UM Panabo College

Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education

P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Big Picture

Week 6-7: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to

a. Identify the environmental conservation in forests, grasslands, parks and natural

preserves; and
b. Explain the importance of food and agriculture.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOa. Identify the environmental conservation in forests,

grasslands, parks and natural preserves.

Metalanguage

In this section, the most essential terms relevant to the study of conservation of the
environment and to demonstrate ULOa will be operationally defined to establish a common frame
of reference as to how the texts work in your chosen field or career. You will encounter these
terms as we go through the study of community. Please refer to these definitions in case you will
encounter difficulty in the in understanding educational concepts.

Please proceed immediately to the ―Essential Knowledge‖ part since the first lesson is also
definition of essential terms.

Essential Knowledge

Together, woods, forests, pastures and rangelands occupy approximately 60 per cent of
global land cover. Such habitats provide many of our critical resources for animals, such as timber,
paper pulp and grazing. They also provide essential ecological services, including regulating
climate, controlling water runoff, providing wildlife habitat, purifying air and water, and
supporting rainfall. There are also scenic, economic, and historical qualities in the forests and
grasslands that deserve protection. Yet they are still amongst the habitats most disturbed.
The most abundant types of forest are boreal and tropical forests. Those forests are widely
distributed, but most of the remaining forests are in the cold boreal or taiga regions and the tropics
of humidity. Assessing the distribution of forests is tricky, since forests vary in density and height,
and many are inaccessible. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
describes forest as any region in which trees cover more than 10% of land. This definition includes
forests ranging from open savannas, whose trees occupy less than 20% of the area, to closed-
canopy forests, where tree crowns cover most of the land. The largest tropical forest is in the
Basin of the Amazon River. The highest forest loss rates are also in South America. Some of the
most biologically diverse regions in the world suffer rapid deforestation, including Southeast Asia
and Central America.
Wood plays a part in more modern-day economic activities than any other commodity.
There is hardly any industry that does not use wood or wood products in its production and
marketing processes somewhere. Think about the amount of mail, newspapers, photocopies,
packaging, and other paper products that each of us in developed countries handless, stores, and
disposes of in a single day. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), total
annual world wood consumption is approximately 5.5 billion . That is more than the combined
consumption of steel and plastics. International trade in wood and wood products amounts to more
than $200 billion each year.
Tropical forests are amongst the earth 's richest and most diverse systems. Although they

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

now occupy less than 10% of the earth's surface, it is thought that these forests contain more than
two-thirds of all higher plant biomass and at least half of all the world's plant, animal and
microbial species.
Indonesia is now believed to have the world's highest deforestation rate or forest loss. At
the start of the twentieth century, at least 84 per cent of the total land of Indonesia was forested.
The world lost at least 24 million hectares (ha) of forest or 59 million acres between 1900 and
2010, most of it for illegal palm oil plantations, and only 52 percent of the island nation was
protected. Despite a pledge to reduce forest clearing in 2014, Indonesia continues to lose an
estimated 800,000 ha per annum, rivaling Brazil's deforestation. Brazil was reported to have lost
28,000 of forest to clearing and fires in 2004. Much of that destruction was to make room for
soybean production and ranching of cattle. The rate of deforestation has declined in a few years
but it has recently risen, reaching 16,000 in 2017.
Throughout Africa, the Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Madagascar, Cameroon, and
Liberia coastal forests have already been completely destroyed. Haiti was once forested by 80
percent; today it has largely destroyed all that forest, and the land is barren and eroded. India,
Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam are all left with a small old-growth lowland forest.
Nearly two-thirds of the original moist tropical forest has been destroyed in Central America,
mostly over the past 30 years, mainly because of logging and converting forests into cattle.
Shifting cultivation, sometimes called "slash and burn" or milpa cultivation is often
blamed for destruction of the forest. But indigenous people in many countries have found
sustainable ways of using dynamic cycles of mixed polyculture and soil alteration practices to
increase soil fertility. In many areas these practices have been destabilized by growing non-
indigenous populations and logging. Forests provide important regulations regarding the regional
climate. Trees suck up and transpire or release large quantities of moisture, and the conversion of
liquid water into vapor absorbs most of the atmosphere's heat. Evaporated moisture becomes
precipitating clouds. Much of the rain which falls in the area around the Amazon rainforest comes
directly from transpiration. It has also been shown that the Amazon forests generate rain 2-3
months before winds carry moisture from the ocean (Figure 12).
Tropical countries are not unique in harvesting unsustainable forests. In many years,
Northern countries, such as the US and Canada, have also permitted controversial forest
management practices. The official US policy has been for many years. Forest Service was
"multiple usage," meaning that the woods could be used concurrently for anything we may want to
do there. However, some uses are incompatible, for example bird-watching in an open-pit mine is
not very enjoyable. It is not easy to protect species that need unbroken old-growth forest when you
cut down the forest (Figure 13).
U.S. Policy towards forest management during the droughts of the 1930s was strongly
influenced by a sequence of disastrous fire years. Hundreds of millions of hectares of forest have
been destroyed, entire towns burnt to the ground and hundreds of people have died. A policy of
aggressive fire control was adopted by the Forest Service – the stated aim was that every blaze on
public land should be out before 10 A.M. Smokey Bear became the mascot of the forest and
warned us that "only you can prevent forest fires." However, recent studies of the ecological role
of fire suggest that aggressive suppression of fire might have been misguided. Many ecosystems
are fire-adapted, and regeneration requires periodic burning. And eliminating fire from these
forests has allowed the accumulation of woody debris, greatly increasing the likelihood of a very
large fire (Figure 14).

