Food Insecurity in Developing World - Assignment Example

FOOD INSECURITY IN DEVELOPING WORLD By Location Food insecurity in developing world Food insecurity is a termcommonly used with reference to the situation of lacking certain availability or having limited access to food that be said to be safe and nutritionally adequate. Food insecurity is commonly used in the measurement of food deprivation. Food insecurity is a more common thing in developing than it is in the developed countries. However, this does not mean that it is an issue in developed countries. There are often misconceptions about what food insecurity is. For instance, some people might assume that hunger and food insecurity are the same thing. Despite the fact that food insecurity might affect everyone in a household or community, it does not imply that everybody will be affected in the same manner and to the same extent. Food security can be graded in between high food security to high food security. The measurement of food security and insecurity can be said to be measurable into four ranges. The first range is high food security. A household can be said to have high food security if they have no anxieties or problems that relate to access to adequate food. The second range is the marginal food security. Under this range it can be said that households might face some anxieties or problems associating to access to adequate food, but none of the problems or anxieties are ever big enough to be of substantial influence to the quality and quantity of the food intake of the households. The third range is the low food security. Under this range households goes through problems and anxieties relating to access to adequate food that result to reduction of the variety, quality and desirability of the diets. However, under this range the quantity and patterns of food intake are usually not affected. The final range is very low food security. Under this range, the households might experience changes in eating patterns and quantities especially at some during the years. Very low food security is usually caused by inability of the households to either access or afford adequate food. In the developing countries, there are a number of factors that are believed to lead to food insecurity. One of the most common causes of food insecurity in developing world is drought. When there is an occurrence of a drought people are not always able to get the harvests that they initially target. As a result of such failures, households are never able to have sufficient supply of food as they would have in case the harvest was a good one. What makes matters worse during droughts is that food prices usually go up. Therefore, even those who budget for their food will obviously have to pay more for their food. Sometimes situations, even get to the level where someone might even have money to buy food, but miss food because of its unavailability in the market. When such incidents take place, people have to settle for less adequate food in terms of quality, quantity, and frequency of meals. Apart from droughts there are other extreme weather events that can lead to food insecurity. These events might include floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis. These occurrences usually make food production unfavourable, thus leading to low food production. When this happens there is always an obvious shortage of food which means that people cannot get food adequately. For instance, when there is too much rain many of the plants that would have done well with just enough rains are usually destroyed. Livestock rearing is also always distracted when such incidents take place. Climate change is a global problem. However, some of the developing countries are usually highly affected by climatic change. Climatic change has increased over the past decade as a result of increased carbon emission. It is even worse in the developing countries because there is lack of effective policies that regulate carbon emitting industrial activity. Because of climate change, there are usually changes in weather patterns that make agriculture less favorable. During the previous years, farmers in developing countries could easily predict the seasons and know exactly when the right time to do their sowing was. The sad thing is that this is no longer the case. A number of times farmers make their plans based on weather predictions and expectations only for things to happen in a completely different way as a result of climate change. This is intensified by the fact that some of them might not have the technological knowledge on how to handle such situation. Therefore, it can be concluded that, as a result of climatic change in developing countries are no longer able to produce food in the qualities and quantities that is sufficient for their populations. Military conflicts are something that is common in developing countries. Many of these wars are always brought about by political dissimilarities and instability. When developing countries are involved in civil wars, they are never in a position to concentrate on food production activities. Furthermore, some of the activities that are usually common during such periods usually lead to the destruction of the already existing food. However, being in a war or civil strives does not imply that people will not eat. The difference in this scenario will be that they will not be in a position to produce as much food as what they need. At the end of the days citizens of countries that are war prone such as Somalia always have to settle for poor eating diets. In cases where the conflicts last for a long then the countries have to depend on external sources of food that make food expensive. Some individuals might not even have the ability to afford the most basic forms of meals because even the other economic activities are always made less active meaning that people usually lack the money even if food was available in the shops. Extreme weather conditions and droughts might not be the only factors that lead to poor harvests in developing countries. Livestock diseases, plant diseases, and pests can also lead to poor harvests. When plantations are invested by pests they usually do not produce to their potential. In some cases, pest invasion might lead to lack of harvest. When that happens the people who are affected always find themselves is a situation where they have to survive with less food. The same would apply to livestock. When livestock is infected with diseases or there is presence of pests that lead to their death people usually suffer. This is a problem especially for those communities that depend entirely on livestock raring for their livelihood (Clay 2002, p. 29). When this happens, people who depend on livestock rearing for their livelihood are left desperately hoping for some miracles. What makes it even worse is than when diseases and pests cause food shortage prices of commodities usually sky rocket. In such situation people usually find themselves in situations where they have to do with less adequate food supply. Political instability and corruption are things that can be said to be common in developing countries. Most developed countries and other international bodies such as UNISEF usually send food aid to countriesthat are affected by food insecurity. When this happens, the donors are usually expecting their donation to be channeled to the most vulnerable people in the society. However, this is not always the case thanks to corruption. Given the fact that the donor countries and organizations are always not in a position to reach out to the most vulnerable persons in the society by themselves, they usually prefer using the local governments. However, due to high levels of corruption in most developing countries these donations are usually mishandled. In some cases, the donations are usually