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Food Security

Food Security. Good news:. World grain production is increasing Food prices are dropping. Bad news. 20-40 million/year die prematurely from undernutrition (insufficient food quality), malnutrition (poor food quality), disease same as a Hiroshima every 2-5 days

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Food Security

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  1. Food Security

  2. Good news: • World grain production is increasing • Food prices are dropping

  3. Bad news • 20-40 million/year die prematurely from undernutrition (insufficient food quality), malnutrition (poor food quality), disease • same as a Hiroshima every 2-5 days • 750 million (15%) get less than UN minimum calories • 2700 men • 2400 women • 1.3 billion are underfed and undernourished b/c they are too poor to grow or buy the quantity and quality of food they need • Inequality of distribution • 80% of population in LDC raise 60% of animal food, but consume only 20% • India, in the midst of a famine where 40% of country was hungry, exported 24 million tones of grain to feed livestock • China in 1960, 800 million farmers, but 30 million died from starvation • Certain places have extreme famine

  4. Africa (Sub-Sahara) • 160 million (30% of population) suffer hunger and malnutrition • Fast population growth • 1million births/ 3 weeks • Drought • poor soils • no money or water for modern agriculture (no taste for wheat and rice) • overgrazing, deforestation, desertification, wind erosion • fuelwood depletion/ no replanting • poor food distribution systems • artificial price controls on food crops discourage production • social unrest • dependence on food imports

  5. Food related health problems • Marasmus (to waste away)- energy deficiency • Kwashiorkor (displaced child)- protein deficiency • Anemia- iron • Goiter- iodine • Scurvy- vitamin C • Rickets- vitamin D • Pellagra- tryptophan and niacin

  6. Famine • Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) • Arithmetic vs. Geometric growth • Function of many things • Drought • War • Floods • Population growth

  7. Famine relief • Utterly Dismal Theorem • free or cheap food undercuts local production • Lifeboat Ethics • population control must be in place or all food aid is futile

  8. Solutions • Produce more food • Improve economic development • Improve food distribution • Overcome cultural barriers • Achieve stable population

  9. Agriculture • History • Main plants & animals • Wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, barley, sweet potatoes, cassava • Pigs, cattle, poultry, lamb, goat, buffalo, horse • Types of agriculture • The Green Revolution • Intensive cultivation • Fertilizers • Pesticides • Machinery & fossil fuels • Environmental damage???

  10. Solutions • LISA • IPM • Shifting agriculture • Biotechnology • New foods • Quinoa (keen-wa)

  11. Will the world be able to feed itself in the future? • Julian Simon (Economist) • More people -> scarcity -> price rise -> opportunity for inventors -> more food • New knowledge • Economic freedom • New Technologies • Mirrors reflecting light from the sun • Hydroponics • Artificial lights • Meat substitutes • Fish

  12. David Pimentel (Ecologist) • Soil erosion, loss of cropland, water shortage, fuel shortage • Political unrest, economic insecurity, unequal food distribution patterns • Enough agricultural inputs • Global economic system that treats food as a commodity

  13. L. T. Evans “Feeding Ten Billion” • increase in land under cultivation • increase in yield per hectare per crop • increase in the number of crops per hectare per year • displacement of low-yielding crops by higher yielding ones • reduction of post-harvest losses • reduced use of feed for animals

  14. Root cause of famine is POVERTY

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