Food Security Problems Posed by Insects in America - Coursework Example

Topic: Food Security Problems Posed by Insects in America Introduction The United s is viewed by the world as a country that has plenty of food but the reality on the ground is that not all the households are food secure for a healthy life. This is to say that not all the households in America have access to enough food as a portion of the population experiences food insecurity, (Wunderlich, Norwood, & National Research Council (U.S.), 2006). This can be attributed to food deprivation and lack of access to food due to economic resource constraints, though the situation is not as bad as some of the developing countries. Since 1995 the unites stated department of agriculture has been in the front line in publishing as well as undertaking researches to get an overview of the food insecurity as well as hunger situation in the united states households. Surveys have been done by the United States food security measurement project which is a combination of bodies set up such as the federal agencies, academic researchers and private organizations for the analysis of the food situation. The United States Department of Agriculture Estimates, published in a series of annual reports are widely used by the government agencies, the media and advocate groups to report the extent of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. These estimates are also used to monitor progress towards national objectives, to evaluate the impact of particular public policies and programs, as a standard by which the performance of the united stated department of agriculture programs is measures and as a basis for a diverse body of research relating to food assistance programs, (Tobin, 2009) In addition, the United States Department of Agriculture has a program of research for improving the measurement and standards of food security. All these efforts have been recognized but there is still concerned over the methods of estimation and design in the insecurity scale as the insect problem comes into play. This paper looks to examine the problems that insects pose to the food insecurity situation and some of the possible solutions. Agriculture and Food Security Food is a basic need for all living creatures due to the positive correlation between food availability, calories and protein intake and human development as aspects surrounding a healthy growth (Gani & Prasad, 2007). Food security was originated as a concept in the mid-1970s, as a consequence of discussions of international food problems (UN, 1974) where there was process of international negotiation leading to the World Food Conference of 1974, and a new set of institutional arrangements were initiated. A crucially important factor in formulating original food security was the evidence that the “Green Revolution could not be successful to lead a dramatic reduction in poverty and levels of malnutrition” (FAO, 2003). The initial focus, reflecting the global concerns of 1974, was on the volume and stability of food supplies which defined food security in the 1974 World Food Summit as availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs; the aim here is to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices in the future periods ahead (FAO, 2003). According to Rehber, (2012) the limitations of the food supply focus have been realized during the food crisis that again threatened Africa in the mid-1980s where it became clear that adequate food availability at the national level did not automatically translate into food security at the household and individual levels. The household food security approach that evolved in the late 1980s emphasized the ability of the household to acquire the food needed by its members (Andersen, 2009). Thus, food availability at the national and regional level and stable and sustainable access at the local level were both considered essential to household food security and with a holistic approach; the main interest was centered on understanding food systems (Frankenberger & McCaston, 1998). In 1983, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) expanded its concept to include securing access by vulnerable people to available supplies after discovering the widespread food security issue globally. In this respect, it implied that attention should be balanced between the demand and supply side of the food security equation to ensure that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need. Vulnerability may occur both as a chronic and transitory phenomenon which introduced the widely accepted distinction between chronic food insecurity (problems of continuing or structural poverty and low incomes), and transitory food insecurity (problems which have been experienced because of natural disasters, seasonality, economic collapse or conflict) (FAO, 2003). According to the World Bank, the major sources of transitory food insecurity are year-to-year variations in international food prices, foreign exchange earnings, domestic food production, household incomes as well as varied production letdowns such as climate and insects. There are strong arguments whether this volatility is associated with regime changes linked to the Uruguay Round while other influences are the factors that affect agricultural performance such as climate change (FAO, 2003). Chronic food insecurity of course is related to the level of development, and poverty The state of food insecurity in the world reports on global and national efforts to reach goal set by the 1996 World Food Summit to reduce by half the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015. The food security concept is an all rounded issue that considers all people and their access to food at all times; affecting physical, social and economic impact in terms of sufficiency, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2002) A comprehensive food security concept can be explained while incorporating five important components in terms of the availability, accessibility, access, acceptability and agency. To expound on this, accessibility covers physical and economic access to food for all at all times, adequacy - access to food that is nutritious and safe, and produced in environmentally