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AREAS OF FOOD SUFFICIENCY AND DEFICIENCY
- Explain how changes in agricultural systems, scientific and technological innovations, the expansion of the area under agriculture and the growth of agribusiness have increased the availability of food in some areas, starting with the Green Revolution and continuing since.
- Examine the environmental, demographic, political, social and economic factors that have caused areas of food deficiency and food insecurity.
defining food sufficiency, food deficiency and food insecurity
Food sufficiency
The amount of food produced meets the needs of the population. This can operate at a variety of scales, but is a collective term (i.e. it does not usually apply to individuals). Food sufficiency is not related to the location where the food is produced or consumed; rather, economic food security (the ability to pay for food) allows for imported food and thus food sufficiency.
Food deficiency
The amount of food produced does not meet the needs of the population. The globalised food production chain has led to an area of high production not necessarily having sufficient food.
Food insecurity
Food security means "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life", so food insecurity means any negative reiteration of this term: when not all people, or not at all times, have access to food. This means food insecurity can exist because individuals within the population do not have food. This is different to food sufficiency which refers to the nation (or region, town, group etc.) as a whole having enough food.
The amount of food produced meets the needs of the population. This can operate at a variety of scales, but is a collective term (i.e. it does not usually apply to individuals). Food sufficiency is not related to the location where the food is produced or consumed; rather, economic food security (the ability to pay for food) allows for imported food and thus food sufficiency.
Food deficiency
The amount of food produced does not meet the needs of the population. The globalised food production chain has led to an area of high production not necessarily having sufficient food.
Food insecurity
Food security means "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life", so food insecurity means any negative reiteration of this term: when not all people, or not at all times, have access to food. This means food insecurity can exist because individuals within the population do not have food. This is different to food sufficiency which refers to the nation (or region, town, group etc.) as a whole having enough food.
global patterns of sufficiency and deficiency
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The graph to the right shows the level of undernourishment by region. The proportion in all developing regions suffering from undernourishment is decreasing.
Food sufficiency can be examined through the proportion of people who are hungry or undernourished. Countries and territories with strong food sufficiency are likely to have fewer hungry or undernourished people. It's important to note that this can mask huge internal disparities in the availability of food. |
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The map below shows the risk of food shortage in a country (in 2012) but it does NOT show the actual amount of food shortage. Therefore, countries such as India appear at high risk though currently the country has enough food to feed itself. Sufficiency is clearly located in High Income Countries. This correctly suggests that food sufficiency is strongly correlated to the economic availability of food, i.e. countries that are at low risk are in that position because they can pay for food imports.
Source of map above: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/graphic/2012/oct/10/food-security-risk-index-map
The map below is the FAO World Hunger Map for 2014. Rather than showing the risk of food deficiency, it instead shows the proportion of undernourished people in that country. The pattern remains remarkably similar to the risk of food shortage seen above.
Source of map above: http://www.fao.org/hunger/en/
the green revolution: food sufficiency in LICs and MICs
Low Income Countries and Middle Income Countries have successfully avoided potential famine and food shortage for the most part. Exceptions are newsworthy, rather than common. This is partly due to the Green Revolution.
History
The Green Revolution is a term given to the expansion of new agricultural techniques from the 1940s onwards. The videos below describe the history of the movement.
The Green Revolution is a term given to the expansion of new agricultural techniques from the 1940s onwards. The videos below describe the history of the movement.
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Tip: You can see a 10 minute video with questions embedded at EDpuzzle
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Changes in agricultural systems
Ultimately the Green Revolution was about changing the ways in which agriculture operated. The Lower Ganges valley in India is an example of where Green Revolution techniques improved the production of food. The document to the right is an excellent case study. (Note: Adapted by this website, but original source not known.) |
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increasing the quantity of food produced
Scientific and technical innovations
These include:
These include:
- High Yield Varieties (HYVs), such as IR8, a type of rice that grows shorter and therefore is less likely to be blown over in the wind
- Artificial fertilizers. However, these have brought new problems - the potential energy of fossil fuels used in fertilizer is less than the calorific value of the food produced with their help
- Pesticides - chemicals used to kill pests and weeds
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Expansion of the area under agriculture
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Note: key term - 'brackish water' is water that has more salt than freshwater but less than sea water.
