Supply chain - Dissertation Example

? Supply Chain Question Food security has always remained an important topic of discussion among the practitioners, politicians and industry experts. Access to safe and adequate food is one of the fundamental rights of a human being. Food is often adjudged as a basic need as well as a strategic subject. Despite several efforts by the United Nations (UN), government of the respective countries and NGO’s, malnutrition and hunger problem also known as ‘food crisis’ still exists in the society. As a result, it seems that some people in the developed countries are suffering from food-borne problems and obesity due to excess food and on the contrary many people from the developing nations are undernourished and hungry. According to the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008, globally there are 923 million undernourished people (Essex, 2008). In addition, there is a growth tendency in chronic hunger diseases which nearly reached 963 million by the end of 2008 (Essex, 2008). Echoing these facts, McDonald (2013) emphasized that if the current trends continue the number of hungry people is expected to grow at a robust rate in the forthcoming years. The facts and figures above clearly represents that the food crisis is a major cause of concern for every nation. The food security of a country is referred to as the availability of food and an individual’s access to it (Scientific-alliance, 2010). A household is considered as ‘food-secure’ if the occupant does not live in hunger. According to McDonald (2013, p. 1979), food security is “the idea that all people at all times have access (including physical, social and economic access) to sufficient, safe and nutritious food necessary to lead active and healthy lives”. Studies have shown that lack of safe, sufficient and nutritious food has had a significant impact on the livelihood, well-being and health of the people across the globe. According to Oakland Food System Assessment (2007), food security should include at a minimum i) availability of nutritionally safe and adequate food ii) ability to acquire foods in a more socially acceptable way. Hence, from the above discussion, it is obvious that food security is one of the vital topics of discussion and is a cause of concern for the entire world. Importance of Food Security Eminent scholars such as Sanyal and Babu (2009) emphasized that food security is a part of nutritional security in which people will have the access to safe drinking water and balanced nutrition so as to ensure every child of a nation has the opportunity to embrace mental and physical development. According to Sanyal and Babu (2009) food security needs to be viewed as a factor responsible for food production, income generation as well as employment generation. In addition, it has also been discovered that the presence of the food security bill in a nation helps in improving the environmental health, economic vitality and human health & social equity. In the context of environmental health, the presence of food security ensures that the food production and procurement do not affect air, land and water required for the future generation. In the context of economic vitality, it ensures that people responsible for the production of food are able to earn decent revenue. Hence, food security plays a crucial role in the revenue and employment generation. In addition, the food security bill is also responsible for ensuring that more importance is being placed in the development of community and health of the community. As a result of this, people will be able to access the foods in a more dignified manner. Thus, from the discussions above it can be affirmed that food security is extremely important for a nation to prosper and secure a safe position. Growing Importance of Food Security and Impact of Supply Chain Nations around the world have begun addressing the issue of food security sincerely. This is principally because of the fact that the situation of food security has reached an alarming stage. Reports have suggested that the global food production must increase by at least 70% by the year 2050 so as to satisfy the need of the rapidly growing global population. Moreover, reports have also suggested that the 90% of the growth should come from the developing countries itself. In addition, globalization has resulted in significant turbulence in the world affairs and has actually transformed the global security landscape. According to Weforum (2010), the global population is estimated to reach around 9 billion by the end of 2050 and as a result the countries have been giving more importance to food security. Furthermore, over the past few years economic crisis and food crisis has been the subject of concern and is a potential cause for growing importance of food security. The economic downturn has also acted as a driving factor for the nations to address the issues of food security earnestly. Knowing the fact that economic downturn may weaken food security among the financially weaker segment of the society and can increase malnutrition, the government of different nations have begun addressing it with more importance. The supply chain also had a major role to play in the issue of food security. In order to ensure food security it is imperative to have a steady supply of the foods. Studies have also suggested that even temporary disruptions may lead to long-term impact. Nevertheless, the alternatives to satisfy the demands - domestic production and food import- entail several reasons for instable food supply. One major cause pertaining to this area can be high vacillation in food prices or price volatility. Conflict among the channel members can also increase the food supply risks (Grida, 2013). Transportation is also another important part of the supply chain and as a result of that, minor issues in the transportation system may be responsible for raising the issue of food security. Hence, from the above discussion, it is evident that improper supply chain is greatly responsible for the uprising of food security issues. In order to circumvent this issue and ensure it becomes cost effective and efficient, the foremost thing required is to adopt of sustainable intensification of food supply chains. In addition, countries should also analyze the foods and beverages that directly impacts from kitchen to farm needs to be given special attention while developing the policy of food security. For