Management Strategies to Improve Food Security

Sustainability - "meeting the needs of the current population without comprimising the ability of future generations" (Bruntland Report, 1987)

Food Security - "all people having access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food at all times" (FAO, 2010)

Remember - the opposite words (unsustainable/food insecurity) you can still use these definitions, just stick "not" in where relevant, i.e. "people NOT having access to ....."

Food Insecure people - 100 million in 2009, rose to over 1 billion in 2011

Food Pledges - $1.5 billion from the US every year

World Population - 7 billion as of 2011

Scale - Locally run, regional to South Asia, East Africa and South America

Why is it needed?

In order to develop "appropriate strategies" to improve food security, food production and quality of life in some of the world's poorest areas. (Allen, 2009)

Pros

- Increased food production, therefore more economic revenue

- Increased food security and quality of life, often due to removal from poverty

- Decreased land degradation

Cons

-  Communities can become dependant on the organisation, although unlikely

This is SUSTAINABLE, as it uses low-tech, affordable methods.

Scale - International, mainly Asia and Africa

Why is it needed?

MV's will provide much needed bumper harvests, even in time of drought and famine, to any area (including the Horn of Africa)

Pros

- Increased yields, therefore increased trade

- Bumper harvests lead to increased food security for those using them

Cons

- Increased land degradation, and they have killed biodiversity and plant variety in   the soils. (Christian Aid, 2011)

MV's are NOT SUSTAINABLE, as they increase food security by damaging the land and soil severely - comprimising future ability to produce food.

Scale - Global, mainly in India

Why is it needed?

Mass vitamin A deficiency has caused blindness in many children. Golden rice is designed to contain pro-vitamin A to reduce these levels (Greenpeace, 2005)

Pros

- Higher yields due to intensive farming, led on from propoganda of the rice

- Creators claim that the rice HAS reduced levels of vitamin A deficiency

Cons

- Greenpeace research concluded that the rice provides less vitamin A than         conventional seed varieties, and therefore the farming of the crop is futile

Golden Rice is NOT SUSTAINABLE, as the crop doesn't actually contain more vitamin A. Therefore, the seeds are not worth their higher cost (15% more)

Scale - National, Australia

Why is it needed?

Widespread salinisation has affected 66% of Agricultural Land. 75% of Australia is somewhat degraded, and 25% is "moderately desertified" (AU Government, 2009)

Pros

- They can maintain their production levels by using water-wise crops, not rice

- Food security is maintianed

Cons

- People are unwilling to get rid of swimming pools, or water-thirsty gardens which rise the water table.

Sustainable, as the low-tech methods such as water-wise plants keep salinisation low and soil exposure at a minimum.

Scale - International

Why is it needed?

"To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" (MDG #1, UN 2010)

Pros

- The goald are set to solve the food security crisis by 2015

Cons

- Slow moving, and it is unlikely that they will be finished before 2025 (Guardian 2011)

SUSTAINABLE, as the combination of humanitarian aid, conventional farming methods and low-tech strategies advocate sustainability and can be kept up once the goal is met.

Scale - International

Why is it needed?

To raise awareness about desertification and to get the global community to work together to deal with the problem (UNCED 2001)

Pros

- Encourages governments to set up national and local scale strategies themseelves

- Action programmes, such as the Ethiopia programme 2002, slow desertification    (UNCCD, 2001)

Cons

- Only the 193 UN members are involved therefore some are left out of the conference (e.g. Taiwan, Kosovo)

SUSTAINABLE, as it sets up action programmes on smaller scales

Scale - National

Why is it needed?

To stop the expansion of the Gobi desert into China's farmland

Pros

- Forms an "ecological barrier" which will cover 15% of China by 2050 (Guardian 2010)

- Increased forestry acts as a carbon sink, and china has now planted more trees than anywhere else in the world

Cons 

- Some of the trees haven't taken to the soil, and have exposed it and others have damaged plant variety, therefore creating a new problem for China

Both Sustainable and Unstustainable, as it works in theory yet not completely in practice.