Food Supply and Environmental Issues - Research Paper Example

? Increasing Food Needs and Potential Environmental Effects Increasing Food Needs and Potential Environmental Effects The world population keeps shifting to the positive side with massive increases each day. Future prospects reveal that in the next thirty years, population will increase once more. As previous trends have revealed, the developing world presents factors that indicate that it will post the highest growth rates. Since urbanization is happening at fast rates in the developing world, it fosters a faster population growth. There is expected growth in the developed world too. This translates to numerous projects and plans in order to ensure that the future generation will have food security (Vidal, 2012). The globe depends largely on agriculture for food, feed, and other necessities. Stretching the agricultural sector and others such as fishing and energy production departments will have some blow on the environment. As such, the issue critical analysis, and that is what this paper will do. According to past trends, there have been plans of increasing food production in order to counter the increasing consumption rates. Despite the existence of such plans, the consumption rates have often surpassed the production rates (World Centric, 2013). This explains why there are people succumbing to hunger in the developing world. Moreover, the globe lives under the threat of food insecurity because of the changes in climate and diminishing resources. It is a fact that the population will increase immensely in the next thirty years if population growth rates persist. The current seven billion people are likely to increase to about 9 billion in three decades (Diouf, 2010). The world faces challenges in feeding the current population, but must exhibit preparedness to feed an extra two billion people. Such increase will likely cause more strain in the agricultural and fishing sector in order to cater for the rising need. Moreover, with people adopting different lifestyles, the world will likely need more fish and animal livestock (Diouf, 2010). These animals and fish will require feed and this only increases the need. Food is not the only need because population will present a higher energy need for the globe. In order to ensure a level of security in the future, application of new techniques in agriculture to increase yield and combat climate change has been the way for most of the nations. The new techniques include the adoption of new farming methods, search for better seed varieties and improved animal breeds. For some time, conventional breeding seemed to offer a promise for the future but not anymore. There are new problems that challenge the new techniques adopted. Pesticides and insecticides that were once effective are no longer efficient with the increasing resistance from pests (Vidal, 2012). Moreover, stretching the agricultural sector presents its limits because of the potential environmental effects. Therefore, the discovery of better biotechnological methods has been the focus of many scientists in the recent past. Although genetically modified organisms (GMOs) present a glimpse of hope for the future, the politics and criticisms behind them only serve to prove that the world needs a better solution. Although the use of GMOs can assure the globe of food security to a certain level, they present new challenges as well, and scientists are still figuring out what they can do to ensure safety (Vidal, 2012). However, these still provide the world with fortified foods presenting a new capacity for agriculture to provide a balanced diet to its ever growing and needy population. Many have urged that green technology will present a better solution (Woody, 2012). The technology comes with handy benefits because it can provide good yields while conserving the environment as well. Although it comes with multiple benefits, it is expensive for the local farmer doing it at small scale. Moreover, the adverse climatic changes that have resulted because of over-exploitation of the available resources present an obstacle to the efforts of going green. Moreover, making green technology a reality in the developing world needs a hefty budget. However, with the population growth in such countries, the governments can hardly make much progress because of the financials strain. Moreover, the high urbanization in those areas leaves only a small percentage of the population in the agricultural sector. This makes it clear that the need for the future is likely to be greater. Other researches indicate that the global intake of meat products and animal products is on the rise because of the adoption of urban lifestyles and great preference. This presents a future challenge of being able to provide sufficient feed for the livestock. Moreover, there is a marked increase of fish consumption in the globe. With the future presenting a greater consumption need, there is a great need to increase the production rates. The globe is certain that it must increase all its production rates to match the high consumption rates. The fact that the globe and especially the developing countries are facing a great threat of high food insecurities does not present a good sign for the future. As mentioned above, expansion of different agricultural sectors will present environmental impacts. The environmental impacts Without a doubt, supply for essentials such as food and other substantial commodities that include feed, fiber, and fuel generated by agricultural activities will be hard products to come by given the population would have increased by surmountable percentage by this time. There will be potential environmental impacts, as there will be changes in the line of supply of food as well as in the other products given the need for these items will be at its heightened level (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2004). Due to advanced technology, supply of food will increase on one end since agricultural practitioners will be in a position to produce more food through green houses probably with more techniques. Through improvised agricultural