food gateway 3

Question 1

what are the strategies to overcome food shortage?

Answer 1

1. technological (storage, farming tech, biotech)
2. agricultural (multiple cropping and crop rotation, water and soil conservation, leasing farmland to other countries)
3. social (support local farmers, population control)
4. political and economic (national strategies: agricultural policies, international policies: food programmes and aid assistance)

Question 2

technological elab: storage

Answer 2

• keep food fresh, leading to a larger variety of food available and accessible to more people
  e. g Timor-Leste: reduce loss of crops to pests by 20-40%
• expensive and unaffordable to small-scale farmers

Question 3

technological elab: farming tech

Answer 3

• use of HYVs, irrigation tech, fertilisers and pesticides to increase crop yield that enables food to be grown in previously unsuitable land
  e. g from 1965-1980: production of wheat and rice in developing countries increased by 75%
• expensive and unaffordable for farmers, especially in LDCs
• may result in environmental problems

Question 4

technological elab: biotechnology

Answer 4

• GM foods that have a higher yield, enabling countries to be more self-sufficient and less dependant on imports.
• enables food to be grown in places previously unsuitable
  e. g Western Great Plains of USA can grow drought-resistant corn
• unaffordable, especially in LDCs
• potential health risks associated with GM foods

Question 5

agricultural elab: multiple cropping and crop rotation

Answer 5

• growing 2 or more crops on the same piece of land/growing several crops on the same land in a specific order
• leguminous crops (plants w seeds in pods) that can act as fertiliser from the nitrogen released by the roots
• reduce dependence on 1 crop, reducing vulnerability to varieties in market, prices etc.
• minimise problem of pests as some crops can act as pest repellents
  e. g Garhwal Himalaya, India: process by which 12 or more crops are planted on the same field

Question 6

agricultural elab: water and soil conservation

Answer 6

• practice of no-till farming, which maintains the quality of the soil and returns nutrients to the soil
• soil is protected against erosion and deterioration, allowing the soil to remain fertile, leading to higher crop yield

Question 7

agricultural elab: leasing farmland to other countries

Answer 7

• some countries do not have sufficient land for farming but may choose to lease farmland from other countries
  e. g South Korea negotiated a 99 year lease of 3.2 million acres with Madagascar
• leasing farmland may reduce land available for local farmers, reducing local supply
• income generated from lease maybe channelled back to help local farmers improve farming methods

Question 8

social elab: support local farmers

Answer 8

• purchase local food, enhancing food security and ensuring demand.
• locally produced food is usually sold at lower prices compared to imported food due to the lower transportation costs

Question 9

social elab: population control

Answer 9

• growth in food production is slower than population growth
• control population growth by educating them on family planning, and giving them access to reproductive health facilities
  e. g Philippines: community-based family planning programmes have been introduced to provide people with contraceptives, aiming to slow down population growth and alleviate problem of food shortage.

Question 10

political and economic elab

Answer 10

national strategies:

• agricultural policies that regulates amount of food produced to ensure sufficient food supply and food is kept affordable
  e. g SG: 8% of vegetables, 8% of fish and 26% of eggs are produced locally
• however, there is competition from cheaper imports
• high costs of setting up the high-tech farms that may translate to higher prices of food

international strategies:
- food programmes and aid assistance to address specific food shortage problems
e.g Global Agricultural and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) provides financing to countries to increase agricultural productivity as well as to improve food security.
GAFSP has helped 7.5 million people in 12 countries
However, GAFSP relies on donations for funds, which may be influenced by the donors’ wishes on how the funds are used and the extent of aid is reliant on the amount of funds provided.