The Global Food Economy - Essay Example

Some food analysts argue that the present food production system is at crisis point. Discuss in relation to environmental sustainability. The striking increase in world food prices has once again strained food shortage to the top of the compassionate schedule. Food trouble has lastly brought the problem into the attention. The United Nations has recently said that 100 million people are currently at risk shortage of food to eat and that contain people on every continent on the earth. Food, being one of the basic necessities of life, is the right of every person on this world. Increasing oil costs, unpredictable weather pattern, and the change of land to grow crop are all issues. Increasing profits in inferior countries have also raised food requirement in current years, retreating global treasury. To look after their people, some states have decreased the amount of food exports in order to meet the requirements of their citizens. And help groups can not supply to the degree that they used to. However the major apprehension might be that these adjustments are not quick-fix while they effect mostly from basic changes in the worldwide financial system and environment (Weis, 2007). The basic cause for increasing food prices is that rising global requirement is exceeding global provision. The tough supply situations have some factors such as constantly short ranch production in different countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa, the rising distraction of U.S. and European food production into bio fuels, the escalating rate and problem of weather upsets and the growing compress on water accessibility and new arable land for an increased crop manufacture. Each one of these should betackled. African growers need money to purchase significant machineries for example fertilizers and high yield seeds. The contributor countries would help Africa and the globe a significant amount of goods by giving less attention on shipping costs for food help from Europe and the United States and giving much more attention on serving African farmers to increase contact to the machineries they want for high production. A good example is Malawi's voucher plan for domestic farmers, which provides poor farmers an unpretentious amount of fertilizer and better seeds for each family, on a reasonableprice. Simultaneously, the prosperous countries should avoid distracting their food, for example maize in America and wheat in Europe, and their food rising land for bio fuel manufacture. The use of food for biofuels is really awful for the environment via powerful inputs to cultivate the crops and to change them to biofuels and is terrible for worldwide foodstability. A third step, to concentrate on the rising weather upsets, water shortage, and land insufficiency should be much intensified study. The recent food crisis increases questions regarding the suitable reactions in the short range, to pay attention to the instant troubles, and after that in the long term. To know about both matters, it is helpful to return to the food crisis, no less shocking, that broke out after the crash of Indian, Chinese, Russian and other crops at the same time and radically in1972. The present disaster is a smaller amount result of shortage excluding Australia and further an effect of distraction of harvests for instance corn to biofuels construction. The growth in command from the developing states for instance China and India, with their amazing growth rates, has also enlarged demand quickly. As earlier, hoarding has followed, as has the propagation of exportbans. The present crisis reveals long run issues which will probably not depart. It desires to be attended in a different way. For the temporary, it is basically not possible to inform governments not to postpone supply of the food. In contrast, for the importing states, the global economic support can supply immediate aid for stability of expenses support, so imports can be economized at high costs. For the long-term, the events to control the prices of food grain will need concentration for some guiding principles where all have to reorganize matters such as a restraint of the intended trust on biofuels and converting in to nuclear energy as a substitute, the acceptance of heritably customized foods which assure to persist the green revolution in the current era and the change in governmental savings precedence tofarming to environmental stain. In Nepal the price of several food stuff have increased in the previous year. The striking increase in oil prices, a movement towards deflecting agricultural lands to making biofuels, amplified requires for food and growing prosperity in India and China (both are neighbors of Nepal) are a bit of the causes mentioned for global scarcities. The scarcities became sensitive for Nepal when bordering India and Bangladesh made a decision to decrease on food exports to handle an intimidating food crisis in their own states. However, a minimum part of the crisis is home-produced (Adhikari & Bohle, 1999). According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), in the most recent few years, Nepal has turn into a food shortage country. As food is more and more becoming too expensive for a lot of poor Afghans, hunger and micronutrient shortage are rapidly converting in to bigger health intimidation for children below six and pregnant women, public health specialist notified. High food prices have greatly affected the class and quantity of food that lots of common and poor families consume (Piachaud and Webb, 1996). The problem of food crisis has been so significant in the recent years that the Governments of different nations have taken