Global Food (In)security

Why does it matter ?

WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY?

Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient

quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Food security is a condition related to the availability of food, and an
individual’s accessibility and affordability to it.
A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live
in hunger or fear of starvation.
Stages of food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-
scale famine
 World food crisis :
Current situation
• The world population has reached more than 8 billion and it
is expected to keep climbing at a rate of about 1% every
decade until at least 2050.
• The world faces a global hunger crisis of unprecedented
proportions
• 828 million – this is the staggering number of people
currently suffering from hunger worldwide. That's 10% of
the world's population.
1) Climate change,
2) 2)conflicts,
3) 3)COVID-19 and
4) 4)economic crises:
The global food crises that result from these triggers can
also reduce people's lives to a struggle for survival..
• We are at a critical crossroads.
• We need to rise to the challenge of meeting people's
immediate food needs, while at the same time
supporting programmes that build long-term resilience .
The alternative is hunger on a catastrophic scale.
 Facts
Source:
https://www.plan.org.au/appeal/global-
hunger-crisis-appeal/
In your opinion:
What are the causes of world food crisis ?
 Causes I
Climate change and extreme weather

• Extreme weather is a driver of world

hunger. As global temperatures and sea
levels rise, the result is more heat waves,
droughts, floods, cyclones and wildfires.
Those conditions make it difficult for
farmers to grow food and for the hungry to
get it
• This pushes millions of people into deeper
hunger and malnutrition.
 Cause I
Climate change and extreme weather
Africa particularly hard hit
• Extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent and severe
in Africa.
• Here are some ways climate contributes to Africa’s food crisis:
• Average temperatures are rising faster in Africa than in the rest of the
world.
• Rainfall is increasing in Africa by 30% in wet regions and decreasing by
20% in dry regions.
• 95% of Africa’s farmers rely on rainfall and do not have irrigation systems.
• Source : US Embassy
 Cause I
Climate change and extreme weather

• Pakistan was hit with catastrophic monsoon floods at the end of

August, affecting 33 million people.
• South Sudan faces a fourth consecutive year of flooding.
• Nigeria in 2021 experienced a delay in rainfall, which reduced its
harvest by over 65%. When the rains did come, the resulting floods
wiped out what was left.
• In Latin America, expected above-average rainfall in parts of
Guatemala and Honduras increases the chances of flooding in low-
lying areas this year, WFP said.
 • The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been affected by historic climate change in a
number of ways. Chiefly, the region has experienced an increase in average temperatures
over the past four decades, which has led to higher summer temperatures and more
Cause I frequent and intense heat waves.
Climate change and extreme • While the region has also experienced an increase in the intensity and frequency of dust
weather storms, most of that is currently not directly attributed to anthropogenic climate change.
How does climate change affect food (in)security?
Climate change and food security are strongly related

• Climate change has affected global food security:

• 1) Rising temperatures, 2) water scarcity, 3) extreme
events such as droughts and floods, and 4)increased
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are
affecting staple crops around the world.
• Global maize and wheat production declined in recent
years due to extreme weather events and a general
increase in water scarcity.
• Global warming ( rise of temperature) leads to the
destruction of crops.
For example, some agricultural crops need a certain
period and temperature to grow during the winter, and
with the rise in temperatures and the shortness of the
winter season, many crops have been destroyed.”
 Cause II
Economic crises
• Economic shocks can limit food production and people's
ability to afford food.
• Even before the war in Ukraine, wheat and fertiliser prices
rose sharply as a result of persistent inflation in many
countries – the war is now dramatically compounding the
situation on the world market.
• According to the UN World Food Programme calculations,
global food prices have risen by an average of 33% since
January 2020, and prices for fertilisers, which are essential
for agriculture, have risen by as much as 202% in the same
period.
• Petrol prices have also risen, by 49%, driving up transport
costs. Rising prices affect all members of the supply chain,
from farmers and growers to processors and consumers.
Global Food Price Inflation
 Cause III
COVID-19