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Adapted from Cunningham, 2020
Figure 12. The vast trees of the old-growth
temperate forest accumulate more total biomass
per unit area in standing vegetation than any
other ecosystem on earth.
Figure 13. Large clear-cuts, such as this, threaten
species dependent and old-growth forest. (Adapted
from https://www.livescience.com/27692-
deforestation.html)

Figure 14. By suppressing fires and allowing fuel to accumulate, we make major fires such as this
more likely. (https://foresttech.events/ai-to-better-predict-forest-fires/)
In the 1900s, many federal agencies began shifting their policies from a strictly economic
focus to ecosystem management, which in its unified, systems approach is very similar to the
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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Northwest Forest Plan. Some of its principles include: managing over ecological timescales across
whole ecosystems, watersheds or regions; relying on scientifically based, ecologically reliable
decision-making data; addressing human needs and supporting sustainable economic growth and
communities; preserving biological diversity and critical ecosystem processes; using cooperative
institutional arrangements; generate meaningful stakeholders and public involvement, and
facilitate collective decision-making; and adapt management over time , based on experimentation
and routine monitoring.
Grasslands are among the biomes most widely used by humans following the forest. About
one-quarter of the world's land surface comprises prairies, savannas, steppes, open woodlands, and
other grasslands. A lot of the U.S. and Canada 's Great Plains and the Provinces of the Prairies fall
into this category. The 3.8 billion ha of pastures and pasture land in this biome represents nearly
twice the area of all agricultural crops (Figure 15).

Figure 15. Northern Great Plains, Montana, USA, is too dry for trees but supports a variety of
biological communities. (https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-
protect/northern-great-plains/)

By carefully monitoring the number of cattle, ranchers, and pastoralists, people who
survive by herding livestock, and the state of the area. They can adjust to variations in rainfall,
seasonal plant conditions, and forage nutritional quality to maintain healthy livestock and avoid
overuse of any given area. Really, conscientious management can improve the quality of the range.
Most public grazing lands in the US are not in good health, as is the case in many countries.
Political and economic pressures encourage managers to increase weeding allots beyond the
range's carrying capacity. Lack of implementation of existing regulations and insufficient
resources for improving the range resulted in overgrazing, damage to vegetation and soil
including loss of native forage species and erosion.
Although most forests and grasslands serve useful or practical purposes, for aesthetic or
recreational reasons, most communities have set aside other natural areas. Natural parks have
existed for centuries. For religious purposes the ancient Greeks protected the sacred groves. For
centuries Royal hunting grounds in Europe have preserved forests. While these areas were
typically reserved for society's privileged groups, they preserved biodiversity and natural
ecosystems in regions where most lands are heavily used.
Various levels of protection are included in conservations of nature. The World