it to notice. Similarly, as in the recent days the US has devalued its currency and this has further raised the rate of inflation in countries. It has raised the rates of the food being sold all over the world. Nowadays, the problem has risen to such alarming levels that different large organizations are taking it to notice. Similarly, one situation of food crisis can be seen in the developing nation of Pakistan. The nation of Pakistan is not only incurring food crisis but also increasing the prices of food. Wheat is the primary requirement of food for Pakistani culture. The quantity of wheat is insufficient and the price of wheat is higher due to its shortage. This is because of seasonal changes and the rates of different commodities which have risen up. The overall resources needed for a harvest in Pakistan have risen up. The food crisis in Pakistan is due to the fact that most of the farmers prefer exporting their harvests rather than using it for their own country. Recently the Government of Pakistan has implemented some measures which would help it to overcome the crisis. The rate at which the harvests are sold is now fixed. Export of wheat and rice has been prohibited until the national demand has been met. The new Government is further planning to implement policies for the farmers. It would provide them with all necessary equipment to get a good yield of their harvest. Further more the Government has even import commodities to meet the national demand. Different countries are looking ahead to solve the problem of food crisis all over the world. The continuously increasing food prices have enabled the food crisis during the last few weeks in Mexico, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania and Yemen. The agencies who are the supporters to aid the world's food shortage countries are now worried that they may not be able to make the food stuff available for the poorest. The Government of Philippines is raiding at different warehouses to capture the dishonest traders, who are exporting rice despite of the lack of rice stock for their national use. Whereas, in South Korea, people are aware of the fact that food shortage may get severe in the coming days, therefore, the housewives recently took away the stocks of food from the grocery stores. The increase in the price of Ramen (an instant noodle made by wheat) increased their anxiety regarding food supplies. "A new Hunger" has been observed all around the world. This hunger and demand for food increased due to the remarkable increase in food prices for millions of people. The rising prices of the basic food stuff is increasing the fear of its shortage in the world market and also producing confusions among the people (Fairmont, 1981). In the last week of March, the world rice prices increased by almost 30% in a day, due to this sudden and dreadful increase in rice prices Egyptian Government decided to stop exporting rice for six months in order to make the stocks available for local people and to maintain the price of rice resources. This decision was terrible news for Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, who import rice from Egypt. Vietnam, which is the world's second major exporter of rice after Thailand, stopped 25% of their exports and stopped contracting more countries for the export in the recent year. India and Cambodia also hurried to limit their exports with the aim of having adequate supplies to nourish their own nation. The cost of production for all food resources have increased due to the increase in fuel rates. The price of Crude oil is as much as US$100 per barrel. This increase in the price of crude oil has also increased the expenses of transportation of food stuff. Simultaneously, millions of citizens in China and India have all of a sudden become comparatively rich and are altering their eating routine, consuming extra meat and chicken, which puts a great demand on cereal stocks. The meat consumption in China has risen up to 150% since 1980s. To increase more meat stock, there is a need of feeding more animals and hence more feeding material is required. The action taken by North America and Europe to biofuel in order to facilitate global warming and decrease the dependence on imported energy also holds a big part in food crisis. The increasing demand for biofuel has directly influenced the amount of land fixed for food productions. Around 16% of the land planted for agriculture previously is now growing corn rather than soybeans and wheat. A fact that is not often talked about in the discussions of global food supplies is the population growth. The fundamental changes of climate and overcrowding are straight and obvious effect of the noticeable increase in human population in the world. The problem of increasing population is often overlooked; however, it is also one of the causes of food shortage. There is a need to pay proper attention on each of the problems causing the food crisis. The ignorance on any of the problems may cause a big damage to the food resources and further to other resources. Sustainability looks as a lot more complicated suggestion when we are obligatory to decide between food and something as essential to our long-term staying power as the Amazon rain forest. I am aware of the fact that it is a tough pill to swallow, but it is somehow important to play our part in controlling the population and aid the society and the world from such troubles. Sustainable growth is about preserving and humanizing the value of life as protecting the quality of life of creation to come, made likely inside a structure in which environmental, financial and collective factors are included. In the environment of food