Future of Food

• Level of food security in the Sahel

  • The Sahel, which extends from West to East Africa across ten different nations, is facing desertification.
  • In 2006 a report by UNEP and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) on climate change and variability in the Sahel stated that ‘without urgent investment, feeding the Sahel is “mission impossible”’.
  • There is an estimated 29.2 million people who are food insecure, including 9.4 million suffering from severe food insecurity who are likely to experience extreme food deficits.
• What is SAGCOT?

  The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) is a large project started in 2010. It aims to improve farming in Tanzania in a growth corridor.

   

  The land is very fertile and connected to the port at Dar es Salaam by main road and the TAZARA railway.

   

  The Tanzanian government, foreign governments, aid agencies and TNCs are investing millions of dollars to improve infrastructure like roads, railways and irrigation.

   

  They want to develop a modern agricultural economy, creating six key cluster areas with better connections to national and world markets.
• Level of food insecurity in Tanzania

  Tanzania is ranked 98th out of 109 countries in the Global Food Security Index with a score of 33.7 out of 100 (the lower the score, the less food security). It is rated as needs improvement.

   

  In the Global Hunger Index (GHI) Tanzania is ranked 89th out of 116 countries with a score of 28.7 (the higher the score, 0-100, the more hunger) and a rating of serious.

   

  Food distribution is improving but still lower than Africa and rest of the world. Average daily calorie intake in Tanzania has increasedfrom1696in 1964 to 2137 by 2009.
• Causes of desertification

  • Changing farming practices
  • Water scarcity
  • Demand for fuelwood
  • Fires
  • Increased periodic drought and changing rainfall patterns
• What is an agro-ecosystem?


  Ecosystem that is managed to produce food
• What are the Millennium Development Goals?

  MDG one aimed to ‘eradicate extreme poverty and hunger’. While progress has been made, with the proportion of undernourished people in developing regions falling between 1991 and 2015.
• Effectiveness of Goat Aid in Tanzania

  • Villagers trained by Farm Africa on dairy goat management and breeding. Every year they get an average of 16 young goats.
  • Villagers regularly have meat for their families that they couldn't afford before. Milk from goats gives families a more nutritious diet and the goats manure improved crops
  • Extra money from selling spare milk.
• Ineffectiveness of Goat Aid in Tanzania

  • Goats require alot of water which is a scarce resource
  • Goats hooves and grazing can damage the land and lead to desertification
  • Veterinary bills can be expensive if goats get sick
  • Small scale projects are not ambitious enough and have little impact on a countries food security.
• How does desertification increase risk to food security?

  Desertification is the destruction of the biological potential of the land, which can lead ultimately to desert-like conditions. This leads to reduction in agricultural capacity as a result of human or natural processes.
• Panther Principles

  • Participation
  • Accountability
  • Non-discrimination
  • Transparancy
  • Human dignity
  • Rule of Law
• Effectiveness of SAGCOT

  • Kilombero Plantation: Tanzania's largest rice producer; in Kilombero valley; investing hugely in tractors, irrigation, mills; trained over 6500 farmer families; improved yields from 1t per ha to 4.2t per hectare
• Ineffectiveness of SAGCOT

  • Most of invested money mainly benefits TNCs and large commercial farmers
  • Most of promised investment not realised
  • Nomadic tribes lost access to water
  • Small landowners not involved in planning
• HUB and OUT-GROWER MODEL - SAGCOT

  Infrastructure improvements attract big commercial farm. Each big farm will act as a hub, improving seeds, fertilisers, irrigation etc. Smaller surrounding farms will have access to these facilities and commercial expertise
• Is Goat Aid sustainable?

  Socially:

  • No. of hoofed animals has increased from 275 million in 1961 to 665 million in 2005 - during that time poverty has increased

  Economically:

  • Farmers have profited from crop production - around $998,496
  • Total profit of farmers is around $2.2 million
  • Its a self-perpetuating system so once they have received  goat, it can breed to grow a herd

  Environment:

  • Goats hooves and grazing can damage the environment and lead to desertification
  • Manure = natural fertiliser for crops - crop yield increase = more spare for sale.
• Describe Goat Aid in Tanzania

