F.4 future health and food security and sustainability

Question 1

what is an example of a short term solution to food insecurity?

Answer 1

food Aid
increased food production,
access to speeds (better seeds) and fertilisers.
export banns

Question 2

could you expand further on food aid as a short term solution to food insecurity?

Answer 2

Food aid is help in the form of basic items of food given to a country or region suffering from a food shortage.

The WFP (world food program) already reaches millions suffering from natural disasters, people in need such as refugees. However, there are still millions suffering from chronic hunger around the world

Question 3

could you expand more on access to seeds (better seeds) and fertiliser? as a short term solution to food insecurity.

Answer 3

many rural farmers in LICs are unable to cover the cost of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers. Helping the rural poor to access seeds and fertilisers means they can plant for needs seasons crops, which is a start to ending the food crisis many face.

Question 4

what does increasing food production mean?

Answer 4

this would mean reducing set aside policies (taking land out of production for a given period of time.) Higher market price also encourage production. However, people may not be able to afford making tis only a short term measure that might need to be done alongside food aid.

Question 5

can you develop further on export banns as a short term solution to food insecurity?

Answer 5

Export bans: Many LICs are forced or encouraged to export crops in order to repay debt, hence they are not sold on the domestic market. The reduces the supply increasing prices domestically.

Question 6

can you lost the medium term solutions to food insecurity?

Answer 6

free trade,
biofuels,

Question 7

what is free trade and how is it helping food insecurity in the medium term?

Answer 7

free trade makes trade easier by putting a limit on tariffs, undoing some of the protectionist policies under the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP).

Trade can improve food availability where it is scarce and can also improve economic access to food by creating jobs and raising incomes.

A more predictable trading system can also improve stability, another key component of food security.

Question 8

what is a biofuels and how is its reduction helping food security in the medium term?

Answer 8

a biofuels is a fuel derived immediately from living matter.

A demand can lead to higher food prices either through increased competition for inputs such as land, water, fertilizer and labour, or through international trade.

When a country reduces biofuel in their energy mix their is more inputs and trade for food.

Question 9

what are the three long term measures to tackle food insecurity?

Answer 9

agrecultural investment
GM crops
sustaniblility

Question 10

can you expand on how agricultural investment is a long term solution to food insecurity?

Answer 10

Agricultural investment: With the right help it is believed Africa could increase its yields. Many crops are lost as farmers struggle to get their produce to the markets on time. Investing in roads, storage, access to fertilisers, improved irrigation would improve the situation.

Question 11

can you expand on how GM crops and how they are a long term solution for food insecurity?

Answer 11

Genetically modified crops are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods.
They are better suited to harsher environment and can last longer, helping food secuity.

However, not all crops are suitable for continents like Africa as many GM crops have been concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere.

Question 12

can you expand on how sustainability is as long term solution to food insecurity?

Answer 12

Sustainability: Rethinking our lifestyles as the current situation isn’t sustainabl- waste reduction to limit strain on natural resources and a fairer distribution globally.

Question 13

what is a important facts that promotes vertical farming.

Answer 13

By 2050 the population is expected to be over 9 billion people, food production is expected to increase by 50%. Advocates of vertical farming see this as one way to achieve this.

Question 14

what is vertical farming?

Answer 14

Vertical farming is the practice of growing produce in vertically stacked layers, commonly in urban areas. The practice often involves using hydroponic or aeroponic growing methods.

Question 15

how do farmers use vertical farming and what type of light do they use?

Answer 15

Most vertical farms use enclosed structures similar to greenhouses that stack vertically, either directly above each other or staggered for better natural light exposure (however most uses LED lighting). If farmers are careful enough no insects or pests should get into the farms.

Vertical farming typically uses a mix of natural light and artificial light. Artificial lighting is often LED-based and may be driven by a renewable source such as solar or wind turbines (not always the case). Control software often rotates racks of plants so each receives the same amount of light.