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Conservation Union has divided protected areas into five categories according to the level of
human authorized use expected. Few human interventions are permitted in the most stringent
category (ecological reserves and wilderness zones). In certain strict preserves of nature, where
especially important wildlife or natural features are situated, human entry may be restricted only to
groups of scientific study that visit rare times. Limiting visitor numbers helps protect the area from
invasive species or other disturbances. On the other hand, the less restrictive categories (national
forests and other areas for the management of natural resources) also require mining, logging or
grazing.
Venezuela claims to have the highest proportion of any country in the world covered by its
land area (66%). Around half of this land is designated as preserves for indigenous peoples or for
sustainable harvesting of resources. However, with little formal management, little protection from
poaching by hunters, loggers, and illegal gold hunters is provided. In the developing world, it is
not unusual to have "paper parks" that appear on maps but have no budget for personnel,
maintenance or infrastructure. By contrast, the U.S. has only about 22 per cent of its land area in
protected status, and less than one-third of that amount is in IUCN categories I and II (nature
reserves, wilderness areas, national parks).
Brazil contains an extensive protected area. Approximately 2 million kilometers (25%) of
the nation's land – mostly in the Amazon Basin – is protected. In 2006, the northern Brazilian state
of Para announced the establishment of nine protected areas along the border with Suriname and
Guyana in collaboration with Conservation International (CI) and other nongovernmental
organizations. These areas, about half of which were to be strictly protected, combined several
existing indigenous areas and nature conservations to create the world's largest tropical forest
reserve.
Preserving land which is hard for most people to occupy is also easiest. Greenland has
created a national park for 980,000 of its northern area. Saudi Arabia has set up a wildlife
protection area of 825,000 in its Empty Portion. Those remote areas differ in how much they
support biodiversity. Canada's Quttinirpaaq National Park on the island of Ellesmere is an example
of a park with high forest values but poor biodiversity (Figure 16). Only 800 km from the North
Pole, during its brief, 3-week summer season, this remote park gets fewer than 100 human visitors
per year. It has abundant solitude and strong beauty with little evidence of human occupation but
very little wildlife and almost no vegetation.

Figure 16. At the north end of Ellesmere Island, Canada's Quttinirpaaq National Park has plenty of
isolation and beautiful scenery but little biodiversity. (https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-
np/nu/quttinirpaaq/activ)
Even designated highly protected parks and preserves are not always safe from
exploitation or changes in policy priorities. In many countries, serious problems threaten the
natural resources and the quality of the environment. In Greece, plants threaten the Pindus

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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

National Park (Figure 17) to build a hydroelectric dam in the center of the park, and excessive
stock grazing and forestry exploitation in the peripheral zone is causing wildlife habitat erosion
and loss.

Figure 17. The Pindus National Park is characterized by dense European black pine and common
beech forests, rocky ridges, several peaks of more than 2,000 meters (6,600 ft), rapid streams and
mountain lakes. (https://naturallyzagori.gr/pindus-national-park-greece/)

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Philippines has been listed as one of
the World Heritage Centers named by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) which serves as the home for distinct wildlife and biodiversity
conservation habitat. The key attractions of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
covering 22,202 hectares of land are its vast ancient forests, spectacular limestone karst
landscapes, cave systems, natural rock formations and the underground river that 'emerges straight
into the sea.' (Figure 18).

Figure 18. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park features one of the most
impressive cave systems in the world, featuring stunning karst calcareous landscapes, untouched
natural beauty, preserved forests and rare wildlife. (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/652/)

