FOOD SHORTAGES

PHYSICAL CAUSES OF FOOD SHORTAGES

FLOODS; rice is grow on the floodplains of large rivers. The floods help to fertilise the soil and provide the water and provide water for the fields. However, severe floods can destroy the entire crop.
TROPICAL CYCLONES; especially in coastal areas (Bangladesh). Tidal surges lead to severe flooding by the sea. This destroys crops, drowns animals and poisons soil with salt.
FLOOD; many tropical areas have seasonal rainfall. If the rain falls, crops and animals die and famine is often the result
DISEASE; fungal diseases can affect stored cereal crops and the toxins can make people ill if the cereals are eaten. The BANANA BUNCHY-TOP VIRUS can wipe out the banana crop. Animals are affected TOO – FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE reduces milk and meat yields in Brazil and Swaziland. Farmers are affected diseases which reduce the ability to work – the worst are MALARIA and HIV/AIDS

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LOW CAPITAL INVESTMENT; Poor people have no money to improve their farms so they keep producing low yields, never have a surplus to sell and stay poor. This is a VICIOUS CIRCLE.
POOR TRANSPORT; farmers in remote areas can’t get their crops to market, even if they have a surplus.
WARS; in parts of Africa such as DR CONGO, wars have been going on for years. People have to leave their land and become refugees. They stop producing food and rely on aid
BIOFUELS; in MICs, farmers have been producing rapeseed and elephant grass on land that used to grow food. This leads to food shortages and increased food prices

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UNDERNOURISHMENT; undernourished adults are less able to work hard thus causing further food shortages
FAMINE;in extreme cases people may die because of lack of food. This is usually the result of a major crop failure due to a natural disaster such as a drought.
VISCIOUS CIRCLES;poor people are often undernourished, which means they can’t work hard, which means they can’t fulfil the potential of their land, which means less food is grown, which means they stay undernourished
AID DEPENDANCY; during famine, aid agencies provide free food for the people affected. This means that farmers in parts of the country not affected by the famine cannot sell their food. This ruins the agricultural economy of the country and leads to long-term dependency on food aid.

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