the syllabus says |
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- Identify global patterns of calorie intake as one measure of food availability.
- Distinguish between malnutrition, temporary hunger, chronic hunger and famine.
- Discuss the concept of food security.
global patterns in calorie intake
The map below shows calorie intake for 2010. Calorie intake is highest in High Income Countries in North America and Europe, such as France and the Canada, both with between 3480-3770 calories per person per day. The lowest levels are in central Sub-Saharan Africa such as the Democratic Republic of Congo with fewer than 1890 calories per person per day. Outside of North America and Europe, there are significant variations within continents, such as Brazil and Bolivia (which is the only country in the continent to have fewer than 2170 calories per person per day) in South America and China and Cambodia in Asia.
Source: http://chartsbin.com/view/1150
definitions: malnutrition, temporary hunger, chronic hunger and famine
Malnutrition
Malnutrition results from deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in the consumption of macro- and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition may be an outcome of food insecurity, or it may relate to non-food factors, such as: - inadequate care practices for children, - insufficient health services; and - an unhealthy environment.
Hunger
Hunger is usually understood as an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by insufficient food energy consumption. Scientifically, hunger is referred to as food deprivation.
Temporary hunger
A short term physiological need for food. (Source: Oxford Course Companion.)
Chronic hunger
A long term physiological need for food. The human body needs an average of 1800kcal per day and without this, over a long period of time (weeks and months) the body will begin to metabolise fat, muscle tissue and eventually organs, resulting in death.
Famine
An extreme shortage of food resulting in mortality. (Source: Oxford Course Companion.) The World Food Programme goes further, stating:
"While there are various definitions of famine, many experts say that there must be evidence of three specific outcomes before a famine can be declared:
A further important term is undernourishment. The World Food Programme (WFP) defines this as "the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are 842 million undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries".
Malnutrition results from deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in the consumption of macro- and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition may be an outcome of food insecurity, or it may relate to non-food factors, such as: - inadequate care practices for children, - insufficient health services; and - an unhealthy environment.
Hunger
Hunger is usually understood as an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by insufficient food energy consumption. Scientifically, hunger is referred to as food deprivation.
Temporary hunger
A short term physiological need for food. (Source: Oxford Course Companion.)
Chronic hunger
A long term physiological need for food. The human body needs an average of 1800kcal per day and without this, over a long period of time (weeks and months) the body will begin to metabolise fat, muscle tissue and eventually organs, resulting in death.
Famine
An extreme shortage of food resulting in mortality. (Source: Oxford Course Companion.) The World Food Programme goes further, stating:
"While there are various definitions of famine, many experts say that there must be evidence of three specific outcomes before a famine can be declared:
- At least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages with limited ability to cope.
- The prevalence of global acute malnutrition must exceed 30 percent.
- Death rates must exceed 2 deaths per 10,000 people per day."
A further important term is undernourishment. The World Food Programme (WFP) defines this as "the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are 842 million undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries".
food security: what does it really mean?
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. This means that people have both physical access to food and the economic means to pay for it.
There are three factors that affect food security:
There are three factors that affect food security:
- Food availability: there is enough food in the area to meet the needs of the population on a consistent basis
- Food access: the economic and other needs (such as infrastructure) for people to get enough nutritious food
- Food use: the food that is available must be used in a sustainable and healthy way e.g. an understanding of the need for basic nutrition, and of the importance of sanitary food preparation practices
Worldwide food security
The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) describes the level of food security worldwide and in countries, measured on a points scale from 0-100. Among the findings of the 2014 report were:
- Overall global food security improved in the last year
- Food security increased for 70% of the countries in the 2014 GFSI.
- Lower spending on food as a share of household consumption in most countries and better food safety net programmes, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), contributed to a notable increase in Affordability.
- Although the bottom tier of the index includes many Sub-Saharan African countries, food security improved more in this region than any other.
Food security: contrasting viewpoints
FAD
The cause of food insecurity is historically seen as being due to a lack of available food in a local area, usually due to problems such as climate, weather, transport and storage. These factors are discussed as 'Food Availability Deficit' factors, or FAD for short. These FAD factors describe local problems to the amount of food available.
FED
Since the 1980s there has been an increasing understanding that famine and malnutrition may be occurring even when there is an increase of food production per capita. Therefore, food insecurity is caused by the political and economic factors that affect people's access to food. These are known as 'Food Entitlement Deficit' factors, or FED for short. FED factors describe the inability of people to purchase food, even if it is available in their local area.
In most areas of food insecurity, FED factors dominate, but FAD factors are undoubtedly responsible for some food shortages.
The cause of food insecurity is historically seen as being due to a lack of available food in a local area, usually due to problems such as climate, weather, transport and storage. These factors are discussed as 'Food Availability Deficit' factors, or FAD for short. These FAD factors describe local problems to the amount of food available.
FED
Since the 1980s there has been an increasing understanding that famine and malnutrition may be occurring even when there is an increase of food production per capita. Therefore, food insecurity is caused by the political and economic factors that affect people's access to food. These are known as 'Food Entitlement Deficit' factors, or FED for short. FED factors describe the inability of people to purchase food, even if it is available in their local area.
In most areas of food insecurity, FED factors dominate, but FAD factors are undoubtedly responsible for some food shortages.
Factors affecting Food Security
There is a wide variety of factors that affect levels of food security.
http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/global.html - A summary of the issues affecting food security in some areas today
http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/history.html - A summary of the history of food security in the modern era, and the need for an 'evergreen revolution' to replace the green revolution.
http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/global.html - A summary of the issues affecting food security in some areas today
http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/history.html - A summary of the history of food security in the modern era, and the need for an 'evergreen revolution' to replace the green revolution.
The future of food security?