Global Food Security - Coursework Example

Global Food Security Name Institution Date Course Introduction Food security is a situation where the world is able to feed and satisfy its population. In relation to how best to feed the world, food security is achieved when food is available, affordable and accessible to everyone in the world. Food security has two important dimensions; these are availability and accessibility. Every individual has a right to food as it is not only a need but also a very necessity need that people cannot live without. Agriculture has been the key activity in ensuring that the world is able to feed its population. In the world today 850 million people live in hunger due to food insecurity (FAO 2009). Food security has been a challenge due to low food production and the ever increasing world population. People have resulted to environmental degradation through deforestation in attempt to practice farming to increase food production. Many farms have been underperforming due to poor farming methods. Agriculture training on proper farming methods is the key to increasing food production and reducing environmental degradation as people world use the available farms properly to increase yields. According to United Nations’ Food and Agriculture (FAO) in 2010, more than 900million people were undernourished worldwide despite the high number of obese people in American families. It’s estimated that by 2050 the world population would have raised to 9 billion (Evans 2009). This would make it difficult for the world to feed all these people especially due to increase in environmental degradation, climate changes and high energy prices. This paper will explore on global food security and how best to feed the world through farming, multinational agribusinesses and science, research and development for the common good and justice for the world population. Back ground information Food security has been a difficult issue to achieve in the world today. This is due to the high population and the challenges affecting food production and accessibility. Every individual has a right to access food and all the necessary nutrients and this would be justice to the population. Food security is therefore a right of every household. Food should be produced and distributed equally to the whole population in the world (Evans 2009). The world has to produce enough food and nutrients to feed the ever rising population despite the challenges facing food production and distribution. Such challenges include unpredictable weather, shortage in rains, soil degradation and reduction in farming farms due to the rapid growth in industrialization and urbanization (FAO 2009). This calls for proper farming methods and efficiency in food distribution through trading. The ever large population of undernourished people is due to the high levels of poverty in developing countries. Most developing countries population is increasing despite its challenges in feeding its population which is one of the millenniums development goal by 2030 (FAO 2009).food security is a challenge that must be considered globally and in such the developing countries are to embark on agricultural production of food while the developed countries should encourage global trade of food in order to distribute food where it is needed efficiently and economically (World Bank 2008). Stakeholders’ Perspectives Farmers Food security has many stakeholders which include large scale and small scale farmers, government, and traders. Farming is the most important aspect as it is involved in food production. There has been mixed feelings and responses with the modern farming and traditional farming. Some farmers have been receptive of genetic farming and use of fertilizers while others have held to the traditional organic farming of composts. In the most of developing countries small scale farmers have remained the core source of food and the burden of food security lies upon them. They have been practicing subsistence farming that involves mixed farming and organic farming (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). Agriculture has been greatly affected due to the limited resources such as fertilizers, land, water and capital especially in developing countries. People have resulted to deforestation and digging grass lands in search for more arable lands. This however has not contributed to food security as much of the land is used in livestock keeping which ends up utilizing more resources (FAO 2009). It is therefore advisable for people to utilize the lands they already have for agriculture and make most out of them through improved farming techniques by acquiring and embracing modern farming methods. Such methods include use of machines, fertilizers, irrigation as well as embracing production of varieties of food crops. This would result in increased yields with the already available lands. This would increase yields thus sealing the yields gaps especially in Africa where there are most of the developing nations. Using the high modern technology in farming in our organic farming would increase food production in developing countries (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). This would be for a common good as it would go hand in hand with environmental conservation The other factor that is crucial in food security is political stability and economics of the country. This has been seen as a key factor that is contributing to food insecurity in developing countries. Lack of peace and political stability in developing countries has been associated with low food productions due to lack of support by the government on agriculture. This has also kept other countries from investing in agribusinesses in the developing countries. The other aspect that affects agricultural produce is how they are utilized. It has been argued that most of the food produce do not feed the human and that only 55 percent of the produce ends up being consumed by people. The remaining percentage is used to feed the livestock. Food has been used to grow meat through feeding animals and in return we get fewer calories from the animal meat and produce (Royal Society of London 2009). The world today should come up with more efficient ways of producing meat thus minimizing the food crops that ends up to livestock and directing it to increasing available food for human consumption. Also there have been shown that a lot of food is wasted before it is consumed. This is due to poor harvesting and storage methods. In developing countries where infrastructures such as roads and railways are not properly maintained, food ends up being wasted before the farmer could use or sell it. Reduction in food wastage would play a great role in reducing food insecurity as a lot of food would be available in markets (WRAP 2008). It’s upon the government to improve on infrastructure to ensure that food produced in the developing countries is not wasted. The people in developed countries would as well contribute in food security in poor countries if they reduced on food wastage by serving small portions and encouraging restaurants and food stores on reducing wastage. This would result in excess food that could be exported to food insecure countries. Education in food wastage would go a long way in increasing availability of food (WRAP 2008) Combination of good agricultural practices would go a long way in boosting food availability and accessibility. Therefore it’s upon us as farmers, government and nations at large to improve on farming methods and techniques, food conservation through reduction in wastage and environmental conservation for our common good. Increasing agricultural produce can not only be achieved by expanding agricultural lands but also use of technology and high quality food varieties .This would be important in improving yields on the poor performing lands. Science, research and development The aspects that affect farmers while working towards improving food security include scientific research that would be responsible for increasing the amount and the nutrient content of the food. This would work towards ensuring adequate supply high quality and nutritious food. Use of organic farming, genetically modified organisms in food production as well as