Global Food Security

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY
GENERAL INFORMATION
 The demand for food will be 60% greater than it is today and the challenge of
food security requires the world to feed 9 billion people by 2050 (Breene, 2016).
 Agriculture accounts for 18%of the economy’s output and 47% of its workforce.
India is the second biggest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. Yet
according o he Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations,
some 194 million Indians are undernourished, he larges number of hungry
people in any single country. An estimated 15.2% of the population of India are
too malnourished to lead a normal life. A third of the world’s malnourished
children live in India.
 After decades of steady decline, the trend on world hunger – as measured by the
prevalence of undernourishment – revered in 2015, remaining virtually
unchanged in the past three years at a level slightly below 11 percent.
Meanwhile, the number of people who suffer from hunger has slowly increased.
As a result, more than 820 million people in the world are still hungry today,
underscoring the immense challenge of achieving the Zero Hunger target by
2030.
 This recent trend is confirmed by estimates of severe food insecurity in the world
based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), which is another way to
monitor hunger.
 Hunger is on the rise in almost all sub regions of Africa, the region with the
highest prevalence of undernourishment at almost 20%. It is also rising slowly in
Latin America and the Caribbean, although the prevalence there is still below 7%.
In Asia, where undernourished affects 11 percent of the population, Southern
Asia saw great progress in the last five years but still he sub region with the
highest prevalence of undernourishment, at almost 15 %, followed by Western
Asia at over 12 percent, where the situation is worsening.
 Estimates of SDG Indicator 2.1.2, which monitors progress towards the target of
ensuring access to food for all, reveal that a total of about 2 billion people in the
world experience some level of food insecurity, including moderate. People who
are moderately food insecure may not necessarily suffer from hunger, but they
lack regular access to nutritious and sufficient food, putting them together risk of
various forms of malnutrition and poor health.
 This new indicator also reveals ha even in high- income countries, sizeable
portions of the population lack regular access to nutritious and sufficient food; 8%
of the population in Northern America and Europe is estimated to be food
insecure, mainly a moderate levels.
 In every continent, the prevalence of food insecurity is slightly higher among
women than men, with the largest differences found in Latin America.
DEFINITION
1. Global food security means delivering sufficient food to the entire world
population. I also signifies he sustainability of society such as population
growth, climate change, water scarcity and agriculture.
2. Food Security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and
economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary
needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (1996, World Food
Summit).
3. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines four dimensions of food
security:
 Availability – the supply of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate
quality where it is needed.
 Access – people have secure access to this food so that they can
cultivate or purchase adequate food.
 Utilisation – food can be used and digested suitably and as needed.
 Stability – the supply of food is stable in the long term.
FACTORS AFFECTING FOOD SECURITY

a. ENVIRONMENT DESTRUCTION
The challenges to food security can be traced to the protection of the
environment. A major environmental problem is the destruction of natural habitats,
particularly through deforestation (Diamond, 2006). Industrial fishing has contributed
to a significant destruction of marine life and ecosystems (Goldburg, 2008).
Biodiversity and usable farmland have also declined at a rapid pace.
b. WATER CRISIS
Another significant environmental challenge is that of the decline in the
availability of fresh water (Conca, 2006). The decline in the water supply because of
soil or desertification (Glantz, 1977), has transformed what was once considered a
public a good into a privatized commodity. The poorest areas of the globe
experience disproportionate share of water-related problems. The problem is further
intensified by the consumption of “virtual water,” wherein people inadvertently use
up water from elsewhere in the world through the consumption of water-intensive
products (Ritzer, 2015). He destruction of the water ecosystem may lead to the
creation of “climate refugees, people who are forced to migrate due to lack of
access to water or due to flooding” (Ritzer, 2015, p.211)
c. CLIMATE CHANGE
Pollution through toxic chemicals has had a long-term impact on the
environment. The use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has led to significant
industrial pollution (Dinham, 2007). Greenhouse gases, gases that trap sunlight and
heat in earth’s atmosphere, contribute greatly to global warming. In turn, this
process causes the melting of land-based and glacial ice with potentially
catastrophic effects (Revkin, 2008), the possibility of substantial flooding, a
reduction in the alkalinity of the oceans, and destruction of existing ecosystems.
Ultimately, global warming poses a threat to the global supply of food as well as to
human health (Brown, 2007). Furthermore, population growth and its attendant
increase in consumption intensify ecological problems. The global flow of
dangerous debris is another major concern, with electronic waste often dumped in
developing countries.
d. LAND DEGRADATION
The excessive feeding of vegetation for cattle, sheep and goats that may result
for the consumption of roots and sparse of the vegetation to which it disables the
reproduction of crops and fades the ability for food release established in this crops.
Also, slash-and-burn farming and large-scale deforestation were greatly impairing
soil fertility. Most forests in developing countries and emerging economies are
slashed and burnt in order to obtain new agricultural acreage. Another is the
incorrect irrigation where it keeps the salt content of the soil and disables the
enrichment state of the soil. Naturally, a proper drainage is a must to remove the
salt content of the soil and avoid being salinized that may cause for the soil to grow
arable crops no more.
e. GREEDY LAND DEALS

Particularly in developing countries and emerging economies, both international
and local investors secure large parcels of land for themselves, using long-term
purchasing or lease agreements, in order to cultivate food, feed or energy crops,
particularly for exports. In view of rising agricultural and land prices, land is however
also increasingly becoming an object of speculation for investors. Many of these
large-scale land purchases and leases lead to the displacement of the local
population and endanger the local and regional food supply. This acquisition of land
is referred to as landgrabbing. It frequently takes place behind closed doors, and no
reliable figures are available.

Global Food Security

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Global Food Security

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Global Food Security

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

FACTORS AFFECTING FOOD SECURITY

e. GREEDY LAND DEALS

You might also like