One of the biggest issues in the world is food security and the members of the United Nations are on a mission to develop a system that can guarantee food security globally. Improving the agricultural techniques to produce more nutritious foods will help in achieving this goal. This paper will discuss the global food issues and the attempts that are made by local governments to address these issues.
Agrawal, A., & Redford, K. (2009). Conservation and Displacement: An Overview. Conservation & Society, 7. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-4923.54790
The neoliberal agricultural restructuring has led to the worsening of food security in the Southern countries. Another contributing reason has been the land grabbing and human displacement from safe areas for development. Turning the agricultural land into industrial land for financial gains has been the biggest blow to the food security in these countries (Agrawal & Redford, 2009).
Isakson, S. R. (2014). Maize Diversity and the Political Economy of Agrarian Restructuring in Guatemala. Journal of Agrarian Change, 14(3), 347–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12023
The self-interest of local governments can be a tremendous blow to the effort of achieving food security. For instance, the Guatemalan agricultural policies undermine the objectives like; access to food, nutritional diets, food producers’ rights, etc. which has led to instability towards food sovereignty domestically and globally (Isakson, 2014).
FAO. (2003). The Elimination of Food Insecurity in the Horn of Africa. https://www.fao.org/3/x8406e/X8406e01.htm
Global conflicts and natural hazards are considered to be the main concerns that are contributing to the food crisis. Countries under conflict can disrupt trade by refusing to supply to another country which can lead to that country having to buy the product at a price that adds to inflation. Natural hazards like drought and heavy rains can affect the crops making the produce limited and more expensive (FAO, 2003).
Lassa, J. A. (2012). Emerging ‘Agricultural Involution’ in Indonesia: Impact of Natural Hazards and Climate Extremes on Agricultural Crops and Food System. 41.
Natural hazards are the climactic extremes that are contributing to the susceptibility of food security. Droughts are especially; affecting African countries as the percentage of global starvation is higher in this continent. Floods can destroy lands of crops and displace humans which can lead to famines which is a major concern as the damage from natural hazards is inevitable and unavoidable (Lassa, 2012).
Lagi, M., Bertrand, K. Z., & Bar-Yam, Y. (2011). The Food Crises and Political Instability in North Africa and the Middle East (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 1910031). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1910031
Political conflict has been contributing to the rise in global food prices. Social and political unrest has led to unemployment, poverty, social injustice, and food crisis. Due to the high percentage of inflation in third-world countries, the necessities of life such as food are slowly getting out of the reach of the people. This is more evident in African and Middle Eastern countries (Lagi et al., 2011).
Babatunde, B. O., & Ajayi, S. O. (Jun2010). Food crisis and population growth in Nigeria. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=14530503&AN=57631711&h=OUMx8whZjHOuiVMe6ed7Y%2b36LvQnKjeGEMdIxcoZThmPPW1rZOiNtQXujRqsI2dwvyt%2fNuQf9MZS8xCjsSO1Fw%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d14530503%26AN%3d57631711
Population growth also contributes to the global food crisis as poor families tend to have many mouths to feed but not enough income to sustainably take care of large families. Due to a lack of knowledge among these people, it is also difficult to make them understand that big family will cause more problems for them and consequently bigger crises globally (Babatunde & Ajayi, Jun2010).
Holt-Gimenez, E. (2009). From Food Crisis to Food Sovereignty: The Challenge of Social Movements – ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/openview/6786bc31a77d3511800a78c29bb542b1/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=48155
The food crises are also contributing to other global problems like affecting the produce trades, shortage of food, poverty, starvation, etc. Several solutions are being presented by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Bank, mega philanthropy, and the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research, in hopes that this crisis can be solved (Holt-Gimenez, 2009).
Araghi, F. (2009). Accumulation by Displacement: Global Enclosures, Food Crisis, and the Ecological Contradictions of Capitalism. Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 32(1), 113–146.
However; global capitalism is contributing to the accumulation of resources towards a small group which means that all resources are scarce including food resources that the majority has to face. The greed of a few is contributing to bigger problems and food crises are mere, a single expression of it (Araghi, 2009).
FSIN. (2021, May 5). Global Report on Food Crises—2021 | World Food Programme. https://www.wfp.org/publications/global-report-food-crises-2021
According to Global Report on Food Crises 2021, fifty-five countries are severely affected by food crises due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has led to further economic instability. This report informed that the percentages of different negative aspects have been higher than it has been in the previous five years and it will be hard to recover from this, especially for the third world countries (FSIN, 2021).
Clapp, J., & Cohen, M. J. (2010). The global food crisis: Governance challenges and opportunities. W. Laurier university press.
Currently, the world is on a dangerous path as different problems have become worse due to the pandemic. However; local governments are trying to strengthen their agricultural technology and food distribution so that at least their citizens are affected. This may seem like a small step but focusing on providing food security to the people under local governments can be a step in the right direction as small changes can have a big and lasting impact (Clapp & Cohen, 2010).
Morris, J. (2020, October 27). The Global Food System is Ripe for Change. The Nature Conservancy. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/grow-positive-regenerative-global-food-system/
Food security is a major concern of the United Nations and steps are being taken to make sure that the people around the globe have access to quality and nutritious food. By making food security a priority, global starvation can be solved as well. Local governments are working on regenerative food systems that would not only provide food for the people but also prevent nature from degrading (Morris, 2020).
In conclusion, the local governments can take small steps to help provide food security and lessen the food crises around the world. Improving agriculture and producing food that is enough for the ever-growing population should be the biggest priority so that starvation can be tackled.
References
Agrawal, A., & Redford, K. (2009). Conservation and Displacement: An Overview. Conservation & Society, 7. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-4923.54790
Araghi, F. (2009). Accumulation by Displacement: Global Enclosures, Food Crisis, and the Ecological Contradictions of Capitalism. Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 32(1), 113–146.
Babatunde, B. O., & Ajayi, S. O. (Jun2010). Food crisis and population growth in Nigeria. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=14530503&AN=57631711&h=OUMx8whZjHOuiVMe6ed7Y%2b36LvQnKjeGEMdIxcoZThmPPW1rZOiNtQXujRqsI2dwvyt%2fNuQf9MZS8xCjsSO1Fw%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d14530503%26AN%3d57631711
Clapp, J., & Cohen, M. J. (2010). The global food crisis: Governance challenges and opportunities. W. Laurier university press.
FAO. (2003). The Elimination of Food Insecurity in the Horn of Africa. https://www.fao.org/3/x8406e/X8406e01.htm
FSIN. (2021, May 5). Global Report on Food Crises—2021 | World Food Programme. https://www.wfp.org/publications/global-report-food-crises-2021
Holt-Gimenez, E. (2009). From Food Crisis to Food Sovereignty: The Challenge of Social Movements – ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/openview/6786bc31a77d3511800a78c29bb542b1/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=48155
Isakson, S. R. (2014). Maize Diversity and the Political Economy of Agrarian Restructuring in Guatemala. Journal of Agrarian Change, 14(3), 347–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12023
Lagi, M., Bertrand, K. Z., & Bar-Yam, Y. (2011). The Food Crises and Political Instability in North Africa and the Middle East (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 1910031). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1910031
Lassa, J. A. (2012). Emerging ‘Agricultural Involution’ in Indonesia: Impact of Natural Hazards and Climate Extremes on Agricultural Crops and Food System. 41.
Morris, J. (2020, October 27). The Global Food System is Ripe for Change. The Nature Conservancy. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/grow-positive-regenerative-global-food-system/
