Food Security Now Comment Fav
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By the end of this reading you should be able to answer these questions:
- What is food security? How do we measure it?
- Describe the patterns (change across space) and trends (change across time) in food security.
- What are some physical processes (think environmental/natural) that lead to changes in food production and consumption?
- What are some human processes (think political, economic, social) that lead to changes in food production and consumption?
I believe people see issues of food insecurity happen all over the world but think they cant do anything to help because they cant fix food insecurity directly, however what they overlook is the amount of change they can do by doing something as little as making less waste or educating others on the importance of not wasting food and trying to help the less fortunate.
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Source #1 The Ukraine War is Deepening Global Food Insecurity — What Can Be Done?
Monday, May 16, 2022 BY: Dr. Arif Husain, US Institute of Peace
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the global economy was suffering from the repercussions of several man-made conflicts, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs — with devastating consequences for poor people in low-income and developing countries. The war in Ukraine — a major “breadbasket” for the world — is deepening these challenges on an unprecedented scale. In the immediate, swift and bold action is required by both wealthy and low-income nations to avert further humanitarian and economic catastrophe.
Its epecially sad since more developed countries can take advantage of the resources they have from their own stock, leaving less developed counties to not have that option and therefore suffer more.
The normalization of not having what you need for a healthy lifestyle is heartbreaking.
Looking forward, the international community should learn two key lessons from the Ukraine crisis. First, we live in an increasingly interconnected world and would be remiss if we ignored food insecurity and conflict challenges in any part of the globe as someone else’s problem. Secondly, it is critical for the international community to go beyond immediate stopgap measures; not only addressing the root causes of these challenges but also reexamining the agricultural and energy policies that underpin our global economy.
Russia’s War Deepens a Dire Picture
The latest food insecurity crisis spreading around the world is not happening in a vacuum. Amid the COVID pandemic, supply chain issues and soaring inflation, global food prices have been on the rise since mid-2020 and are now at an all-time high. In 36 countries, food inflation is at 15% or higher, causing major problems for poor families who spend upwards of 50% of their income on food. Sixty percent of low-income countries are at a high risk of or are already in debt distress, up from 30% in 2015. Fuel prices are at a seven-year high.
Fuel prices being at a 7 year high could be good for fighting climate change forcing people to use more public transportation but could really affect people who have no options.
Global food markets are extremely concentrated, both in terms of supplies and reserves. Seven countries make up 86% of wheat exports, while three countries hold 68% of the world’s wheat reserves. The figures are similar when it comes to coarse grains, corn, rice and soybean. Russia and Ukraine supplied about 30% of the world's wheat and barley before the war. Thirty-six countries, including some of the world's most vulnerable and impoverished, relied on them for more than half of their wheat imports.
Such concentrated and thin markets mean that when crises like the war in Ukraine happen, the global supply of food can be derailed quickly, leading to high costs. For example, insurance premiums are skyrocketing for vessels operating in the Black Sea, which only further raises prices for staple foods. Many countries are turning to alternative sources, but there are cost increases associated with these maneuvers as well. Countries in Europe or the Middle East that relied on Russian or Ukrainian food imports now suddenly have to pivot to acquiring them from Canada or Australia, for example, which will be more expensive given the greater distance traveled. Shocks like the war in Ukraine put into stark relief that food insecurity challenges are not always related to availability issues. Rather, it’s a question of accessibility and affordability.
Accessibility and affordability are consequences of things such as the war in Ukraine, increasing food insecurity. This human process leads to changes in food production and consumption as people/places who got resources from Ukraine because it’s closer, now have to go for farther places, costing more money. Spending more money affects how much food production is bought for consumption.
As the war drags on, already record levels of acute food insecurity are expected to sharply rise. In the 81 countries where the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) works, acute hunger is projected to increase by an additional 47 million people, from 276 million to 323 million — this is a staggering 17% jump, with the steepest rises in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source #2: “Global Food Security Index” Economist Impact
Natural Resources and resilience is an issue of food affordability and therefore affects consumption. Quality and safety of the food also affects food production which lowers consumption aswell.
Source #3: Multiple cyclones, historic drought in Madagascar cause widespread food insecurity, from PBS News Hour
The cyclones that hit Madagascar destroyed crops nearing the harvest. This is big as this place has the lowest medium income. ($471/year) However, the southern part of Madagascar came as a relief after intense drought 6 out of the 7 years. These both equally affect crops and lowers food production and consumption.
Source #4: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Food Security is having enough food for a healthy life. Prices, especially the increase in food prices such as the many foods shown in this chart affect this security negatively. We can measure it by comparing food prices and there change with average household incomes in certain places.
Food security seems to be more affected in terms of food affordability. A trend is that through 2020 to 2021, prices have noticeably increased. This increase in price negatively affects food security as the more money it costs, the less people with less money can buy. There is also a pattern for the place this graphs information was taken in particular as the protein displayed has the significant increase in price and this is big as protein is important for a healthy life and is pretty essential.
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