Option F Chapter 3 Flashcards
outline the main function of the FAO
This body was established by the UN and has three principal functions:
(i) To eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
(ii) To eliminate poverty.
(iii) To ensure the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources.
comment open the main results of farm subsidies in the EU
Farmers were guaranteed a market for their produce and this had the following results:
(i) Overproduction – they knew they could sell produce and so wanted to maximize their profit.
(ii) Concentration of production in one area, which has the environmental consequences of monoculture.
(iii) Specialization in one type of produce had economic consequences because a lack of diversity was risky when prices were volatile.
define the term “agribusiness”
This involves TNCs that control agriculture in all stages: production, processing and distribution. Large profits are achieved through economies of scale, for example, in the case of McDonald’s and Tesco.
state three advantages and three disadvantages of TNC involvement in agriculture to the small farmer
Advantages:
* Training in new technologies
* Increased investment
* Can open up remote areas for plantation
Disadvantages:
* Deprives free access to markets
* Transfer of inappropriate technology.
* Exploitation of farm workers.
briefly explain how TNCs have influenced national nutrition
TNCs increasingly control food production and can adversely transform the diets of people, particularly in LICs. TNCs are particularly keen on expanding the market in this area and urban populations no longer tied to agriculture are happy to adopt the products they offer such as fast foods. The dietary consequence is that urban populations consume less carbohydrate, more protein and more fat.
The combination of dietary change and
a more sedentary lifestyle has resulted in serious negative consequences to health.
describe factors affecting food consumption
People starve when they cannot access food because its price relative to their income is too high. It’s possible that they may have exchange entitlements. This is when they use belongings and animals as a form of exchange instead of money and thus they can overcome the crisis. High local food prices may also result from drought and
other local conditions that reduce production and increase the price.
explain how food insecurity might be linked to the issue of gender
Women are responsible for production and processing (cooking). Usually they look after livestock and therefore control the family’s intake of protein. Although women have an important role in farming in LICs, they very often lack basic rights such as land ownership and education. Understanding the basics of agriculture and family nutrition would enable them to make provision for periods of acute shortage, for example. Currently women are deprived of such rights and this would therefore have a negative impact on food security at the household level.
explain the main causes of Ethiopia’s famine
The main causes of famine in Ethiopia have been:
* Drought and flooding– recurrent or prolonged drought has restricted the build-up of food reserves. Flooding causes soil erosion and destroys land.
* Land holdings have decreased in size with population growth.
* Land degradation – overpopulation has caused overgrazing and overcultivation. All of these lower productivity.
* Political unrest with Somalia has limited food production and destroyed food distribution lines.
* Unsuitable food aid.
* Population growth (Malthusian). * Declining terms of trade.
* Rise in the price of staple foods on the world market has impacted the ability for poor families to access food.
suggest ways in which the media as influenced the responses to food crises
Media coverage is measured by the total length of articles published either in print or online by six mainstream news outlets in the US and UK. TV coverage with emotive images, such as the report on BBC by Michael Buerk on the Ethiopian famine of 1984–5, provokes a huge response. Google searches and Twitter mentions are other ways information is spread more rapidly. The response to media exposure of a food crisis depends upon the gravity of the crisis relative to other global news items, the length of TV programs and newspaper articles, and
the involvement of celebrities (Bob Geldof in Ethiopia). A food shortage receives less public support if it is designated an “emergency” rather than a “famine” by the government.
to what extent is International aid helpful in the event of a famine
Advantages: In the short term it relieves hunger, but in the long term it may create dependence
Disadvantages: Food aid depresses the price and income of local producers. Some food aid is diverted to the military.