• The consequences of the COVID-19

pandemic must also be taken into
account.
• The ongoing pandemic has plunged
millions of people who were previously
not food insecure into food insecurity.
• Global supply chain disruptions,
production losses, and the global
economic downturn: the economic
consequences of the pandemic are
causing millions more people to go
hungry.
 Cause IV
Armed conflicts

In Yemen, Ethiopia, Haiti and Ukraine, the Sahel, Palestin

1) Armed conflict or gang warfare have disrupted the production and
supply of food.
2) The destruction of fields, theft of crops and livestock, and
disruption of food transport that are all too common consequences of
armed conflicts take a heavy toll on the lives and livelihoods of local
communities.
3) The interruption of wheat exports from Ukraine, for example, has
dealt a severe blow to countries that depend on wheat imports for the
production of food staples such as bread. This has triggered a chain
reaction of global proportions which has worsened the situation in many
regions of the world.
• Approximately 70% of people currently facing a food crisis live in a
conflict region. Even where violence is not a direct cause of hunger, it
exacerbates an already bleak situation. Protracted conflicts,
compounded by the factors outlined above, lead to long-term crises that
are extremely difficult to overcome
 Cause IV
Armed conflicts

• The number of people in Gaza facing Catastrophe levels of hunger has

doubled in less than three months, from 570,000 in December to 1.1 million
today. WFP is providing desperately needed food to 1.45 million of the
population in Gaza each month
= Famine is imminent in Gaza

Source :
https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/palestine-emergency#:~:text=Famine%20is%20imminent%20in%20the%20north%20of%20Gaza.&text=The%20number%20of%20people%20in,population%20in
%20Gaza%20each%20month.
The global food crisis, explained

• Let`s learn more

• Take notes = discussion will be after watching the video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQWaw5S4b3I
Food security and Russia=Ukraine war

• Ukraine is called the Bread Basket of the World

• Why do you think?

Food security and Russia=Ukraine war
• Ukraine has the ability to provide enough food for half a billion
people, maybe more. Around 32 million hectares of land is cultivated
each year, with Ukraine and Russia supplying a quarter of the world's
wheat, and half of its sunflower products
Russia’s war in Ukraine sparked a historic food crisis. It’s not over!

• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and attacks across Ukraine’s agricultural

system have led to unprecedented—and wholly avoidable—impacts
on global agricultural markets, global food security, and nutrition

• Let`s read and take notes = Discussions will be after reading

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWwz8eDRS-E
Food insecurity= war
ukrain/russia
• Russia's blockade of the Black Sea
ports threatens the food security of
many countries that buy Ukrainian
wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower and
barley
• https://www.euronews.com/
2022/05/24/wfp-warns-of-starvation-
and-instability-due-to-food-supply-
problems-caused-by-russia
Has the GCC been affected by the Global
Food Crisis?
• Your opinion matters
Let`s find out!
• Why the food crisis sparked by Russia’s war hasn’t hit Gulf states
yet
• Read the articles below and share your answers

• https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/02/business/gcc-food-security-mim
e-intl/index.html
• https://www.arabnews.com/node/2055761/business-economy
• https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/02/business/gcc-food-security-
mime-intl/index.html
Assignment 1 :
Read the following article and answer the following two questions:
1) What are the main ideas that the author tackles in the article?
2) Why Food Security matters to the GGC?
Food Security at the Forefront of GCC and Global Economic
Concerns

• https://epc.ae/en/details/featured/food-security-at-the-forefront-of-
gcc-and-global-economic-concerns
Home Assignment 2: Inside story ( Aljazeera)
• Listen to the video and write down the main ideas
• Who are the guests in this edition of Inside Story?
a. Causes of the Global Food Crisis
b. What are the key findings at the UN report?
c. Write the main points of each guest speaker
d. e. What can we do before it's too late?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLAZrp-spDM
• You will be asked in next class