Present Status and Challenges in Meeting Food Demand: Case Studies with Respect to Developing Countries

With the ever-increasing trend in the global population, providing sufficient nutritious food to everyone has become a serious challenge. The situation is undoubtedly more critical in developing countries where the population explosion, poverty, joblessness, illiteracy, undernourishment, lack of awareness, and infrastructural insufficiency in the field of food production and marketing, etc. are more pronounced compared to the developed countries. Moreover, several unprecedented incidents viz. the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc. have posed a great negative impact on the existing situation. However, some countries have taken several initiatives to face the challenges of food and nutritional security by adopting sustainable agricultural practices, modifying food distribution and delivery systems, introducing novel marketing strategies, etc. This chapter, thus, focuses on the present status of food demand in the developing countries of the world, the key determinants of food insecurity, the measures taken by the farmers and others concerned, the policy regulations to attenuate the problems, etc. in detail. The role of advanced food production and preservation technologies along with conscious usage of non-renewable natural resources have also been discussed. The application of innovative tools and techniques like machine learning, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, global positioning system, etc. has also been mentioned. It was observed that the establishment of food security is a multidimensional approach that can only be possible by co-ordinating the traditional and modern agro-industrial practices, disease management strategies, and proper execution of planning in this sector with the help of national and international committees.