Sight and Life Magazine 1/2011

8EDITORIALOur history between two coversWhile April 2011 is the quarter-centenary of the founding ofSight and Life, we will be officially celebrating our birthday inOctober of this year, to tie in with World Food Day, which is celebratedevery year around the world on 16 October, and which Iwould like to see renamed World Food and Nutrition Day to recognizethat food does not automatically mean nutrition providingall the required micronutrients. Our jubilee celebrations willbe accompanied by the launch of a book recounting our 25-yearhistory in the context of the global fight against malnutrition. Ittells the story of the founding of Sight and Life, of our changingfocus over the course of time, and of our enduring commitmentto combating malnutrition worldwide. Watch this space for morenews of the book launch!As I mentioned in my opening remarks, our commitment tocombating global micronutrient malnutrition is more necessarythan ever before. I am writing this editorial against the backdropof extensive political unrest in the Arab world. Tunisia, Algeria,Syria, the Yemen and Egypt have witnessed unprecedented uprisingsagainst long-established governments; Libya is in a stateof civil war as we prepare to go to press. While the reasons forthese revolts are multi-faceted and vary in their detail from countryto country, there can be no doubt that the rising cost of foodis one of the main drivers. The populations of North Africa haveto dedicate 35 to 50% of their income to food (contrast this withthe USA, for instance, where the figure is 7%). From 2010 to 2011,the cost of wheat rose by 73%, that of maize by 88%.While these figures are already shocking, the future promisesto bring even more challenges. Global consumption of cerealsin 2010 amounted to two billion tons. This figure will doubleby 2050 in the light of unprecedented population growth. Andwhile the world’s population is growing, the resources availableto feed it are shrinking: the rising sea levels associated with climatechange are likely to eliminate vast swathes of land in thecourse of time, especially in the world’s poorest countries thatcannot afford costly flood defenses. At the same time, urbanizationcontinues inexorably: in China alone, half a million hectaresof arable land disappear each year as a result of that country’sspectacularly developing infrastructure.is written not only against the backdrop of the current politicalupheavals in the Arab world but also in the light of the appallingscenes following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan thathave claimed thousands of lives and left the country battling forsurvival in the face of a nuclear disaster whose possible consequencescan barely be imagined. Already we are hearing reportsof food and water that has been contaminated by radioactivity.“The task before us is greaterthan ever”At a moment in the history of our organization that calls forcelebration, and for honoring the efforts of everyone who hashelped to make Sight and Life what it is today, the task beforeus is greater than ever. Born in response to the famine createdby the war in Ethiopia in the mid-1980s, and initially focused onthe prevention of xerophthalmia caused by vitamin A deficiency,Sight and Life now works across the entire spectrum of micronutrients,creating the bridges that link scientific research, policymakingand programs on the ground. We have more opportunitiesto influence the world than ever before. We also have morechallenges. Our commitment in the face of those challenges is asstrong as ever. The spirit of the 1986 Sight and Life Task Forcelives on in today’s organization, and we are proud to carry itforward with us into the next quarter-century.Yours sincerely,“We are committed to combatingmalnutrition worldwide”In 2008 this publication predicted that micronutrient malnutritionwould result from the rising price of food. The issuein question was written against the background of the 2008 cyclonethat hit Burma and the earthquake that devastated areasof China in the late spring of the same year. The present editorial