  Toggenburg goats chosen as they produce around 3 litres of milk a day. before goats were imported, villagers were trained in how to keep and care for the goats, including how to treat simple diseases.Goats given to villagers on credit. This means that the cost had to be repaid. 
• How do different players encourage food security - agribusinesses

  Costs:

  • Profit environmental issues has been compromised
  • Large amounts of agrochemicals
  • Environmental effects

  Pros:

  • Highly scientific, specialising in high yielding GM crops
• How do different players encourage food security - TNC/FOOD RETAILERS

  Costs:

  • Local traders are unable to compete

  Pros:

  • Use tech to increase yields 
  • Disease prevention
• How do different players encourage food security - FAIR TRADE

  • Transparency + accountability
  • Fair price
  • No child labour
  • Good working conditions
  • Respect for environment

   
• How do different players encourage food security - WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION

  Costs:

  • Some countries marginalised
  • Unable to compete in competitive trade
  • Tariffs,quotas and subsidies
  • Need for regulation

  Benefits:

  • Fairly export/import food in/out countries
  • No mishaps
  • People are able to get their food without any problems due to legislation
• How do different players encourage food security - FOOD AID

  Costs:

  • Needs to be funded
  • May not be enough as no £££

  Benefits:

  • Accessibility/availability of food increases
  • Dumps surplus' of food from AC's 
  • Saves lives in emergency situations such as Nepal earthquake
• How do different players encourage food security - TRADE BLOCS

  Costs:

  • Impossible for farmers to compete outside the EU

  Benefits: 

  • Farmers inside the EU reap benefits
• How do different players encourage food security - MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS

  Costs: 

  • Supresses development of commercial farming in developing nations

  Benefits:

  • Free trade access to EU markets
• How do different players encourage food security - BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

  Costs:

  • Drives down prices and reduces incomes of indigenous farmers
  • Takes away from small businesses

  Benefits:

  • Creates a cycle of food dependency
• Causes of food insecurity (USA)

  • High unemployment and under-employment
  • Stagnent and falling wages
  • Failure of governments initiatives to boost jobs + wages
  • Support systems such as food stamps and nutrition assistance programmes have been cut in recent years due to recession.

   
• What is the impact on health and nutrition due to food insecurity? (USA)

  • Poorer households are forced to purchase cheap unhealthy food → lead to physical and mental issues in children like educational underachievement. 
  • Senior citizens make the decision whether to pay for food or medication. 
  • Obesity → more fatty foods consumed and less exercise completed. 
• Strategies to tackle food insecurity. (USA)

  • Food stamps
  • WIC - special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, which gives out food vouchers, education and health referrals
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - a direct block of funding to states to help families living below the poverty line
• How has the Amazon rainforest environment been influenced by food production? (environmentally)

  • Long term:
  • Annual floods replenish nutrient stores
  • Burning releases nutrients locked up in vegetation + produces a larger of nutrient rich material above the poor soil.
  • Fertiliser washed into local streams - affects aquatic life
  • When peatlands are drained CO2 released
  • Dry peat = flammable which leads to large scale fires
  • Short term:
  • Monoculture = highly vulnerable to disease and pests
  • Peatlands = swampy areas and peat acts as a sponge, soaks up water + prevents floods + stores carbon
• How has the Amazon rainforest environment been influenced by food production? (Socially)

  • Long term impacts:
  • Poor law enforcement - facilitating illegal or irregular acquisition of land.
  • Demand for soy will increase by 60% to over 300 million tonnes per year
  • Future expansion in South America
  • Labour conditions during land prep = poor
  • Short term impacts:
  • Growing global dismay for soy
• How has the Amazon rainforest environment been influenced by food production? (Economically)

  • Long term:
  • Farms don't employ locals, when they do = low wages
  • Ownership of large farms in hands of wealthy majority
  • Commercial agricultural projects are still carried out
  • Large scale agriculture takes up floodplain and volcanic soils, so smaller farmers have to cut farmland from the rainforest
  • Short term impacts:
  • Soy expansion = increase in land prices
  • Monocultures = economically risky with price fluctuations so common in international markets
  • No crop outperforms cocoa
• Effects of deforestation on the carbon cycle in the Amazon ****

  • Deforestation exhausts the carbon biomass store. 
  • Soils, depleted of carbon and exposed to strong sunlight, support fewer decomposers which reduces the flow of carbon from the soil to the atmosphere.
  • Nutrients are no longer taken up by the root systems so they are quickly washed away by surface runoff.
• Effects of deforestation on the water cycle in the Amazon Rainforest ****

  • Increased run-off - converting rainforest to grassland increases rates of run-off
  • Decreased storage - 1/2 of all rainfall on grassland goes directly to rivers compared to nearly all rainfall remaining in an area of rainforest
  • Breaking the regional water cycle that keeps atmospheric humidity high which then leads to clouds and rain.
• Why is the Nunavut considered an extreme environment?

