Nothing vast comes into a mortal’s life without a curse. Understanding the impact of pesticide pathways can be complex and multifaceted due to the major food system challenges faced by humanity. Reconfiguring the food system so that everyone has access to a healthy diet while ensuring that the planet's ecology is protected. Many developing countries face serious health and environmental problems caused by the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. The incidence of pesticide poisoning is 2-3 people per minute and that about 20,000 workers die from pesticide poisoning each year, most of them in emerging countries (WHO, UNEP). From an environmental point of view, pesticide-contaminated water flows through surface and groundwater, damaging fisheries and freshwater ecosystems. The runoff into the ocean can greatly damage the marine ecology at river entrances and cause the death of large numbers of marine life. The health and environmental hazards of pesticides can be partially averted through education and incentives to curb the trend towards overuse, which is the first step towards achieving the sustainable development goals. But there is also a need for measures to address other important challenges, like poverty alleviation, increasing social equity and inclusion, improving education as while as health care, protecting biodiversity, developing sustainable resource and energy, ensuring water security, and adapting to and mitigating climate change. These interrelated challenges are embodied in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, which is centered on 17 sustainable development goals. Therefore, the management of these solutions to improve ecological and environmental security requires increased dialogue and cooperation among the various public and private sectors. We should harness the power of our emerging technologies and vast human ingenuity to secure a better future for our children. However, it will be difficult to achieve the global goals before 2030. Ahead of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, progress around the world has been uneven and most areas need more attention. The abrupt emergence of the novel coronavirus has stalled the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and, in some cases, rolled back decades of progress.
Can the sustainable development goals reduce the burden of nutrition-related non-communicable diseases without truly addressing major food system reforms?