Question 16

what are the advantages of vertical farming?

Answer 16

it allows for MAXIMUM YEILD, reduces transportation costs, uses very minimal water, takes up a smaller pirimiter, no pests, reduces food miles and carbon footprint.

Question 17

can you expand on how vertical farming allows for maximum yield?

Answer 17

This means that vertical farming can allow crops to be grown at all times throughout the year, as it is
not weather dependent (less crops will be lost to hurricanes, hail,drought and snap freezes). It can also be grown throughout the entire day and night as it uses L.E.D. lights since photosynthesis can occur at all times.

Question 18

can you expand on how vertical farming reduces transportation?

Answer 18

It reduces transportation costs as it will be cheaper for
transportation since you can build vertical farms in cities, so you don’t need to import the crops from other regions. It is eco-friendly as decreased need for transportation means less pollution.

Question 19

can you expand on how vertical farming uses millimal water?

Answer 19

It uses very minimal water. Since the water is used in a controlled manner, water losses are very minimal. Vertical farming only uses 10% of the amount of water that traditional farming methods use.
The water from transpiration is also reused so most of it doesn’t get wasted. Water is recycled and used in the irrigation systems, this is a further benefit to conserving drinking water, which is becoming more and more a resource of scarcity.

Question 20

can you expand on how the primier is a advantage of vertical farming?

Answer 20

The area required to grow crops/plants. much less than when using traditional farming methods since vertical farms can be expanded upwards.

Question 21

can you explain why no pests is an advantage to vertical farming?

Answer 21

Vertical farming also grows food organically as no pesticides will be required as there are no pests to damage the crops.

Question 22

what are the disadvantages of vertical farming?

Answer 22

less jobs,
pollination costs,
the dependancy on technology,
electirsty bills?

Question 23

can you expand on less jobs as a negative of vertical faming?

Answer 23

Less jobs as there is not a need for people transporting
the crops. This will cause a lot of people to be left
jobless and there will also be job losses for farmers.

Question 24

could you expand on pollination cots?

Answer 24

Pollination costs since there are no insects to pollinate
the crops it will have to be done manually which is
labour-intensive. Wages will also be very high since
pollination has to be done by hand.

Question 25

could you expand on dependancy on technology for vertical farms?

Answer 25

technology. If a vertical farm loses
power for one day then it will be a big loss in production.
If the power stops all the crops growing will die since
they are dependant on the artificial atmosphere, which
maintains a constant temperature of 40 degrees Celsius
and constant humidity.

Question 26

can you expand on electricity bills as a negative of vertical farming?

Answer 26

Electricity bills can run high quickly due to water absrobiton systems and LED lights.

Question 27

what are the advantages of in vitro meat?

Answer 27

Large tracts of farmland could be saved in rural areas for purposes other than farming, which could be a way of reducing our ecological footprint. e.g for every hectare of in-vitro meat, about 10-20 hectares of saved for other forms of farming practices.

It is environmentally friendly, as it reduces the need for non-renewable energy sources, which could lead to the production of greenhouse gases (just 4% production of GHGs)

Large quantities of meat can be produced from a very little cell capable of producing about 10 tonnes of meat.

In vitro meat is also said to be nutritious as it allows additives such as vitamins or omega-3 fats.
It saves animals from the harsh treatment they go through to produce meat.

Question 28

what are the disadvantages of in vitro meat?

Answer 28

It is unethical to cultivate in-vitro meat, according to religious beliefs, because it is against natural principles to ‘grow’ meat artificially.

People who tried in-vitro meat complained about the texture, claiming it was too artificial and lacked bones.

The first in-vitro meat cost around $230,000 to produce. Even if this is cheaper in the long run, it will still be too expensive for the average farmer in a developing country to afford the technology.

In-vitro meat requires a great deal of scientific ingenuity. To begin producing it, laboratories would need to develop sophisticated technology.

Some developing countries may find this prohibitively expensive.

