GLOBAL WAR ON HUNGER AND CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE ROLES OF WORLD ENTOMOLOGISTS IN ENHANCING FOOD SECURITY

Usman Zakka and Luke C. Nwosu^*

Department of Crop and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

^*Corresponding Author’s Email Address -: ✉ luke2007ambition@yahoo.com

Accepted July 23, 2019

The global war on hunger and the roles of world entomologists in enhancing food security were reviewed and findings were highlighted for the attention of International Community. The current state of affairs shows that hunger is prevalent in countries of the world marked by violence and internal discord and in countries compromised agriculturally, technologically, economically and politically. World hunger statistics revealed that majority of the hungry people live in developing countries where 12.9% of the population is grossly undernourished. Hunger was directly linked to global food crises and the most important factors responsible for the global food insecurity were high rate of population growth relative to agricultural productivity of a country, insect pest attack, low capacity to store food products, low capacity to buy staples from other sources, climate change, insurgency, impoverished health, political instability and high proclivity for corruption. The current Global Hunger Index scores revealed hunger inequalities in different countries of the world and showed that hunger has declined over a long term. In the review, insects were implicated as the originator of global food crises and their activities culminate in substantial economic losses. World entomologists have key roles to play in order to make global impact in the fight against hunger and the roles include developing methods for preventing the importation and spread of destructive insects, embarking on extensive studies on the role of insects in agriculture, forestry, human and environmental health, designing and implementing pest management programmes for both urban and agricultural locations, coordinating public awareness and education programmes targeted at reducing hunger, discovering and cataloguing new species and classifying and preparing publications that help to identify different insect species and involving actively in pest control services and extension programmes. These functional responsibilities will help to control insect pest attack and reduce hunger by increasing agricultural productivity.

Key words: world entomologists; hunger statistics; global food crises; losses; agriculture.

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