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

The U.S. in the last years National Park System has started to focus on nature
conservation and environmental awareness over entertainment. Many countries are also following
the new agenda. The IUCN has established a world conservation strategy to protect natural
resources that includes the following three objectives : (1) preserving critical ecological processes
and life-support systems, such as soil regeneration and protection, recycling of nutrients, and
purification of water on which human survival and growth depend; (2) maintaining genetic
diversity which is necessary for breeding programs to develop crops and domesticated animals;
and (3) ensuring that any use of wildlife and habitats is sustainable.
Biologists are advocating for protected areas that can shield marine species from harmful
fishing practices as ocean fish populations are rapidly depleted globally. While about 14% of the
land area is in some state of protection, only about 5% of marine biomes on the Nearshore are
covered. Limiting the quantity and type of fishing in marine reserves will rapidly replenish fish
stocks in surroundings. Researchers found in a study of 100 marine refugees worldwide that, on
average, the number of species within no-take preserves was twice as high as the surrounding areas
where fishing was permitted. Furthermore, the biomass of species was three times as large and
individual animals were, on average, 30% larger inside the refuge than outside. Recent work has
shown that the closure of fishing reserves can be helpful in restoring marine ecosystems only for a
few months. The size required for a safe haven to protect flora and fauna depends on the species
involved, but some marine biologists call on nations to preserve as marine refugees at least 20% of
their nearshore territories.
Up until recently, species conservation efforts in the Philippines have concentrated mainly
on wildlife – the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), the Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus
mindorensis), the Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia) and the Philippine tarsier
(Tarsius syrichta), among others. While they are rarer and more endangered than their animal
counterparts, no national conservation initiative or species recovery program has ever centered on
wild plants. Yet recognition of plants as part of natural heritage in the Philippines has evolved
significantly. In fact, plants are an important component of our biodiversity and an essential
resource: food, clothing, shelter, medicine, artifacts of culture. They are the primary producers;
they provide many habitats with natural resources, and they play a key role in preserving
environmental balance and integrity of the habitats. Plants constitute vegetation such as forests and
also contribute to many ecosystem services such as clean air, watershed protection, fresh water and
climate regulation. Plants in reality are central to human life.
The Philippines is recognized worldwide as a hotspot for marine biodiversity (Figure 19)
and a priority jurisdiction for the relevant conservation. Considering the imminent challenges of
climate change, fishery management needs to be more sensitive, versatile and reflective in general.
The Philippines has a challenge associated with the structure of local governance which makes
ecological scale-up difficult. Partly due to weak institutional mandates and a lack of consortia for
the bioregional marine ecosystems. There are currently no programs which systematically integrate
assessment and monitoring of marine biodiversity across complete bioregions, and biodiversity
measures are often biased by a failure to account for varying detectability between species and
over time. Examining how data from the survey of marine protected area (MPA) can be used as a
way of establishing systemic approaches to monitoring biodiversity. An approach to monitoring
could then be used to tackle growth and/or improvement in order to create one or more uniform
indices of biodiversity across gradients and marine bioregions. More consideration is given to the
incorporation of biodiversity knowledge and its importance to local government development
strategies of local government units (LGUs) at the Regional, Municipal, and Barangay (smallest
governance units) levels. It takes the view that the creation of sensitive management structures for
social and environmental problems needs to be related to local culture, history and socio-
economics.
Many of the world's most biologically rich communities are in developing countries,
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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

especially in the tropics. Such countries are the guardians of we all essential biological capital.
Sadly, where political and economic structures fail to provide property, employment, food, and
other necessities of life for citizens, people do whatever they can to meet their own needs.
Immediate survival has priority over long-term environmental targets. Apparently, the battle to
save animals and habitats cannot be separated from the broader struggle to meet human needs.
People in some developing countries are beginning to realize that their most valuable
assets may be their biological resources, and that their protection is vital to sustainable
development. Ecotourism is an ecologically and socially sustainable tourism that can be of greater
long-term value in many ways than extractive industries, such as logging and mining.

Figure 19. Coral reefs are perhaps the world's most complex habitats. Containing tens of thousands
of marine animals, one-third of all marine fish live on coral reefs for part of their lives. In
Philippines it depends on marine life. The reefs of El Nido contain at least five species of sea
turtles, 1600 species of fish, some 1,700 species of mollusks and sponges. Aside from their
immense importance as a marine sanctuary, coral reefs shield coastlines from hurricanes and
provide people around the world with billions of dollars of food and jobs each year.
(https://www.palawan-divers.org/marine-life-in-el-nido-corals/)

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further understand
the lesson:
*Bueno, D. (2019). Environmental science. Mandaluyong City: Book Atbp.
Publishing Corp. ISBN: 978-621-409-112-6

*Cunningham, W. & Cunningham, M. A. (2020). Principles of environmental

science: inquiry and applications. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 9th
edition.

*Easton, T. (2016). Taking sides: clashing views on environmental issues. New

York: McGraw-Hill Education. 16th edition.

*Enger, E. & Smith, B. (2019). Environmental Science: a study of interrelationships.

New York: McGraw Hill Education. 15th edition.