use of commercial fertilizers to increase food production is important in smart farming. Science, research and development has contributed a lot in genetic modification and use of chemicals to increase crop yields (Braun 2007). Use of the available resources such as land efficiently is very crucial in agriculture. This would be important in reducing environmental degradation. Use of machines that would better apply fertilizers and chemicals would be of great importance in reducing flow of chemicals in to water sources. This is because machines would apply the exact amount of pesticides and fertilizers as required and this would as well reduce cost of food production. Proper use of water can be applied during irrigation through practicing mulching and planting of cover crops. In developing countries where capital is an issue, use of compost is crucial as it improves on quality of soil by building up nutrients and preventing water evaporation. Combination of conventional farming and organic farming is important as it would lead to increased yields as well as economical use of available resources (Braun 2007). Climate changes and soil erosion has also contributed a lot in the contemporary challenge of food security. This is as a result of urbanization and industrialization which has contributed to the reduction in the arable land. Deforestation is the one of the significant factors which has lead to unpredictable weather changes such as amount of rainfall due to global warming. Trees natural covers play an important role in preventing soil erosion and evaporation of the moisture as well as drying up of water sources (Royal Society of London 2009). Privately owned multinational agribusinesses Agribusiness play a crucial role in supply of seed, fertilizers and chemicals that are aimed to ensuring farmers get high yields. Agribusiness companies’ main aim is to increase their profits by supplying the farmers with the necessary requirements for agriculture. Some of the agribusinesses have involved themselves in the actual farming where they practice large scale farming. They mainly practice monoculture farming whereby on type of crop is planted in large lands for commercial purposes (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). Most of these companies do not care much of environment degradation or on nutrient content of the food produced. They invest much in scientific researches in order to increase crop productions as well as reduce on loses through planting pest resistant crops as well as crops that can grow well with minimum water. Some of agribusinesses have supported biodiversity farming where farmers grow a variety of crops and keep livestock. These have been show to increase crop yields as well as prevent environmental degradation. Biodiversity also allow small scale farmers to practice organic farming methods such as planting cover crops, growing a variety of crops together and practicing minimum tillage (Balmford, Green & Scharlemann 2005). Commercial farming which is largely practiced by large scale farmers who practice mono-cropping has been shown to lead to environmental degradation. It leads to depletion of all the nutrients in the soil as well as lead to chemicals runoff to water ways as many chemicals are used in this type of farming. It has been shown that small scale farmers who practice organic and mixed farming end up increasing their yields over the time. This is important as it maintains our natural ecosystem thus reducing environmental degradation for our common good. Biodiversities farming is applicable even in large scale farms and it goes a long way to increasing agricultural yields as well as conserving the environment. Biodiversity farming is based on agro ecological principles where by environment is also put to consideration while farming (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). It has been shown that industrial farming only increasing the number of calories but it did not solve the issue of food security. Therefore biodiversity farming is the way to go as it would boost on the amount and quality of food produced by small scale farmers. Organic and biodiversity farming requires a lot of time and labor which would go a long way in creating jobs in developing countries thus reducing poverty(Balmford, Green & Scharlemann 2005). Monsanto is one of the agribusiness Company that is working towards improving agriculture through production of chemicals and hybrid seeds. It works towards assisting the farmers to practice more sustainable agriculture that would as well conserve the environment. It works towards producing genetically modified foods that would resist pests and diseases thus increasing yields and quality of food produced. This is important as it works towards solving the food security challenge. Agribusiness companies support the use of biotechnology to support and improve the agriculture however; there is need for them to invest in scientific researches in order to minimize the harm that could occur with excessive use of chemicals and pesticides for our common good (www.monsanto.com). Investment in agribusiness especially in developing countries is increasing and such has led to increase in land pressure where the farmers are using excess chemicals and fertilizers in attempt to increase their produce. This may have negative effects that can lead to environmental degradation. This would greatly affect the developing countries as it would lead to draughts and floods as the soil end up being degraded rendering it vulnerable (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). Agribusiness should embark on researches on their products and activities when making investment decisions in order to prevent the negative effects to agricultural produce thus global food security for the common good of population. Analysis Agriculture is the key to global food security. Global food security is a contemporary challenge that has continued to persist despite the many efforts by different stake holders to mitigate it. Developing countries are most affected by this challenge with about 900 million people going hungry worldwide. It’s a right of every household to adequate and nutritious food. Its justice for every individual to access food as needed. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation thus global food security is for a common good as every nation would develop and become economically stable. All the stakeholders such as farmers, government, agribusinesses and researchers have to work together to achieve food security for a common good. Despite the great need for food security, environment has to be put in to consideration to prevent degradation that would lead even to bad consequences like flood and draught. Biodiversity is the way to go as it has great yields as well as ensure environment conservation. People should work towards consuming foods that are low in meat as meet has been shown to consume a lot of resources in its production thus lowering food security. Food wastage should be minimized at all levels, that is, during harvesting, storage, preparation and consumption as this would go a long way to increasing availability of food to the world. Reference list Braun Von, J 2007, The World Food Situation, New Driving Forces and Required Actions, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. Balmford A, Green,A,J, Scharlemann J 2005, Global Change Biol, 11, 1594 . World Bank, 2008 World Development Report 2008, Agriculture for Development Washington, DC. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ,FAO 2009, State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, Rome. Evans, A 2009, The Feeding of the Nine Billion, Global Food Security Chatham House, London, Royal Society of London 2009, Reaping the Benefits: Science and the Sustainable Intensification of Global Agriculture, retrieved from https://royalsociety.org/policy/publications/2009/reaping-benefits/ Aksoy A, Beghin J, C, Eds 2005, Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries, World Bank, Washington, DC. Waste and Resources Action Programme, WRAP 2008, The Food We Waste, Banbury, UK. FAO 2006, World Agriculture Towards, 2030/2050. FAO, Rome, Italy. www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/default.aspx Read More