technology, people will be able to generate more food and feed as well as fuel since the demand for such products will be high (European Commission, 2010). Additionally, due to intensified means set in place in order to create the extra amount of food, feed, and fuel needed for consumption by the increasing number of people, cases of global warming and other related effects will be rampant. In a matter of time, weather and climatic changes will cause defects in the production and supply chains of these products making their availability an issue of total concern (European Commission, 2010). Generally, other crucial environmental impacts will include effects on the use of land suitable for the overall agricultural activities. Crop production, processing of feeds and trade happen to be some of the effects that will come along with environmental changes in the future particularly just as the stated period projects. Effects of deforestation, impacts of biodiversity, soil fertility and erosion appears to be the common environmental effects that this planet will have to endure and fulfilling the world wide needs of food, fuel, and feed will prove to be the hardest task to perform (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2004). In order to fulfill the needs of food, fuel, and feed through agricultural means will indicate that there will be pressure and erosion of the existing soil fertility, extensive over use of the available land suitable for agricultural activities, and over haul in water resources. Obviously, people will need more water for irrigation and other purposes (European Commission, 2010). This will in turn create a rift between drainage waters and resources hence have negative environmental effects on run-off waters. During this span of time, utilization of the available animal feeds will be high and this will suggest that livestock will pose potential environmental impacts since animals will have to feed on the concentrated and intensive enterprises. Behold, there will be both direct and indirect production and supply effects of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, fuels, and mechanization (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2004). Indeed, the environmental effects of the future appears so devastating to an extent that the current environmental analysts are already warning about today’s activities that may worsen the situation. The foreseeable shifts Definitely, there will be seeable shifts in crop production areas, pest control, and agricultural disease prevalence when changes in environment occur in the future (Catchpole, 2009). Food production will decrease by a large margin following the fact that the ability to produce will decline. This will result from change of habitats, loss of soil biodiversity, soil erosion, land over use, and many others including loss of soil fertility (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2004). Deforestation will also be part of the reasons why there will be a decline in the crop production areas as water catchment areas and fertile lands will have soon been over utilized and therefore unable to bear the usual amount of crops yielded previously. Controlling pests will also prove daunting given that agricultural inputs will reach a time when it will be impossible to access or maintain such facilities. There will be downwards shift in the production and supply of pesticides, as the existing environmental effects will be deplorable (European Commission, 2010). The need to have more pesticides will rise and thus there will be intensive use of them making their availability a scarce product. Profoundly, increase in diseases that affect agricultural produce will mean there will be need for more pesticides and other agricultural disease controlling products. This created gap between the needed amount of pesticides and the available one proves that the future of agricultural production is at stake if this is the case. In conclusion, as the population on this planet continues to rise steadily, so will be the need for adequate food to feed the increasing number of people. On the other end, there will be need for more feed for taking care of the available livestock since agricultural disease prevalence will be high (European Commission, 2010). Diseases that affect fish, animal, plants, and potentially things like those that affect fowl production as well as distribution will heighten making the entire production and supply chain shrink (Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2004). Specifically, the worldwide needs for food, feed, and fuel will increase so long as the population continues to increase. The environmental impacts of agricultural activities increases when population extends its normal margin and as stated, the value of land as well as its amenity deteriorates with increased erosion. References Agriculture and Consumer Protection, (2004). Potential Environmental impacts of the supply of concentrate feed commodities. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/lead/x6123e/x6123e06.htm on February 11, 2013. Catchpole, D. (2009). Pesticide resistance is not evidence of evolution. Retrieved on 11 Feb 2013 from http://creation.com/pesticide-resistance-and-evolution Diouf, J. (2010). Feeding a World of 9 Billion. Retrieved on 11th Feb 2013 from http://www.peopleandplanet.net/?lid=26107&topic=44§ion=34 European Commission, (2010). Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and Biotechnology. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/food/policy/index_en.htm on February 11, 2013. Vidal, J. (2012). UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013: Collapse of global food supply inevitable. Retrieved on 11th Feb. 2013 from http://www.sott.net/article/252605-UN-warns-of-looming-worldwide-food-crisis-in-2013-Collapse-of-global-food-supply-inevitable Woody, T. (2012). 6 Green Tech Trends for 2013. Retrieved on 11 Feb 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/12/07/6-green-tech-trends-for-2013/ World Centric (2013). Overconsumption. Retrieved on 11 Feb. 2013. From http://worldcentric.org/conscious-living/increasing-consumption Read More