*Fernando, E., Manila, A., & Lim, T.M. (2009). Framework for the Philippine Plant
Conservation Strategy and Action Plan. National Consultative Workshop
Report. Department of Forest Biological Sciences, College of Forestry and
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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Natural Resources University of the Philippines and the Philippine Plant

Conservation Committee. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/275970366_Framework_for_the_Philippine_Plant_Conservation_S
trategy_and_Action_Plan

*Miller, G. & Spoolman, S. (2019). Environmental science. Australia: Cengage

Learning, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-337-61275-3

*Raquino, M. E., Pajaro, M., & Watts, P. (2015). Integrating marine biodiversity
through philippine local development plans. Management of Environmental
Quality, 26(2), 159-171. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-09-2013-0097

Let’s Check

Activity 1. Now that you know the most essential terms in the study of environmental conservation in
forests, grasslands, parks and natural preserves. Let us try to check your understanding of these terms. In
the space provided, write the term/s being asked in the following statements:

1. It is a tourism that is ecologically and socially sustainable.

2. What is the scientific name of Philippine eagle?

3. This country can be located the Quttinirpaaq National Park.

4. An example of a Philippine national park.

5. This country is now believed to have the world's highest

deforestation rate or forest loss.

6. It is called as damage to vegetation and soil including loss of native

forage species and erosion

7. This country claims to have the highest proportion of any country in

the world covered by its land area of 66%.

8. It has been listed as one of the World Heritage Centers named by

the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which serves as
the home for distinct wildlife and biodiversity conservation habitat.

9. This country contains an extensive protected area. Approximately 2

million kilometers (25%) of the nation's land, mostly in the Amazon Basin is protected.

10. It plays a part in more modern-day economic activities than any

other commodity.

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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Let’s Analyze

Activity 1. Getting acquainted with the essential terms in the study of environmental conservation
is not enough, what also matters is you should also be able to explain its inter-relationships. Now, I
will require you to explain thoroughly your answers.

1. What drives deforestation? Cite five examples.

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2. What can you do being a responsible Ecotourist? Give at least seven examples.
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In a Nutshell

Activity 1. The study of environmental conservation is indeed pre-requisite to becoming a higher-

order thinking animal in this planet. It is a very complicated and highly scientific document which
requires content including knowledge outside the school.
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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Based from the definition of the most essential terms in the study of environmental
conservation and the learning exercises that you have done, please feel free to write your conclusions
or lessons learned below. I have indicated my conclusions or lessons learned.

1. Forests and grasslands occupy about 60 per cent of the world's land area. Within these biomes
the vast majority of human lives, and we derive many useful resources from them.

Your Turn

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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Big Picture in Focus: ULOb. Explain the importance of food and

agriculture.
Metalanguage
The most essential terms below are operationally defined for you to have a better
understanding of this section in the course.

1. Food is a substance that basically consists of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and other nutrients used
in an organism's body to support growth and vital processes, and to provide energy. The ingestion
and use of food by the body is important to nutrition, and is facilitated by digestion. The primary
food source is plants that convert solar energy to food through photosynthesis. Animals which feed
on plants also serve other animals as food sources.
2. Agriculture is the method by which food, feed, fiber and many other desirable products are
produced by growing certain plants and raising domesticated animals (livestock).