repackaged and resold at profits. Given the fact that the most vulnerable people in the society are never in a position to afford them, only the people who are able to pay for the food products usually benefit. Other factors such as nepotism and tribalism also play a big role in the distribution of such donations. In most developing countries nepotism and tribalism usually play a very big role in government official appointments. The same officials are the once charged with the responsibility of distributing donated food. This only implies that tribalism and nepotism will influence the manner in which donated foods are distributed. In some developing countries, there is always overreliance on cash crops. Cash crops in this context are those plants that are usually grown for sales and not for local consumption. These crops are usually attractive because farmers earn allot of money from them. One question that the farmers never ask themselves is what will happen if everyone decided to grow cash crops. Realistically this can lead to a situation where people are very rich but there is no food in the markets. In such cases people always have to depend on external sources for food (Grigg 1993, p. 111). One thing about importation of food supplies is that they are usually costly. Situations are always made worse in cases where even the countries that are expected to be exporting foods are having a problem with their own productions, therefore, unable to export in large quantities. This will mean that the cash crop will be affected by food shortage despite the fact that they are having the financial ability to buy food. According to statistics, developing countries have higher population growth rates as compared to the developed ones. When there is an increase in human population, there is always a resulting increase in the quantity of food that is required by the total population. However, in most cases there is always no correspondence in the quantity of food that is produced in developing countries. Even situations where there is an increase the quantity of food that is produce, it is always not enough to match the increase in population that is experienced in developing countries. The increase in population is an indication that households in developing countries have to consider changing various aspects of their meals so that they can be able to cope with the increased population growth (Curtis, Hubbard & Shepherd 1998, p. 123). However, in a case where a household was having problems even before there were more mouths to feed, the situations are usually made worse by additional persons. Therefore, such households are always forced to overlook certain aspects of food such as quality and quantity. Poverty can be said to be another common cause of food shortage I developing countries. With economies that are not that strong people in some of the developing countries usually have to live on very low incomes. With such low incomes people cannot guarantee their families adequate food. This is intensified by the fact that people in these countries are also experiencing an increase in the mouths that they have to feed. Someone living in poverty is likely to be is a position where they are not able to give their families food of the required quality. Apart from the quality of food in most cases these families are not even able to get food in the right quantity. Such households have to get used to eating whatever the small income can bring to them. In places like poverty are contributed to by cultures that encourage only the participation of men in income earning activities. Women are in some cultures to stay home and attend to the domestic chores.in some families it has been noticed that what the male members of the families earn are not sufficient to sustain their families. Unstable markets can also be pointed out as another notable cause of food insecurity in developing countries. Recently, it has been noticed that prices of food products have not been stable. With the prices of food being highly unstable people with lower incomes usually find themselves unable to cope with the increase in food prices. Therefore, it can be concluded that price instability of food products implies that some people might not be in a position to buy balanced diets for themselves. When prices are raised there is always a shortage because even the business people usually avoid increasing their stock when the prices are high. Price instabilities are always further intensified by poor governance and corruption which pave way for the exploitation of people with low incomes. Another factor that can be said to commonly lead to food shortage in developing countries is food wastage. Statistics have revealed that more than 30% of the food that is produced globally is never consumed. Food wastage can be termed as the foregone opportunity to make sure that there is no shortage of food supply by managing the food that people get during periods of abundance well. Proper management of food is something that is not common in some of the developing countries. In most developing nations, it has been observed that there is excessive wastage during the period when they have more than they need at their disposal (Bernstein, Crow& Johson 1992, p. 201). However, when the periods of shortage come they are usually caught unprepared for the situations. This is a situation that can be said to be completely avoidable. Everyone knows that they cannot have food in abundance throughout the year. Therefore, it is prudent to think about how the surplus can be managed for the sake of periods when there are shortages. However, something that should be noted is that food insecurity in developing countries can be minimized if only the governments take initiatives for disaster preparedness. As much as droughts might be unpredictable, it can also be said that if resources were properly managed then the levels of food insecurity resultingfrom drought and other unfortunate natural would not be as high as they are. For instance, it is a common scenario that a country might experience excessive rains and drought in the same year. If governments could invest in water reserves, then both would not be much of a problem. In fact, both problems can complement each other, leading to a more comfortable situation. The water reserves can collect water during the flood seasons. The same water can be used during droughts to sustain irrigation. Proper governance can also be effective in curbing factors such as corruption, civil wars, poverty, and climate change. However, because of poor governance it is most likely that developing countries will continue suffering from food insecurity. Some of the problems that lead to food security in developing countries are also experienced in developed countries. The main difference is always seen in the level of preparedness for these occurrences. Sometimes being prepared for droughts and other natural calamities has nothing to do with resources. However, in most cases it is always about how properly a country can manage the limited resources that are at their disposal. This is the reason as to why someone can find a country with more resources being affected more by these occurrences as compared to another county with fewer resources. If governments, organizations, and individuals will take responsibility in developing countries, then cases of food insecurity can be minimized. Bibliography Bernstein, H, Crow, B & Johson, H 1992, Rural Livelihoods, crises and responses, Oxford Open University, Oxford. Clay, E 2002,“Food security: concepts and measurement”Trade reforms and food security: Conceptualising the linkages, 25-34. Curtis, D, Hubbard, M & Shepherd, A 1998, Preventing famine, policies and prospects for Africa, New Routledge. Grigg, D 1993, The World food problem, London Blackwell, London. Read More