Energy and Food Security

For humans to thrive and contribute to their communities, they must be able to access basic needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow classified basic human needs as food, water, shelter and sleep. According to Maslow’s paper, Theory of Human Motivation, consciousness is almost completely pre-empted by hunger. However, in the world today, hunger is still an issue, especially in underdeveloped countries. As part of addressing this challenge, the link between energy and food security must be explored.

Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is required to achieve most, if not all, the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. However, ending hunger depends on food availability, access, utilisation and stability, which all rely on energy access.

The link between energy and food security can be seen across the different stages of food production, from agriculture to processing to storage. In agriculture, energy is used to manufacture fertilisers and pesticides, operate irrigation systems and even operate farm equipment such as tractors. This means that a lack of energy to power these types of equipment would result in food unavailability. Also, to enable access to harvested food, the food must first be processed and then transported, which also requires energy. In no particular order, processing can broadly be broken into cleaning, cooking, cooling, extraction, baking, pureeing, brewing, pasteurising, boiling and drying. Electricity makes up about 50% of the energy used in processing foods such as meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and edible oils.

Approximately 14% of the food produced worldwide is lost annually between harvest and the retail market. A major contributor to this is the lack of adequate food storage systems. Apart from causing food insecurity, food loss affects the producers, leading to a 15% reduction in income, while also contributing as the world’s third-largest emitter of CO2. Improving storage systems, especially in developing countries, will go a long way in reducing food lost to waste globally. This is because refrigerating food requires reliable energy, and most developing countries, especially in Africa, have a high rate of energy poverty.

In order to address this, alternate energy sources must be employed by agricultural communities that lack grid connection, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. These alternate energy sources could be in the form of hydro or solar-powered mini-grids to enable agricultural productivity and income generation.

In addition, developing and employing cooling systems for harvested and processed food would go a long way in reducing the percentage of food lost. This translates into more available food to both local and international consumers. In Nigeria, the estimated food waste percentage is 40% of all food produced, according to the World Bank.

ColdHubs are solar-powered walk-in cold rooms developed and operated in Nigeria by ColdHubs Ltd. These cold rooms are for rent and installed in rural farms and markets that are unserved or underserved by grid lines. The cold rooms extend the shelf life of perishable foods such as fruits and vegetables for about 21 days. This technology reduces food wastage and improves the income generated by farmers on their produce.

The link between energy and food security is key to achieving the targets of SDG2. These targets include ending hunger, ending all forms of malnutrition and improving agricultural productivity by 2030. In addition, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy used productively to produce food will also improve the development of clean energy projects globally, which would also help countries meet their climate action goals.