This meat does not contain antibiotics and could be less resistant to diseases when eaten.

Question 29

what is in vitro meat?

Answer 29

Also known as cultured and synthetic meat.

Meat is grown from an animal cell culture instead of from slaughtered animals.

Question 30

what is GM?

Answer 30

Genetic engineering involves adding traits to a plant to make it more nutritious or resistant to disease or pests (some are HYVs=high yield varieties).

Question 31

what are the names of the two main systems of health care delivery?

Answer 31

preventative healthcare and curative healthcare.

Question 32

what is preventative health care? and can you give an example?

Answer 32

measures taken to prevent a disease from occurring as opposed to the treatment of a disease. In other words, preventive health care emphasizes the need to prevent the incidence of the disease before it occurs.

E.g. Polio vaccination takes place in Ghana every year to prevent the spread of polio among children.

Question 33

what is curative healthcare?

Answer 33

involves treating the symptoms of the disease after the person has been infected.
Curative health care involves massive investment in medical infrastructure by gov’t in the form of hospitals, nurses’ training colleges and medical schools to train doctors as well as providing enough resources to make them functional.
Most countries in the world focus on curative health care rather than preventive health care.

Question 34

what is the name of the third system that combines curative and preventive health care?

Answer 34

Primary health care, and is seen as a viable alternative for LICs.

Question 35

what are the advantages of preventative healthcare?

Answer 35

It is cheaper, in the long run than curative healthcare

It prevents pain and discomfort resulting from serious medical conditions that require curative care

It encourages healthy habits – people begin to eat healthy foods, exercise regularly and try to avoid excessive alcohol, sugar or salt

It saves a nation from economic losses resulting from work-related absenteeism

The disease is contained before it spreads to other members of the community.

Question 36

what are the disadvantages of curative healthcare?

Answer 36

It is expensive to treat diseases once a person is infected

disease may cause long term health effects that will put strain on healthcare systems.

It requires huge labour costs in terms of employing nurses and medical personnel

It lowers productivity, as infected workers may have to be absent from work for a long time

Question 37

what does social marginalisation have to do with managing disease?

Answer 37

In poor communities, people tend to suffer from diseases of poverty which, to a large extent are preventable.
However, as a result of social marginalization in most countries, such people are often not provided for against such illnesses.

The government tends to focus on providing expensive curative health care, especially in the case of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, cancer and other related diseases.

It sounds reasonable to focus on preventive healthcare in such poor communities, as most diseases of poverty are communicable.

Question 38

what do government priorities have to do with managing disease?

Answer 38

To achieve the goal of establishing preventive health care, government priorities must focus on providing primary health care services to the rural and poor communities in the country with the goal of preventing diseases and curing them as well.

Question 39

what does means of infection have to do with managing disease?

Answer 39

The means of infection plays a critical role in determining the type of health delivery system that should be pursued. In the case of communicable diseases, it is expedient to embark on preventive health care to prevent the disease from spreading.

Question 40

can you give two examples of where means of infection has effected the managing of a disease?

Answer 40

For example, by providing portable drinking water to rural and low-income communities, can help prevent the outbreak of cholera and other water-related diseases.

Also, in the case of Ebola and HIV/AIDs, it is important to undertake a massive public awareness campaign to sensitize people about the need to practice safe sex or avoid contact with infected people.

Question 41

what role does scientific intervention play in the managing of disease?

Answer 41

scientific intervention is important in determining which path to embark upon.
Scientific innovation in the treatment of certain diseases could lead to cheaper treatments, thereby calling for curative treatment rather than preventive treatment.

Question 42

can you give examples of where scientific intervention has played a role in the managing of disease?

Answer 42

Recently, with scientific innovation, the World Health Organization has financed the development of a vaccine for malaria and it is piloted in Ghana, Malawi and a third African country. This is more of a preventive measure by the WHO, which, in the long run, will save many lives in Africa.