Food Production Flashcards
Large Scale Commercial Farming in Indiana, USA e.g., Fair Oaks Farm
Fair Oaks Farm is a large commercial farm occupying 30 square miles in NW Indiana, in the Mid-West region of the USA.
- Fair Oaks Farm lies within the Corn Belt
- Soils are deep, fertile, and rich in organic material and nitrogen, and the land is relatively level.
- The warm climate and well-distributed rainfall during the growing season are ideal conditions for raising corn.
- Diversified. It produces feed grains and raises livestock for the purpose of dairy farming and it also offers agritourism experiences.
- Dairy Adventure Center where visitors can watch cheese and ice cream being made from an observation deck.
Fair Oaks farms Indiana USA Input
- 25,000 acres
(established in 1999) - There are 10 dairy barns
- Each cow consumes 40 pounds of grain, 50 pounds of silage, more than 30 gallons of water
- Flat, green à good grass à soil/ climate/ rainfall
- Machinery (e.g., 72 cow carousel)
Fair Oaks farms Indiana USA Processes
- 32,000 cows are milked (a day 3 times)
- 10 dairy barns milk more than 3,000 cows a day
- Cows are milked on a 72-cow carousel
- Milking time 8 1⁄2 minutes (more efficient)
- Manure is converted into energy to reduce waste and pollution
Fair Oaks farms Indiana USA Output
- Produces enough milk for 8 million people
- 80 calves are born (birthing barn) everyday
- 2.5 million pounds of milk are produced per day
- Methane gas powers generators
Natural/physical causes of food shortages in the Sahel
Drought: Rainfall rates of 100 mm/year. The rainfall is highly variable and concentrated a common feature of Sahel for around 5000 years. However, lower than average rainfall years have been more common since the mid 1970’s.
Flooding: In 2011, extreme flooding in the Sahel destroyed crops leaving 18 million people without enough food and a million children at risk of starvation.
- Pests: Attacks on crops by birds, pests and locusts reduces food production. For example, between 2003-2005 locust swarms affected 20 countries across northern Africa, destroying millions of hectares of crops. In Niger, 4,000 villages were abandoned by residents who had lost their crops.
Human causes of food shortages in the Sahel
- Conflict: Conflict limits food production and distribution and forces people to migrate. Millions of people have been forced to move into desert fringe areas by armed conflicts in the Sahel region.
- Overcultivation: Overcultivation and overgrazing both result in soil erosion. If vegetation has been eaten by cattle or killed by drought, the exposed topsoil becomes baked hard by sunlight. When it finally arrives intense rain washes over the soil rather than soaking into the ground. As it flows it carries the topsoil away. Once the soil has eroded, it becomes impossible for the vegetation to grow back.
- Overgrazing: Nomadic farmers cannot move, due to new political boundaries, or because large companies have bought up the land rights in a region. Civil war and political instability also force herders to stay too long in places.
- Overpopulation: There were just 30 million people living in the Sahel in 1950. Today the figure is closer to half a billion. By 2050, it is expected to reach one billion.
- Climate change: The UN estimates that 80 percent of the agricultural areas in the Sahel belt are already affected by climate change.
- Access to markets/poor infrastructure development: Lack access to markets to buy food or infrastructure to distribute it.
The main causes of desertification include:
*Population growth - An increased population is putting greater pressure on the environment for resources such as wood and water.
*Removal of wood - When the land is cleared of trees, the roots of the trees no longer hold the soil together, so it is more vulnerable to soil erosion.
*Overgrazing - an increasing population results in larger desert areas being farmed. Sheep, cattle and goats are overgrazing the vegetation. This leaves the soil exposed to erosion.
*Soil erosion - this is made worse by overgrazing and the removal of wood. Population growth is the primary cause for soil erosion.
*Climate change - the global climate is getting warmer. In desert regions conditions are not
only getting warmer but drier too. On average there is less rain now in desert regions than
there was 50 years ago.
Effects of food insecurity in the Sahel
- 18.7 million people in the Sahel region faced an extreme food crisis in 2012.
20 million people in the region are at risk of food insecurity and 2.5 million of them need immediate lifesaving food assistance.
An estimated 5 million children younger than 5 suffered from malnutrition. - Many families were left with nothing to eat and found their only sustenance in soups made from wild plants so bitter that animals often neglected to eat them.
- “To make them edible, peasants boil the plants repeatedly so as to get rid of the bitter
taste,” - Climate change, droughts, food shortages and conflict are causing people in the Sahel to migrate in search of safety, food and water. The entire region is poverty-stricken and moving within the country or to a neighbouring country does little to alleviate the issues that migrants face.
- They move from drought-affected areas to marginal areas that are put under more strain than they can handle. These new areas then become degraded and unable to support the increasing population.
- The only real hope is international aid but that is usually slow to arrive and generally inadequate.
Marasmus and kwashiorkor
Physical factors of the Sahal region
Long term decline of rainfall in southern Sudan
Increased rainfall variability
Increased use of marginal land leading to degradation
Flooding
Social factors of the Sahel region
- (39%)High population growth linked to use of marginal land (overgrazing, erosion)
- (65%)High female illiteracy rates
- Poor infant health
- Increased threat of AIDS
Agricultural factors of the Sahel region
- Highly variable per capita food production; long-term the trend is static
- Static (cereals and pulses) or falling (roots and tubers) crop yields
- Low and falling fertiliser use (compounded by falling export receipts)
- Lack of a food surplus for use in crisis
Economic/political factors of the Sahel region
- High dependency on farming (70% of labour force; 37% of GDP)
- Dependency on food imports (13% of consumption 1998-2000) whilst exporting non-food goods, e.g. cotton
- Limited access to markets to buy food or infrastructure to distribute it
*Debt and debt repayments limit social and economic spending - High military spending
Situation compounded by the Sahel region
- Lack of government political will
- Slow donor response
- Limited access to famine areas
- Regional food shortages
Food aid in Sahel region
According to the charity ActionAid there are three types of food aid:
* relief food aid which is delivered directly to people in times of crisis
* programme food aid which is provided directly to the government of a country for sale in local markets (this usually comes with conditions from the donor country)
* project food aid which is targeted at specific groups of people as part of longer-term development work.
Sustainable development in the desert – The Great Green Wall
The Great Green Wall is an African-led project with an epic ambition: to grow an 8,000km natural wonder of the world across Africa’s entire width. Its goal is to provide food, jobs and a future for the millions of people who live in a region on the frontline of climate change.
The Great Green Wall is taking root in the Sahel region, at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, one of the world’s poorest places.
One aim of the Great Green Wall is to reverse desertification and bring dry land back to
life. When there were no trees, the wind used to erode the soil (aeolian erosion). The leaves support the nutrient cycle, and the canopy increases humidity in the environment and offers shade which means less watering is needed. Drought resistant acacia trees have been planted. The roots of the trees hold moisture in the soil.