protection, sustainability is a multi fold theory: it contains, but not restricted to the profitable, collective, and environmental circumstances for farmers to maintain their farming activities; the financial control of every person to get the basic food stuff; the machineries that make sure the appropriate supply and storage of the farming manufacture; a dominance system that makes sure the reasonable pricing; and so on. Different countries have direct control over presenting a weather of monetary inducements for the farmers to farm. The countries may not be able to directly manage the natural environmental unsettlements such as the weather and the heavy rain for the approaching season, however by mean of liable environmental manners; they can certainly tie together the compassion of nature for the finest achievable outcomes. Any policies for sustainable cultivation has to take into explain the compound, mutual, and ever-changing relationship among farming productivity and the wide society. Sustainability also comprises the concern and apprehension for the future generations. At present industrial crop growing, in its fad to exploit the instantaneous return on investment, fails to remember the maximum to such growth: with this, the countries may earn a little more in the interim, but at the charge of numerous generations to arrive. From a civic policy opinion, tax and credit scheme should be personalized to promote separate and developing method of family or society farms more willingly than to delay the current leading system of corporate concentration and the consequential mono society. Change of the rural land to industrial employs should be reduced: wherever the change is acceptable, it should be merely for those industries that develop or promote the agricultural growth. The obtainable price sustain programs should be modified as inducements for the small and standard amount agriculturalists for their additional sustainable substitute agricultural and selling practices. Governments should entrust more funds for doing research and instructive projects aspiring at rising sustainable agricultural practices. There should be rules in situate that ensure generally just earnings and working situations for farming employees. Expanded agricultural growth in domestic farms is not in favor of the rules of economies of scale, but it can facilitate the farmers counterbalance the unanticipated fall of prices connected with specific merchandise. Moreover, it is proven to be improved for safeguarding the fruitfulness of the land. And also the responsibility of us as customers in help supplying worldwide food protection should not be taking too lightly. By means of acquiring decisions, it is a chance to send optimistic feelers to those who are concerned in sustainable shape of crop growing. As an alternative of depending up on the worldwide division of food supply, small managerial components like villages and districts should make every effort to have their own independent agricultural supply. Self reliant waged people will accelerate foot up progress based on democratic rules. This is most likely not in favor of the often scarcely described capitalistic principles, but very much in concurrence with the principles of sustainable improvement. Free enterprise in the current form has imposed upon the people more desolation than it facilitated the public and requires no longer be the blind supporter of it presently because it is still the leading voice in the developmental argue (Perl, 1976). This is more so when the sources of the current day's entrepreneurship such as Bill Gates themselves quarrel for a new type of capitalism that is large based and sympathetic. The inadequate supply of water in the fields causes big trouble in increasing the production of food crops. There are many lands which are not cultivated due to absence of irrigation facilities (Pearce, 2006). Proper residential facilities are not provided to the farmers which makes it difficult for them to survive and take care of the crops properly. Farmers need shelter near their field so that they would be able to avoid any harm caused by animals, humans and other creatures to their crops. The income of farmers is not sufficient for their regular expenses. In such a small income they need to purchase fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and machinery (Wharton, 2008). They need proper facilities to maintain land. Incentives must be provided to the farmers to encourage them and stop them from selecting any other profession. Bibliography: WEIS, A. J. (2007). The global food economy: the battle for the future of farming. London, Zed Books. FAIRMONT STATE COLLEGE (FAIRMONT, W. VA.). (1981). Global crisis reader: world hunger in an age of complexity. Fairmont, WV, Fairmont State College. WHARTON, C. R. (2008). Subsistence agriculture and economic development. Piscataway, N.J., AldineTransaction. PIACHAUD, D., & WEBB, J. (1996). The Price of Food: Missing Out on Mass Consumption. OCCASIONAL PAPER- SUNTORY TOYOTA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ECONOMICS AND RELATED DISCIPLINES. ALL. ADHIKARI, J., & BOHLE, H.-G. (1999). Food crisis in Nepal: how mountain farmers cope. Delhi, Adroit Publishers. PEARCE, F. (2006). When the rivers run dry: water, the defining crisis of the twenty-first century. Boston, Beacon Press. TANSEY, G., WORSLEY, T., & WALSH, S. M. (1996). The Food System: A Guide. The Service Industries Journal. 16, 563. BERRY, W. (1982). The gift of good land: further essays, cultural and agricultural. New York, North Point Press. PERL, L. (1976). The global food shortage: food scarcity on our planet and what we can do about it. New York, Morrow. Read More