutrition undermines economic growth and perpetuates poverty (World Bank 2006). Healthy individuals contribute to higher individual and country productivity, lower health care costs, and greater economic output by improving physical work capacity, cognitive development, school performance, and health (Grosse and Roy 2008). Unrelenting malnutrition is contributing not only to widespread failure to halve poverty and hunger, the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but if not appropriately eradicated, many of the other MDGs such as reducing maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, universal education, and gender equity will be difficult to achieve (World Bank 2006). Yet the international community and most governments in developing countries continue to struggle in tackling malnutrition in all its complexity.