Food Insecurity Flashcards
What are the physical factors affecting food supply?
•climate
•climate change
•pests and diseases
•water stress
How do pests and diseases affect food supply?
•rising global temperatures are causing pests and diseases to spread to areas further north and south of the tropics
•pests reduce yields by consuming crops e.g. fruit flies eat crops making them unsuitable for human consumption. Thsi can be costly for farmers to solve
How does climate affect food supply?
•climates in some country may make it unsuitable for farming
•climate can also impact the productivity and type of food can be grown
•regions experiencing extreme weather and a lack of rainfall may struggle to produce food
How does climate change affect food supply?
•changes to average temperatures and rainfall can increase pests and diseases in places that are not used to them affecting global farming patterns and productivity
•weeds and pests thrive in warmer conditions reducing the quality of food grown
How does water stress affect food supply?
•areas with low rainfall or little water for irrigation may struggle to produce enough food
•some places become drier and may suffer food scarcity e.g. Sub Saharan Africa
•these areas are likely to become drier and more desertification in the further as temperatures rise due to climate change making it even harder to increase food production
What are the human factors affecting food supply?
•poverty
•a lack of technology
•conflict
How can poverty affect food supply?
•poverty can affect people’s ability to farm effectively as they may struggle to afford any form of technology, irrigation or fertilisers to help farm
•poverty can also affect people’s ability to cope and adapt to climate change as they struggle to recover from climate related losses and invest in technology, irrigation or fertilisers to adapt making them more susceptible to food insecurity
•on a global scale some countries cannot afford to import food
How can a lack of technology affect food supply?
•without the mechanisation of equipment such as tractors, food yields remain low
•using these machines incorrectly or not having the ability to fix them can also lead to problems for example inefficient use of irrigation systems can lead to water logged soil resulting in the failure of crops to grow reducing crop yields
How can conflict affect food supply?
•Conflict often disrupts trade routes, making it challenging to transport food from surplus regions to deficit regions. This can result in localized food shortages and price spikes.
•fighting may destroy agricultural land or harm farmers leading to food insecurity
What are the impacts of food insecurity(4)?
*famine
*soil erosion
*rising prices
*social unrest
How is famine an impact of food insecurity?
•significant under nutrition can lead to famine ( a serious lack of food across a large area)e.g. between 2010-2012 nearly 26,000 people died in Somalia as as a result of famine
•malnourished children, with weakened immune systems, become more susceptible to infectious diseases. In famine conditions, with overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions accelerate disease spread increasing mortality rate of these children e.g. in Somalia between 2010 and 2012 18% of the children population died due to a lack of food or because they were to weak to resist disease
•people suffering from malnutrition may also find it harder to work
How is soil erosion an impact food insecurity?
•people struggling to produce enough food may not use the best agricultural practices for example they may over cultivate or overgraze land
•over cultivation and overgrazing can reduce plant cover leaving soil exposed to wind and rain leading to soil erosion
•this would lead to reduced agricultural productivity
How are rising prices an impact of food insecurity?
•when there isn’t enough food available, food prices usually increase because demand exceeds supply
•As prices increase, household may struggle to afford an adequate diet leading to undernutrition. This may hinder their ability to work. Moreover this can cause a lower standard of living as people are forced to spend more money on food limiting funds available for healthcare and education
How is social unrest an impact of food insecurity?
•food shortages and rising food prices can cause riots and may contribute to civil wars e.g. between 2016 and 2019, food shortages in Venezuela led to protests, looting of supermarkets and riots
•Civil wars disrupt educational systems, limiting access to schooling for children.