Essential Knowledge

Ensuring that the land and water supplies of the planet will provide adequate food for the
people of the world has always been a problem in environmental sciences. Modern industrial
agriculture has rewritten the story of food and hunger as practiced in the American Midwest.
Although developing areas continue to practice small-scale subsistence farming, an increasing
share of world food now comes from vast operations, mostly thousands of hectares, increasing one
or two crops with sufficient fuel and fertilizer inputs for a competitive global marketplace.
Recent improvements have increased the demand significantly, providing inexpensive
meat protein worldwide, even in developing countries. Food production has so drastically
increased that we are now using maize, soy and sugar to drive our vehicles. The 2005 global food
costs (in inflation – adjusted dollars) were the lowest ever reported, less than a quarter of the cost
in the mid-1970s, according to the International Monetary Fund. Owing to overproduction in the
U.S. and Europe, we 're paying billions of dollars to farmers every year to take land out of
development.
Fifty years ago, hunger was one of the most influential and enduring problems in the
world. Nearly 60 percent of people in developing countries were chronically undernourished in
1960, and that year the world population increased by more than 2 percent. Some circumstances
have improved drastically today although others have very little improved. The world population
has more than doubled, from 3 billion to over 7 billion, but the production of food has grown much
more rapidly. While the average population growth has been 1.7 percent per year in the past 50
years, food production has risen by an average age of 2.2 per cent per year. In most countries, food
supply has increased to well over 2,200 kilocalories, which is the amount commonly considered
sufficient for a balanced and successful life. In most countries too, including China and India, the
two most populous nations, protein intake has increased. In developing countries, fewer than 20
percent of people are now suffering severe food shortages, compared to 60 percent just 50 years
ago. But hunger still lies with us. An estimated 900 million people suffer chronic hunger nearly
one in every eight people on earth. This figure is up marginally from a few years ago, but the
proportion of undernourished citizens is still dropping due to population growth.
Around 95 percent of people who are hungry are in developing countries. In Sub-Saharan
Africa, an area afflicted by political instability, hunger is extremely severe. They are gradually
coming to realize that food protection, or the ability to get adequate, nutritious food on a regular
basis, is a combined issue of cultural, environmental, and social conditions. Also, in affluent
countries like the U.S. millions lack adequate, balanced diets. Poverty, job losses, lack of social

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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

care and other factors contribute to persistent hunger and even more to persistent poor nutrition,
given the fact that we have more, healthier food in history than almost every country.
Food security is important on many scales. An extreme drought, flood, or insect outbreak
can affect vast regions in the poorest countries. Human villagers often suffer from a lack of food
security, a bad crop year may devastate a family or a community, and local economies can collapse
when farmers cannot produce enough to eat and sell. There might be unequal food security even
within families. Hungry people cannot extricate themselves from poverty. Nobel prize-winning
economist Robert Fogel claimed that 20 percent of England and France's population were
practically removed from the labor force in 1790, because they were too poor and hungry to work.
He estimates that better nutrition during the 19th century may account for approximately half of all
economic growth in Europe. This analysis suggests that by producing a healthier, longer-lived and
more productive workforce, reducing hunger in today's poor countries could yield more than $120
billion (US) in economic growth.
Famines are food shortages on a large scale, with severe drought and social chaos (Figure
20). Famines are often caused by drought or floods, but the root causes of extreme food shortages
typically include political turmoil, such as wars that displace people, drive farmers from their
farms or make farming too risky for field work. Economic inequalities are also driving peasants off
the farm. For example, in Brazil, wealthy landowners have in recent decades displaced hundreds of
thousands of peasant farmers, first to establish large cattle ranches and, more recently, to increase
soybean production. The displaced farmers frequently have little choice but to move when they
lose the land to the already overcrowded slums of major cities.

Figure 20. Children wait at a feeding station in Somalia for their daily ration of porridge. When
starvation or war forces people out of their homes, social structures crumble, disease spreads
rapidly, and the situation quickly becomes urgent. (Adapted from Cunningham, 2020)

More recently, multinational "land grabbing" in countries across Africa and parts of Asia
have displaced peasants. International land speculators, farm companies, and developers have
agreed to lease property that is controlled by traditional communities but legally owned by
governments. The Harvard University economist Amartya K. Sen has shown that while natural
disasters often precipitate famines, farmers have almost always managed to survive those events
unless they are thwarted by inept or corrupt governments or greedy elites. Professor Sen points out
that the root of famine is almost always the armed struggle and political injustice. No democratic
country has ever had a major famine, with a relatively free press.
A proper diet is key to keeping you safe. You need a food balance to provide the right
nutrients, as well as ample calories for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that nearly 3 billion people suffer from
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deficiencies in vitamins, minerals, or proteins. Such shortages result in severe diseases and death,
as well as a decrease in mental capacity, developmental defects and stunted growth. Malnutrition is
a general term for nutritional imbalances resulting from a lack of particular nutrients. In conditions
of extreme food shortage, a shortage of protein can cause kwashiorkor in young children, which is
characterized by a bloated belly and discolored hair and skin. Kwashiorkor is a West African term
meaning a child who has been displaced. Once a new baby is born, a young child is displaced and
deprived of nutritious breast milk. Marasmus is another serious disorder in children who lack both
protein and calories (from the Greek term, to waste away). An infant with severe marasmus is
usually thin and shriveled. Such conditions lower resistance disease and illnesses, and children can
experience both permanent mental and physical developmental disabilities (Figure 21).

