causes of food deficit and surplus

• Factors affecting the amount of food we have:

  • Climate disasters such as floods, tropical storms, and long periods of drought
  • Conflict disrupting farming and food production
  • Lack of investment in agricultural infrastructure in LICs
  • Wide variety of pests and diseases in LICs
  • Water stress making food production difficult
  • Poverty leading to the inability to afford nutritious food, seeds, tools, or fertilisers
• In areas with food insecurity, mainly in LICS, the majority of the population is rural and depends on agriculture for food
• Main factors causing problems for food production in rural areas:

  • Drought
  • Conflict
  • Poverty
  • Pests
• Climate disasters like drought cause huge losses of crops and livestock, leading to desertification and salinisation

  • Floods, often caused by tropical storms, can also cause significant losses of crops and livestock
  • Climate change is altering normal weather patterns, making droughts longer, floods greater, and hurricanes more frequent
• Conflict can disrupt farming and food production, leading to hunger as people are forced to flee their homes

  • Food can become a weapon in times of war, with supplies seized or destroyed
  • wells and water supplies can be deliberately polluted
  • Aid workers are often prevented from reaching those in need due to conflict
• LICs lack the money to invest in agricultural infrastructure like roads, warehouses, irrigation systems, and machinery, reducing yields and food supplies
• LICs suffer from a wider variety of pests and diseases than HICs due to climate and lack of investment

  • Diseases like AIDS and malaria worsen food insecurity by reducing the available workforce in agriculture
  • cattle diseases are prevalent along with insects such as locusts
  • other pests such as mice and rats cause damage after harvest due to insufficient storage facilities
• Water stress, when annual fresh water supplies drop below 1,700 cubic metres per person per year, makes food production difficult

  • Water stress can occur due to dirty and polluted water, unreliable water supply, and high population density
  • almost half the worlds population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030
  • HICs have the money and technology to manage water stress using water transfer schemes whereas LICs do not
• People living in poverty struggle to afford nutritious food, seeds, tools, or fertilisers, limiting crop production and quality

  this makes them weak and unable to work or earn money to support themselves