  In Nunavut permafrost extends anywhere from a few metres to 1,500 m into the ground. Only a thin layer of the tundra thaws during the summer months.

   

  Summer = ground is soggy and covered in lakes ect.

   

  Long, cold winters and cool summers. Coldest and driest part of Canada. Precipitation = low. Large parts of the Archipelago receive only 100 to 200 mm of precipitation a year. This classifies it as polar desert.
• Level of food security in Nunavut

  • 70% of all households in Nunuvut don't have ready access to affordable, high-quality food.
  • 2/3 of people have trouble finding enough affordable, nutritious food.
  • Vegetation - dwarf shrubs, grasses and mosses
  • Average cost of groceries for one family $23,904 but 40% of Inuit adults make less than $20,000 each year

  Causes of food insecurity:

  • Cold climate, extreme delivery costs, low income, and scarce employment etc.
• Farming method in Nunavut

  Vertical farming is the practice of growing produce in vertically stacked layers. The practice can use soil, hydroponic or aeroponic growing methods.

  Pros:

  • Soil is not needed to grow crops as crops are aeroponic or hydroponic.
  • Reduced transportation costs and CO2 produced
  • Not reliant on weather conditions
  • Low labour costs
  • Less water usage
  • No pests/disease

  Cons:

  • Expensive to build - can cost $20-50 million to build
  • High operational costs
  • Not suitable for all crops
• Factors affecting food production and distribution

  • Climate Change:
  • Heatwave
  • Droughts
  • Floods
  • Tropical Storms
  • Water Scarcity:
  • Using water in agriculture
  • Tectonic Hazards:
  • Volcanic Ash
  • Earthquakes
  • For example, Nepal 2015 - livestock killed, machinery destroyed or damaged, widespread damage to roads and many farmers missed the planting season from May onwards + unable to harvest.
• Physical challenges that influence food security in India - Declining Water Table

  • 80% of groundwater sources are overexploited, with farmers having to drill even deeper wells.
  • Expensive equipment has to be purchased to drill to such depths and the financial stress has led to highly suicide rates among farmers and many leaving agriculture.
• Physical challenges that influence food security in India - Weather


  Unreliable monsoon rains in the past sixteen years have caused frequent droughts:

  • As a result, farmers have had to draw more groundwater to irrigate crops, accelerating the decline in the water table.
  • Rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves have meant that wheat crops have reached their maximum heat tolerance and reduced crop yields.

   
• Physical challenges that influence food security in India - Soil Erosion


  Increased soil erosion due to intense rainfall:

  • When the rain does come it is intense and heavy.
  • There is little infiltration of the hard baked earth and high levels of overland flow. The result is the erosion of the fertile upper layers of soil.
  • Up to 40% of rainfall is lost to run-off, with inadequate water management.
  • Meanwhile, deforestation and overgrazing expose soils to erosion by water and wind.
• Human challenges that influence food security in India

  • Urbanisation reduces availability of land
  • Green Revolution has physical and socio-economic impacts
  • Government assistance needed in water management and mechanisation
  • Insufficient infrastructure = waste.
  • Small scale farmers disadvantaged by globalisation
  • The Punjab region occupies less than 2% of land but produces 2⁄3 of food grains.
  • Imports vast quantities of grain due to rapid population growth which led to 17 million extra mouths to feed.
  • Rapid economic growth has caused extreme poverty and hunger.
• Food security challenges that India is facing

  • 195 million undernourished people - India shares 1/4 of global hunger burden
  • 4/10 of children experience chronic undernutrition or stunting which leads to diminished learning capacity etc.
  • Large tracts of farmlands in India have become barren due to imbalanced fertiliser use and excessive use of a single fertiliser, urea.  
  • Increase in prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and teens
  • Women and girls are particularly disadvantaged.