Food and famine.

How population pressure links to food insecurity.

• The worlds population is expected to reach 9bn by 2050. This increases the demand for food.
• 850 million people are malnourished because they lack access and wealth for food.
• Food production would need to double to feed the worlds population in 2050.
• Urbanisation decreases the amount of arable land available to grow food.
• Developing countries are most at risk because they lack wealth, education, resources and goverment help to grow enough food to feed the population.

Case Study example. - Sub-Saharan Africa.

• 1 in 4 people lack adequate food for a healthy and active life.
• High food prices and increased drought are pushing more people into poverty and hunger.
• High population exacerbates the demand for food.
• On average, woman have 5.1 children and 40% of the population is under 15, so population is expected to grow dramatically in the future.
• The population in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow from 856 million today to 2 billion in 2050.

How pests and diseases link to food insecurity.

• Pests account for around a 10-16% loss in global food production.
• Loss of crops due to fungi, amounts to enough food to feed 90% of the global population.
• Pests threaten future food production as global temperatures increase, creating the right conditons for specific pests to breed and live in new areas.
• Pests are moving around 27km per decade while other animals are only moving at around 18km.
• Other factors worsen the spread of pests and disease, such as climate change.

Case study example - Zimbabwe.

• The world food programme estimates that 2.2m people require food assistance.
• More than 800 hectares of cereal grain crops and 300 hectares of pastures have been destroyed by army worms.
• The army worm originated in East Africa and was carried by moist winds into Zimbabwe.
• Pesticides can be sprayed to protect crops, however they cannot be sprayed on pastures because it could expose animals to toxic chemicals. Issues with cost.

How government policies link to food insecurity.

• Many third world countries are encouraged to grow 'cash crops' to export. This reduces the amount of food that is being grown to consume and export.
• Government corruption sometimes means that food aid is not successfully delivered to those who need it.
• Many third world countries are unprepared for crisis and were unable to solve it themselves without international aid.

Case study examples - Zimbabwe.

• The agricultural ministry only delivered seed and supplies once the rains were well underway. something that has been repeated since 2000. This caused crops to fail.
• Farmers do not receive incentives so they cannot afford to buy seeds etc. for farming.
• Robert Mugabe seized land from white comercial farmers and gave it to black farmers. They were inexperienced and contributed only 16% of total maize output.
• Bad planning is causing crop failure rather than other factors such as drought.

How climate change links to food security.

• Increasing global temperatures will worsen periods of flooding and droughts, damaging soils and crop yields.
• Rain fall is becoming more unpredictable and unreliable, increasing the risk for farmers crop yields.
• Higher temperatures lead to heat stress for plants, lowering overall productivity.
• Rising sea levels contaminates coastal freshwater aquifers with salt water. Small islands are having difficulty growing crops due to poor water supplies.

Case study example - Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The majority of the population live in rural areas, where incomes and employment depend on rainfed agriculture.
• 33% of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa live in drought prone areas.
• Climate change will cause areas to become drier and more prone to long-term droughts and poverty.
• It will affect the poorest and most vulnerable people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

How civil conflict links to food insecurity.

• 65% of the world's food insecure people live in 7 countries -  India, China, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. All of which, excluding China have experienced civil conflict in the last decade.
• World commodity prices can trigger conflict. Higher prices for find increase a countries willingness to fight if they are food insecure.
• Civil conflicts are fueled by other factors such as climate change, where crops can fail as a result, causing tension within low income countries.

Case study example - Ethiopia.

• Ethiopia has experienced long periods of famine and food insecurity over the past 40 years.
• Ethiopia requires assistance to feed at least 8% of the population each year.
• It has experienced 10 major droughts in the past 40 years.
• Conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea left rural farmers displaced, which left crops unharvested so there was less food being distributed within the country during the conflict.