Food Insecurity
What is food insecurity?
Work through the following to understand the causes and impacts of food insecurity
1. Causes of food insecurity
Food insecurity is the lack of reliable access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food. It affects individuals and communities, leading to hunger, poor health, and reduced life opportunities. Causes include poverty, conflict, climate change, and economic instability. Addressing food insecurity is essential for improving well-being and achieving global development goals.
For the 987 million people in the world who do not get enough healthy food regularly, ill health and a shorter life expectancy are real risks. Children, and especially very young children, who suffer from food insecurity will most likely be smaller and be less able physically and intellectually.
The demand for food is increasing faster than the ability to produce food. There is a danger that this will lead to increased damage to soils and overuse of water, which in turn would lead to reduced capacity of agricultural land.
To do: questions
What is the number of people globally experiencing food insecurity?
Which world regions have the highest rates of food insecurity?
What are the main causes of food insecurity?
Extra: use the animation to watch the trend in the number of people experiencing food insecurity.
2. Hunger Map
Hunger – also known as undernourishment – is defined as not consuming enough calories to maintain a normal, active, healthy life.
The world has made much progress in reducing global hunger in recent decades — we will see this in the following key insight. But we are still far away from an end to hunger. Tragically, nearly one-in-ten people still do not get enough food to eat.
The share of the undernourished population is shown globally and by region in the map.
To do: questions
List the 5 countries experiencing the highest rates of hunger, including the percentage of the population.
Suggest reasons for the high rates of hunger in these countries.
Extra: use the animation to watch the trend in the percentage of people experiencing undernourishment.
3. The human impact of food insecurity
Food insecurity negatively affects key human development indicators:
Health: Increases malnutrition, stunting, and child mortality.
Education: Leads to poor concentration, lower attendance, and early school dropout.
Life Expectancy: Can shorten lifespan due to related health issues.
To do: questions
What does the child mortality rate measure?
What does life expectancy measure?
How does hunger (food insecurity) impact these two indicators?
Compare the rate of child mortality and life expectancy for the five high hunger 5% countries identified in the previous section.
2. Causes of food insecurity
4. Farming and food insecurity
In addition to human factors such as conflict, the main causes of food insecurity are linked to agriculture.
Amount of arable land: The availability and quality of farmland, impacts food production.
Low fertiliser use: In low income regions low fertiliser use results in poor crop yields and low food availability.
Water as a limiting factor: Agriculture is dependent on water, scarcity due to drought, overuse, pollution reduces crop yields. Inadequate irrigation and unreliable water access especially affect small-scale farmers, leading to lower food production and heightened vulnerability to food insecurity.
To do: questions
How does water limit agricultural production?
Geographers use fertiliser consumption to estimate a countries level of farming technology and possible food insecurity.
What is the fertiliser consumption rate in Australia, China and France?
What is the fertiliser consumption rate in Chad and Sudan?
Use the five countries to explain the relationship between fertiliser use and food insecurity.