example, countries such as USA have significantly increased investments in the field of ‘agri-food’ research, while Australia introduced food packaging system so as to get rid of the threat they face due to acute climate change (AAB, 2010). Question 2 Today, the entire globe is facing significant challenges in social, economic as well as political spheres. In the world, where international cooperation is no more an opulence but a necessity, the collaboration of two countries is now dubbed as the paramount factor in meeting the global challenges. In the recent few years food security has topped the list of the most vital international agendas (Financiero, 2012). One possible cause of deeper problem recognitions pertaining to food security in both medium and long term is the continued depletion of the natural resources and degradation of land. Food security has always been an issue that concerns the global population. The surge in the prices of foods from the year 2008 which took place just after the great economic downturn simply portrayed that the food systems of the world are not failing to serve the needs of the people, especially for those who still reside below the poverty line or have very low incomes. As a result of that, several countries have experienced high price rice which in turn triggered political instability and led to additional hardship. In order to ensure food security and execute the strategy of sustainable agriculture, it is essential to figure out some of the critical foods that have been listed by most nations in food security programs. There are certain foods which are enlisted by the countries as critical foods. This is because such foods have reached an alarming stage or are vital in meeting and feeding the growing population. It has been found that a number of foods have been marked as critical, but in common the foods are maize, beans, wheat, potato, rice and banana. For example, the reason behind considering maize as important and critical food crop because it is highly valued among households (Weadapt, 2013). Moreover, it can be stored dry, can be grown faster and is often managed by the farmers without requiring much expert advice. In this context also supply chain will play a crucial role. The food processors and their supply chain partners face several issues because the tastes of consumers are shifting from vegetable and grain-based foods to poultry and meat. Hence, drought, low productivity and volatility of price will seriously impede food distribution and supply. Therefore, streamlining of the distribution and reducing the number of intermediaries is the only solution to the issue. Figure 1 – Market Volatility due to inefficient supply chains, low productivity and Drought (Source: Foodengineeringmag, 2012) In order to deal with the issue of food security different countries have adopted different measures. For this project, the activities of 5 nations from 5 continents will be presented. The countries chosen are UK, USA, China, Australia and Kenya. The same has been presented below: - UK (Europe) - The country is adopting ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in order to improve the trust and security in the food supply chain. USA (North America) - In order to ensure food security and steady supply chain, the country passed a law The U.S. Food Safety and Modernization Act that promotes warehousing and third party logistics services. In addition, several other measures are taken by the country to ensure food security. China (Asia) – The country invests large sums of money in food chain research so as to avail the benefits of logistics process. The country has adopted grain supply chain for the purpose of processing, production, distribution. This adoption of grain supply chain has also reduced transaction costs and brought harmony among processors, suppliers, government and wholesalers (Qingjuan and Huiqiu, 2012). Australia (Australia) – Australia has taken several measures to reduce food wastage and implemented policies across food processing, producing and distribution sector Apart from that the country also ensured food supply to remote communities. Assistance of modern technologies has been also taken by the country to ensure steady supply chain. Kenya (Africa) – The country has already set up a committee The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change in the year 2011 so as to review the evidences and identify ways to enhance food security. The country has also changed production, distribution as well as the consumption pattern. Moreover, modern techniques have also been adopted by the country to ensure steady flow. Reference List AAB, 2010. Delivering Food Security with Supply Chain Led Innovations: Understanding Supply Chains, Providing Food Security, Delivering Choice. [online] Available at: > [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Essex, 2008. The Food Crisis and Latin America: Framing a New Policy Approach. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 04 September 2013]. Financiero, E., 2012. The Importance of Food Security. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Foodengineeringmag, 2012. Adapting the Supply Chain for Tomorrow’s Food Security. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Grida, 2013. From Supply to Food Security. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. McDonald, B. L., 2013. Food Security. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Oakland Food System Assessment, 2007. Food Security – Why is it Important?[pdf] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Qingjuan, L. and Huiqiu, Z., 2012. The Food Security Research Based on Supply Chain Perspective in Northeast Three provinces. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Sanyal, P. and Babu, S., 2009. Food Security, Poverty and Nutrition Policy Analysis: Statistical Methods and Applications. Massachusetts: Academic Press. Scientific-alliance, 2010. Food Security Remains an Important Issue. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Sinha, S. X., Rao, N. H. and Swaminathan, M. S., 1988. Food Security in the Changing Global Climate. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Weadapt, 2013. Food Security and Climate Change: Which Food Crop to Count On? [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Weforum, 2010. The New Vision for Agriculture: Transforming Agriculture through Collaboration. [online] Available at: [Accessed 03 September 2013]. Read More