A 2018 report by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) revealed that more 800 million of the world’s population go to bed hungry, that is, one of nine people in the world. Poverty is cited as the principal cause of hunger, with about half of the world’s poor population (i.e. 368 million) located in just five countries: India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The elimination of both hunger and poverty remain the long-standing global challenges and top of the grand challenges identified by United Nations (UN) through its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite the 2020 Global Hunger Index (GHI) putting worldwide hunger at a moderate level, projections indicate that the world is not on track to meet its SDG 2 – known as Zero Hunger – by 2030 and that approximately 37 countries will fail to even reach low hunger, as defined the GHI Severity Scale. Likely to exacerbate the situation is the potential impact of the novel coronavirus, which is set to worsen hunger levels and affect trajectories of many countries in meeting their SDG 2 projections. To address the hunger and poverty challenges observed in Africa (mostly Sub Saharan Africa), policies and programmes at a regional (i.e. Africa Strategy 2063) and national level have been put in place to contribute towards the elimination of these pressing global challenges.

Food security, which is defined as having, at all times, physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive and health life, is regarded as key to eliminating hunger and poverty. Food insecurity is often rooted in poverty and has long-term impacts on the ability of families, communities and countries to develop and prosper. Food security research investigating the food systems – production, processing, distribution and consumption – may be essential in informing policy and agricultural practices that address food insecurity and ultimately, poverty and hunger challenges. In recognition of the UN’s 2021 International Year (IYFV), fruits and vegetables have a crucial role in the complex food systems by providing nutritional and health benefits and ultimately, contributing to the SDGs 1 and 2 concerned with the elimination of poverty and hunger. The observance of the 2021 IYFV is important for the creation of awareness of, directing policy attention to, and sharing best practices on the nutritional and health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing the loss and waste of fruits and vegetables