five methods of alleviating food shortages and malnutrition in the community by use of surveillance data

Food Security Food security refers to the long-term availability and access to nutritious rich food and stable supply of food. There remain enormous challenges to achieve it at the global community and regional scale but it is important that communities are realizing that they need to tackle food security in the long term rather than food shortage in the short term. This will alleviate food shortage Increasing yield through sustainable farming Sustainable farming or organic farming is not just a niche market in high income countries, there is a real need for its broad development in low income countries. Sustainable farming puts the environmental resources of soil, water and trees first and it has a strong emphasis on social welfare, which effectively means increasing income and food supply to poor farmers. Sustainable farming falls under the broader classification of permaculture. Permaculture is defined as a branch of ecological design that develops sustainable human settlements and self-maintained agricultural systems modelled from natural ecosystems. For poor farmers to make the switch to permaculture or organic farming they need state support. This support can be provided in education and training and improved access to information on markets. Promotion of traditional food crops Another strategy to maintain adequate diets among the poor that gained attention in the 1980s was the promotion of traditional food crops such as vegetables, fruits, pulses and certain cereals and tubers that are habitually consumed in rural areas. With the strong emphasis on the production of staple cereals in earlier years, the so-called "minor crops" had been neglected. Encouraging production of these traditional foods is now recognized as a way to broaden the food base and ensure a minimum supply of food prior to the harvest. These foods add diversity to diets and help to prevent micronutrient deficiencies. They are especially important in poor households and for women, who tend to be the main producers and consumers of traditional food crops. Align other sectors with nutrition goals: It seems common sense that agriculture, social safety nets and other important sectors could also play a role in advancing nutrition progress. Yet until this point, these programs have often not been designed, implemented or evaluated with improved nutrition outcomes in mind. Going forward, countries should take the opportunity to better integrate nutrition goals into these sectors. Donors should also support rigorous impact evaluations and studies to build a richer evidence base of what works with nutrition-sensitive approaches in agriculture, social safety nets and other sectors.