sustainable ways. The rest of the aspects include acceptability which is access to culturally acceptable food, produced and obtained in ways that do not compromise people’s dignity, self-respect or human rights as well as agency of the policies and processes that enable the achievement of food security at any given period of time. It can be realized from the explanations above that food security is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and hence it is very important to consider those dimensions to evaluate security problem. The insect’s problem to agriculture in America According to Zim, Cottam & Irving (1961), in a broad view, insects play an important natural role in ways that are both beneficial to humans and other ways that make the plant life and wildlife possible to exist. Insects are food for many kinds of mammals, birds, amphibians and fish; many of the songbirds depend almost entirely on an insect diet as on the other hand, every fisherman knows that fresh water fish go after insects Insects can be found in all habitats including swamps, jungles, deserts, even in highly harsh environments such as pools of crude petroleum (Imms, 1964) because they are undoubtedly the most adaptable form of life. Their total numbers far exceed that of any other animal category due to the fact that the majority of insects are directly important to humans and the environment. Taking an example, several insect species are predators or parasitoids on other harmful pests, others are pollinators, decomposers of organic matter or producers of valuable products such as honey or silk fit for human consumption directly or indirectly. Some can be used to produce pharmacologically active compounds such as venoms or antibodies while less than 0.5 percentage of the total number of the known insect species are considered pests, and only a few of these can be a serious menace to people. Insect pests inflict damage to humans, farm animals and crops where they have been defined by Williams (1947) as any insect in the wrong place causing adverse damages to the surrounding. One prominent example is the tsetse fly which according to ICIPE, (1997), the small insect puts risk to close to 100 million people and 60 million head of cattle at risk in sub-Saharan Africa due to the transmission of trypanosomiasis. Herbivorous insects are said to be responsible for destroying one fifth of the worlds total crop production annually as one major reason why there are pests is the creation of man manipulated habitats. This is the agro-ecosystems that fulfill mans needs, where crops are selected for their large size, high yield, nutritious value, and clustered in a confined area and monitored closely for maximum performance. This does not only satisfy mans demand, but provides a highly conducive environment for herbivorous insects at the same time and in the process of artificially selecting suitable crops for human consumption, highly susceptible plants for infestation by insects are also selected. According to Kerin, (1994), many of the crop varieties that were developed during the past 30 years produced high yields, but, they also had poor storage characteristics due to their infestation by insects at the granaries rendering them unusable. Insect pests are capable of evolving to biotypes that can adapt to new situations severe situation that may be in the form of toxic materials or bypass natural or artificial plant resistant, which further confounds the problem as they mutate to adapt (Roush & McKenzie, 1987). Provision of food has always been a challenge facing mankind but a major cornerstone in this challenge is the competition from insect pests which is further worsening the already problematic situation. This is due to the fact that the climate here provides a highly favorable environment for a wide range of insects to survive and breed hence calling for massive efforts to suppress population densities of the different pests in order to achieve an adequate supply of food. According to Herath (1998), the accelerated use of agrochemicals in America during the last two decades has generated major adverse effects on the environment; pollution of water courses and underground water aquifers by pesticides, weedicides and insecticides has become prominent. Technological developments in American agriculture such as improved pastures, animal breeding and pest and disease control methods facilitated the use of external inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides with significant productivity gains. During the decades of the 1970s and 1980s in particular, agricultural production involving intensive use of chemical inputs became the dominant model, (Bne, 2013). Pesticide pollution is a major area of concern in America due to the roles they play in agricultural management; pesticides include insecticides, fungicides and herbicides and other minor groups such as acaricides and nematocides. Globally, pesticide sales have soared since the 1970s and in some countries which brings into the picture the various levels of pollution to the ecosystem that the chemicals sustain. Concerns about pesticide pollution in major river systems have been expressed by the various agricultural departments concerned in America. Pesticides also affect worker safety and many cases of poisoning are reported each year where workers exposed to these also suffer from various complaints such as headaches and nausea, particularly after application (Houghton & Wilson, 1992). It is reported that only about 5 percent of the primary producers in New Zealand participated in management training on agrochemical safety as the main reason for poor participation is that they are uncertain about the extent and severity of agrochemical health risks. Improper handling, storage and disposal can add to these problems as recent studies showed that farmers store nearly 600 tonnes of unwanted chemicals in farms. The collection and disposal costs a considerable amount of money but this is presently done by the various local councils whose costs are subsidised by the government. Further, studies indicate that many farms have sheep-dip contaminated with arsenic from the dip as there are reportedly severe contaminations in some