Figure 21. Dietary deficiencies can cause serious illness. Kwashiorkor is a type of extreme protein
malnutrition with edema and an enlarged liver with fatty infiltrations. Marasmus results from
protein and calorie deficiency and gives a wizened look and dry, flaky skin.
(https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/128634133083746101/)

For the world's thousands for edible plants and animals, only a handful supply virtually all
of our food. About a dozen types of grasses, three root crops, twenty or so fruits and vegetables,
six mammals, two domestic fowls, and a few species of fish make up almost all our food. Two
grasses, wheat and rice, are particularly important as they are the staple food for most of the
developing countries' 5 billion people. Corn (a grass, also known as maize) and soybeans have
been our main products in the United States. We rarely consume directly either maize or soybeans,
but maize offers sweeteners; maize oil; animal feed for our beef, chicken, and pork production;
industrial starches; and several synthetic vitamins.
The meat consumption has grown worldwide largely due to dramatic increases in the
production of corn and soy. Meat consumption in developing countries has risen from just 10 kg
per person per annum in the 1960s to over 26 kg today. In the United States, in the last 50 years,
meat intake has risen from 90 kg to 136 kg per person per year. Meat is a concentrated, high-value
source of protein, iron, fats and other nutrients giving us the ability to lead productive lives. This
increased production was possible thanks to a range of technical and breeding advances. One of
the most important is the confined animal feeding operation (CAFO), where animals are kept
and fed for rapid growth mainly from soy and corn. Such operations dominate livestock-raising in
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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
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the U.S., Europe, and China and other countries increasingly. Animals are kept in large enclosures,
in a massive barn complex, of up to 10,000 hogs or a million chickens, or 100,000 cattle in a feed
lot.
Moreover, in the Philippines, those can find a fan in meat lovers make money from the
meat business. A businessman named Santiago Toledo fusses over a steak he says must have an
inner temperature of about 130 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, with its seared outside and a bit
reddish in the center. "It's what they call" rare, lovely medium, "he says. A part of a monthly pay is
set aside so he can eat at steakhouses at least once a month or six times a year — which was his
average last year. The occasions he was not dining in a steakhouse were the times he was in a
"samgyup" spot or a "pares" house. "Samgyup" is short for samgyupsal, the grilled pork belly
served in Korean specialty restaurants. "Pares" is a stew of beef cooked slowly in soy sauce and
spices almost the entire day.
Over the past decade, gross meat imports have risen at least 9% by a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR). Players in the industry attributed this growth to higher domestic
requirements driven primarily by meat producers, food service industry and even local consumers.
Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that total meat imports reached a record
high of 850,000 metric tons (MT) in 2018 which was more than double the 390,000 MT reported
in 2010. Stakeholders in the industry expect the meat imports to stay flat in 2019.

Figure 22. Fresh longanisa, chicken, beef and pork at Commonwealth's local wet market, Quezon
City (BusinessMirror, 2020)
Understanding the world's limits and feeding opportunities requires an understanding of
the soil that supports us. Soil is the basis of food production but several other important factors
exist. Also important are adequate water supplies, nutrients, optimal temperatures and rainfall,
viable crop varieties and the mechanical energy required to tend and harvest the crops. Strategies
for applying these various inputs vary greatly between regions and contrasting strategies in
agriculture. Agriculture requires at least 2/3 of all fresh water derived from rivers, lakes and
groundwater. Although estimates vary widely, around 15 per cent of all croplands are irrigated
worldwide.
Excessive use contributes not only to waste water but also to waterlogging. Waterlogged
soil is saturated with water, and plant roots are dying from oxygen deficiency. Salinization, in
which mineral salts accumulate in the soil, is often a problem when irrigation water dissolves on
the surface of the soil, which is lethal to most plants, behind a salty crust.