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The growth of agribusiness
Agribusiness refers to the practice of agriculture solely for market, i.e. for commercial reasons. In HICs the vast majority of farming is done on a commercial basis, with the farmers keeping little if anything for their own food supply. However, in MICs and LICs, the number of farmers who operate on a subsistence (keeping the entire crop as the household food supply) or mixed subsistence/commercial basis is much larger, though there are few statistics about this. Most of these farmers are smallholders which means they have a relatively small amount of land. This prevents efficient use of the land because of a lack of income to spend on improvements such as mechanisation, fertilizers and pesticides. It's notable, however, that many of these smallholdings are considered highly environmentally sustainable. Unfortunately, they fail to provide food security because if a crop fails, there is no spare capacity (e.g. profit left over from the previous harvest) which can be used as a backup.
Agribusiness refers to the practice of agriculture solely for market, i.e. for commercial reasons. In HICs the vast majority of farming is done on a commercial basis, with the farmers keeping little if anything for their own food supply. However, in MICs and LICs, the number of farmers who operate on a subsistence (keeping the entire crop as the household food supply) or mixed subsistence/commercial basis is much larger, though there are few statistics about this. Most of these farmers are smallholders which means they have a relatively small amount of land. This prevents efficient use of the land because of a lack of income to spend on improvements such as mechanisation, fertilizers and pesticides. It's notable, however, that many of these smallholdings are considered highly environmentally sustainable. Unfortunately, they fail to provide food security because if a crop fails, there is no spare capacity (e.g. profit left over from the previous harvest) which can be used as a backup.
factors causing food deficiency and insecurity
Social factors
- Education levels amongst farmers - low levels of education, especially regarding sustainable practices and crop diversification, have been reduced during the Green Revolution but still affect places, especially where the climate is changing and traditional farming practices need to adapt to new conditions
- Donation fatigue from rich countries providing aid - in the past, richer countries may have provided poor areas with income or direct food aid, but as the problem appears to never be solved, this aid reduces per capita in the destination
- Affluence of the population leads to changing dietary habits - as the population becomes richer, more people move from a predominantly vegetarian diet to a more expensive meat diet, which requires more land and more grain for feeding the animals. This reduces the land and grain available for the human population
Political factors
- Increase in the use of biofuels by richer countries - the USA and Brazil especially began to produce greater levels of biofuels which reduced the area under cultivation for food
- Underinvestment in agriculture - successive governments, especially in poorer countries, have failed to invest in their agricultural infrastructure resulting in a loss of productivity. In 1986, 20% of foreign aid went to agricultural development; by 2006 it was 3%
- Government policies to give land to smallholders - though this is rare, some governments have attempted to distribute land as part of a social policy to enfranchise the electorate. This occurred in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, resulting in a huge drop in productivity. 6,000 white farmers were replaced by 245,000 Zimbabwean (black) farmers, resulting in a decrease in output as efficiency was lost
- Conflict - when war or internal conflict occurs, the availability of food often decreases as farmers stop working the land, and the distribution infrastructure is destroyed. It can also prevent inputs (such as oil) getting through
Economic factors
- Increasing price of oil and energy - oil prices rise and fall significantly in short periods of time. In HICs, energy companies and large agribusinesses buy their energy several years in advance to ensure a consistent supply, but for smallholders this is impossible and they are forced to pay more when the price goes up.
- Increasing food prices - regardless of the supply of food locally, prices may increase due to world markets. LICs are generally unable to cope resulting in food crises such as in 2008
- Speculative trading in agricultural commodities - large companies and investors may purchase future crops in the hope of saving money if they think the price will increase in the future. This is called speculative trading on the futures market, because they are speculating on the future price. This type of trading can leave farmers out of pocket if they sell their future crops cheaply, then find that the price of inputs (such as oil or labour) has increased. The long term impact is that there is a tendency to oversupply, just in case they need to sell more. However, this itself leads to a decrease in production as the price of the food decreases due to too much supply.
- Diversification of the economy towards secondary and tertiary sectors - some countries are working hard to move people from the farms to the cities and into more profitable occupations (see migration, below)
Environmental factors
- Natural hazards - the impact of tropical cyclones, heavy rain, flooding, drought and other natural hazards (less so with volcanoes and not at all with earthquakes) can reduce the harvest
- Climate change - while some areas might 'win' with climate change and be able to produce more, these are generally areas which do not have a farming infrastructure and are more likely to be in HICs. The MICs and LICs in the tropics are those 'losing' from climate change, finding their climate becoming more erratic and generally drier
Demographic factors
- Rising demand for food due to population increase - as populations go up, the demand for food increases
- Migration - migration to the cities away from farming areas frequently leaves behind fewer farmers, and older farmers who are not able to produce as much as the younger (possibly educated) younger farmers. They are also often likely to be caring for children which further reduces the potential for productivity
