Human Impacts - Food Security Flashcards

1
Q

Food security is influenced by a number of factors

A
  • Food production
  • Human population
  • Socio-economic
  • Political
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2
Q

Examples of specific socio-economic factors leading to food insecurity in households

A
  • Household size (overpopulation)
  • Food prices
  • Fuel prices
  • Unemployment
  • Exchange rates
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3
Q

Effects of food insecurity

A
  • Hunger
  • Malnutrition
  • Child health
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4
Q

Negative factors for food production

A
  • Climate change
  • Poor farming practices
  • Exotic plant species
  • Poor crop gene pools
  • Wastage
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5
Q

Climate events exacerbated (made worse) by climate change leading to food insecurity

A
  • Drought
  • Floods
  • Intense weather events e.g. hail
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6
Q

Monoculture

A
  • Modern farming techniques
  • Large areas planted with one crop
  • Commercial farms
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7
Q

Advantages of monoculture

A
  • Low labour
  • High yields
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8
Q

Risk of monoculture

A

Vulnerable to pests

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9
Q

Pest control used typically by commercial farmers

A

Synthetic pesticides

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10
Q

Possible effects of pesticides

A
  • Kill pests
  • Leach into waterways
  • Kill natural predators of pests
  • More pesticides needed
  • Crops can fail
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11
Q

Alternatives to pesticides

A
  • Avoid monoculture
  • Use natural pesticides
  • Encourage natural predators
  • Plant companion crops
  • “Organic farming”
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12
Q

Farming practice leading to most intense soil erosion

A

Grazing livestock

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13
Q

Two types of soil erosion resulting in loss of topsoil

A
  • Sheet erosion
  • Gully formation
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14
Q

Main method crop yields increased by commercial farmers

A

Synthetic fertilisers

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15
Q

Main chemical ingredients in fertilisers

A
  • Nitrates
  • Phosphates
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16
Q

Alternatives to using excessive fertilizers by farmers

A
  • Crop rotation
  • Composts
  • Avoiding monoculture
17
Q

Wild ancestral animal or plant stock improved through selective breeding

A

Domestication

18
Q

Improvements to farm stocks through domestication

A
  • Yield increased
  • Nutritional value
  • Accelerate growth
  • Able to survive variable climates
  • More resistant to disease
19
Q

Process allowing for domestication of farm stocks

A
  • Selective breeding
  • Inbreeding
20
Q

Dangers of inbreeding

A
  • Reduced variety of genes
  • Susceptibility to diseases
  • Species ultimately weakened
21
Q

Solution to problem of inbreeding and poor gene pool of farm stock

A
  • Outbreeding
  • Breed with wild varieties
22
Q

Solutions to loss of wild varieties of food stocks

A
  • Protect habitats of wild varieties
  • Sperm and egg banks for animals
  • Seed banks for plants
23
Q

Manipulating DNA to produce plants and animals with specific desirable characteristics

A

Genetic engineering

24
Q

Reasons for genetic engineering plant stocks

A
  • Robust forms
  • Greater yields
  • Larger fruits
  • Withstand diseases and pests
  • Need less water
25
Q

Reasons for genetically engineering animal food stocks

A
  • Greater yields
  • Improved nutritional value
  • Resistant to disease
26
Q

List at least 5 possible problems with genetically modified stocks

A
  • Unknown risks (potential allergies)
  • New seed purchased every year
  • Exploit developing countries
  • Monoculture often required
  • Increased use of fertilizers and irrigation
  • Expensive
  • Accidental transfer to other species and loss of biodiversity
  • Violation of natural gene composition
27
Q

Human population growth in South Africa between 2001 and 2011.

A

40-50 million

28
Q

Production stage food wastage

A
  • Lower-income food wastage
  • Developing countries
29
Q

Food that is not eaten or thrown away

A
  • Called food wastage
  • Up to 1/3 of total world food produced
39
Q

Consumption stage food wastage

A
  • Higher- income groups
  • Developed countries