Such challenges include unpredictable weather, shortage in rains, soil degradation and reduction in farming farms due to the rapid growth in industrialization and urbanization (FAO 2009). This calls for proper farming methods and efficiency in food distribution through trading. The ever large population of undernourished people is due to the high levels of poverty in developing countries. Most developing countries population is increasing despite its challenges in feeding its population which is one of the millenniums development goal by 2030 (FAO 2009).

food security is a challenge that must be considered globally and in such the developing countries are to embark on agricultural production of food while the developed countries should encourage global trade of food in order to distribute food where it is needed efficiently and economically (World Bank 2008). Stakeholders’ Perspectives Farmers Food security has many stakeholders which include large scale and small scale farmers, government, and traders. Farming is the most important aspect as it is involved in food production.

There has been mixed feelings and responses with the modern farming and traditional farming. Some farmers have been receptive of genetic farming and use of fertilizers while others have held to the traditional organic farming of composts. In the most of developing countries small scale farmers have remained the core source of food and the burden of food security lies upon them. They have been practicing subsistence farming that involves mixed farming and organic farming (Aksoy & Beghin 2005).

Agriculture has been greatly affected due to the limited resources such as fertilizers, land, water and capital especially in developing countries. People have resulted to deforestation and digging grass lands in search for more arable lands. This however has not contributed to food security as much of the land is used in livestock keeping which ends up utilizing more resources (FAO 2009). It is therefore advisable for people to utilize the lands they already have for agriculture and make most out of them through improved farming techniques by acquiring and embracing modern farming methods.

Such methods include use of machines, fertilizers, irrigation as well as embracing production of varieties of food crops. This would result in increased yields with the already available lands. This would increase yields thus sealing the yields gaps especially in Africa where there are most of the developing nations. Using the high modern technology in farming in our organic farming would increase food production in developing countries (Aksoy & Beghin 2005). This would be for a common good as it would go hand in hand with environmental conservation The other factor that is crucial in food security is political stability and economics of the country.

This has been seen as a key factor that is contributing to food insecurity in developing countries. Lack of peace and political stability in developing countries has been associated with low food productions due to lack of support by the government on agriculture. This has also kept other countries from investing in agribusinesses in the developing countries. The other aspect that affects agricultural produce is how they are utilized. It has been argued that most of the food produce do not feed the human and that only 55 percent of the produce ends up being consumed by people.

The remaining percentage is used to feed the livestock. Food has been used to grow meat through feeding animals and in return we get fewer calories from the animal meat and produce (Royal Society of London 2009). The world today should come up with more efficient ways of producing meat thus minimizing the food crops that ends up to livestock and directing it to increasing available food for human consumption. Also there have been shown that a lot of food is wasted before it is consumed. This is due to poor harvesting and storage methods.

In developing countries where infrastructures such as roads and railways are not properly maintained, food ends up being wasted before the farmer could use or sell it.

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