Contemporary WORLD -midterm

FOOD SECURITY rising affluence

 More than just ensuring there will be food to o Increasingly bringing with them higher
eat tomorrow demand for convenient, processed foods
for meat and dietary products
Food Security includes o World Bank estimates that cereal
1. AVAILABILITY – “Is there enough food for production needs to increase by 50% and
everyone?” meat production by 85% between 2000
2. ACCESS – “can it be reached efficiently?” and 2030 to meet increasing demand
3. AFFORDABILITY – “can it be bought at a c. Reduced Arable Land
price that is reasonable?” d. Transport Costs
4. QUALITY – “Is it edible?” e. Climate Change and Food Security
5. NUTRITION – “Is the food part of the o Good: Increased CO2 will lead to more
balanced diet?” plants fixing carbon which has the
6. SAFETY – “could the food harm health?” potential to increase yields. Make some
areas more suitable for agriculture
GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY o Bad: Increased deserts, increased
When all people at all times have access to droughts, Increased insects, damaged
sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a ecosystems
healthy and active life.
So should we just grow more food?
THREE PILLARS OF FOOD SECURITY - New technologies cannot solve problem
 Availability alone.
o Production
o Processing oTechnology needs to be introduced at the correct
o H20 and Soil Management pace.
o Trade and Stock
o Pilling There is a need for:
 Access a. Political negotiations for some market barriers
o Transport to be removed.
o Equitable District o Political disagreements over water may
o Marketing lead to military conflicts
o There are 145 countries sharing lakes and
o Affordability
rivers basins.
o Purchasing P.
 Utilization
The MEKONG DELTA is a network of
o Good Health Indicators
distributaries in Southwestern Vietnam between
o Nutritious Food Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia. The river itself
o Food Safety & Quality starts in the Himalayas and passes through China,
o Clean H20 Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before reaching
o Sanitation Vietnam, which partly explains why the waters are
so murky.
WHY IS FOOD SECURITY A PROBLEM? o ¾ of world water consumption is used for
 Increasing Population
irrigation and agriculture
 Changing Diets
o Irrigation demands 50-100% by 2025
 Reduced Arable Land
(UN)
 Transport Costs
 Climate Change b. Need to manage environmental impacts
c. Many countries will continue to rely on
WHAT FUTURE TRENDS AFFECT FOOD
international trade to ensure their food
SECURITY
security
a. Population
o World population: 9 billion by 2050
o 90% will be coming from developing
countries where water is already scarce ON GLOBAL AGENDA
o 70% will live in urban areas Approximately, there are 842 million people
b. Changing Diets today estimated to be experiencing chronic
o Economic growth, urbanization, and hunger