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

The Biodiversity International has release a module titled ―Law and Policy of Relevance
to the Management of Plant Genetic Resources‖ which aims to help professionals in managing,
conserving, and using plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The module provides the
following definitions: biotechnology uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives
thereof, to make or modify products or processes for a specific use; genetic engineering is a
technique that allows genes and DNA to be transferred from one source to another that leads to the
production of living modified organisms (LMO) or genetically modified organisms (GMO); and
modern biotechnology gives scientists molecular tools for obtaining a better understanding of the
structure and function of genes in living organisms. Modern biotechnology paves the way for a
new development on food and agriculture. Particularly, it aims to develop new precision tools and
diagnostics; speed up breeding gains and efficiency; combat salinity, drought, and problems of
agriculture; enhance nutritional quality of food; increase crop varieties and choice; reduce inputs
and production costs; and develop pest- and disease-resistant crops.
Genetic engineering, splicing gene from one organism into the chromosome of another,
has the potential to greatly increase both the quantity and quality of our food supply. Genetically
modified (GM) crops have borrowed genes inserted into their DNA, allowing them to produce or
tolerate new kinds of organic substances. The benefits are: Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) genes
originating from soil bacteria provide a natural insecticide to further protect crops; GM crops have
allowed expansion of agriculture into formerly unfarmed, Brazil’s rainforests and Cerrado region;
and increased global soy production has raised protein consumption rates in many regions,
including China. The problems are: new varieties are expensive, forcing poor farmers into debt;
herbicides in drinking water have unknown heath effect.

Figure 23. Bt corn in the Philippines was designed to be resistant to the Asiatic corn borer (ACB),
Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), one of the nation’s most destructive corn pests. The crop also
presents a practical and ecologically sustainable solution for poor corn farmers everywhere to
increase their yields and decrease pesticide use, thus improving their health and livelihoods,
alleviating poverty. (https://edgedavao.net/agri-trends/2020/01/14/bt-corn-towards-food-security/)

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:
*Bueno, D. (2019). Environmental science. Mandaluyong City: Book Atbp. Publishing
Corp. ISBN: 978-621-409-112-6

*Cunningham, W. & Cunningham, M. A. (2020). Principles of environmental science:

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 UM Panabo College
Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

inquiry and applications. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 9th edition.

*Easton, T. (2016). Taking sides: clashing views on environmental issues. New York:
McGraw-Hill Education. 16th edition.

*Enger, E. & Smith, B. (2019). Environmental Science: a study of interrelationships. New

York: McGraw Hill Education. 15th edition.

*Miller, G. & Spoolman, S. (2019). Environmental science. Australia: Cengage Learning,

Inc. ISBN: 978-1-337-61275-3

Let’s Check

Activity 1. Now that you know the most essential terms in the study of food and agriculture. Let
us try to check your understanding of these terms. In the space provided, write the term/s being
asked in the following statements:
1. This technique is being used that allow genes and DNA to be
transferred from one source to another.

2. The characteristics of an organisms and its successors can be

modified today by modern technology, giving rise to.

3. It refers to the molecular blueprint for a living thing.

4. BAI stands for?

5. This gene originating from soil bacteria provide a natural

insecticide to further protect crops

6. He estimates that better nutrition during the 19th century may

account for approximately half of all economic growth in Europe.

7. In this country, wealthy landowners have in recent decades

displaced hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers, first to establish large cattle ranches and,
more recently, to increase soybean production

8. It is often caused by drought or floods, but the root causes of

extreme food shortages typically include political turmoil, such as wars that displace people, drive
farmers from their farms or make farming too risky for field work.

9. It is a type of extreme protein malnutrition with edema and an

enlarged liver with fatty infiltrations.

10. Genetically Modified Organisms is also called as.

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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Let’s Analyze

Activity 1. In this part, you are once again required to elaborate thoroughly your answer
on the questions below:
1. How can we feed the world?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

2. What is a ―Green Revolution‖ and ―Organic Production‖? Give 5 benefits and problems.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________________________
In a Nutshell

Activity 1. Study about food and agriculture have raised a lot of perspectives, facts that will
help us to understand our environment. In this part, you will be required to draw conclusions,
perspectives, arguments and ideas from the unit lesson. I will supply the first item and you will
continue the rest.
1. Over recent decades, food production has risen faster than the human population and the
percentage of people living with chronic hunger has decreased, though the number has increased.

2. _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
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Department of Accounting, Business, and Management Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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