areas, (Nord, Jemison, Bickel & United States, 1999). Pesticide resistance on the other hand is another significant externality which has serious implications associated with the development of pesticide resistance. Pesticide resistance is created by their excessive use. Pesticide resistance requires increasing doses of any chemical to achieve effective control of a pest and in extreme cases the pesticides can become totally ineffective in controlling pests, (Wilde, 2013). Possible Solutions Zim, Cottam & Irving (1961) argues that there are natural ways in which insect population regulates itself in terms of their numbers and this included feeding by other mammals, birds and fish. This is an ecological balance that brings about the survival of some species as others run extinct. It is encouraged that the harmless insects prey on the harmful kinds as this reduces the rates of their elimination through methods such as repellents, traps and poisoning. This is because such methods have a rather adverse effect to the environment in terms of pollution. Herath (1998) further assert that policy options to control adverse effects of agrochemicals have been established as the adverse impacts of agrochemicals and their treatment costs are significant. Unfortunately, it is impossible to clean up contaminated sites completely and therefore preventive strategies are much more desirable as an effective preventive strategy would benefit millions of people and would save millions of dollars and as such a strategy can take several forms. There are some ecological approaches, regulatory approaches and market instruments From the ecological perspective, traditional economics has limitations in addressing environmental issues because Pareto optimality of allocation is independent of whether or not the scale of physical throughput is ecologically sustainable or not. The efficiency of food production should be assessed in terms of the efficiency of material and energy flows in the production cycle, so that waste production is taken into account. The policies applications should be through internalizing externalities that may discourage the excess production of residuals as on the other hand there is a necessity to support a positive goal of developing genuinely efficient food production systems and this requires viewing food production as an ecological process. The development of integrated pest management (IPM) and weed management (IWM), organic farming and biotechnological alternatives to potentially damaging agrochemicals are examples. Integrated pest and weed management is defined as a pest management strategy that aims at diversifying pest control practices so that the use of pesticides is minimized or eliminated; the major benefits of IPM are reduction of production cost, higher farm income, savings from pesticide imports and subsidy, improved water and soil quality, reduced farmer and consumer risks from pesticides poisoning, wildlife poisoning and a safer environment. America should copy countries such as Australia where the Senate Select Committee on Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals, the Ecologically Sustainable Development Group and the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation promoted IPM as an appropriate measure to mitigate the adverse environmental consequences of agrochemicals. However, the lack of major national government policies such as pesticide reduction has slowed the adoption and spread of IPM as several successful cases of IPM which helped reduce costs as well as the amount of pesticides used have been observed for tomatoes and citrus. Organic farming is a farming system managed as a living organism where the adverse effects of agrochemicals, particularly chronic exposure and effects such as cancer can be mitigated through organic products; it differs from IPM in that IPM still permits the use of agrochemicals when the problem becomes unmanageable but organic farming will not. The benefits accrued raises several issues such as profitability, demand for organic products and the impact of a wholesale shift to organic farming on the economy which seems much more beneficial. Available studies provide encouraging evidence; Upadhyay, Mukerji, & Chamola (2000) estimated that there were around 1,513 organic producers in Australia. The number of organic farms has been increasing at the rate of around 22 percent per annum. Total sales of organic produce in 1989-1990 were estimated to be around $35-45 million. Some idea about the demand for organic produce could be gained from a survey conducted recently where it found that 82 per cent would prefer to buy food which had no chemicals used in its growing or preparation, even if it costs more (Fichter, 1966). Clarke (1988) found that the various markets for organically produced goods are growing rapidly and the consumers are prepared to pay a premium price for organically produced goods. Biotechnological alternatives to agrochemicals has been the latest developments in agriculture opening up possibilities in the development of new forms of life to meet specific requirements such as plant resistance to agrochemicals as recently, a variety of cotton resistant to heliothis was developed which is a significant advance in its control. Conclusion According to Mukerji & Chamola, (2000), the traditional pest control practices innovated by ancient men of different times need to be documented in depth. Development and commercialization of low cost safe and effective biological control agents should be welcomed and promoted where the materials developed need not match that of the synthetic pesticides even partial pest control would be better than no pest control. Farmers should be educated about species of plants with insecticidal properties and encourage them to grow the most important pesticide plants around their farm land. References Andersen, P.P. (2009). 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L., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2006). Food insecurity and hunger in the United States: An assessment of the measure. Washington, DC: National Academies Press Zim, H. S., Cottam, C., & Irving, J. G. (1961). Insects: A guide to familiar American insects. New York: Golden Press Read More