iGeo 2017, Писмен тест — Задача 6. Section F: Food Security

1. Answer (point marking – 1 mark for each correct description):

• The World Food Summit (WFS) target was not reached. The number of undernourished people fell from 991 million in 1990–1992 to 780 million in 2014–2016, whereas the target was just above 500 million (the target was to halve the number of undernourished people).
• The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target was almost reached as the prevalence of undernourished people fell from 23.3% in 1990–1992 to 12.9% in 2014–2016, not far above the target (of 11.65%) (the target was to halve the percentage of undernourished people).

2. Answer (point marking – 1 mark for the correct reason):
Although the prevalence of undernourished people nearly halved, the increasing global population meant that the number of people did not halve.
Although the prevalence of undernourished people nearly halved, the increasing population in developing countries meant that the number of people did not halve.
Although the prevalence of undernourished people nearly halved, high birth rates (accompanied by low death rates) in developing countries meant that the number of people did not halve.

3. Answer (level marking – 2 marks for one well elaborated explanation and 1 mark for poorly elaborated explanation):

• Environmental:

  • Climate change – crops not adapted to changing conditions, less food produced (also increases prices); unpredicted weather; intense and widespread droughts and storms – lower crop yields
  • Land degradation – land becomes less productive – less food produced.
  • Soil pollution – less land available for farming and cattle breeding
  • Increase in acidity of soil due to heavy rains
  • Natural disasters – destroys crops/livestock and farming infrastructure (so less food produced), destroys livelihoods (so cannot afford food).
  • Drought – rain-fed agriculture vulnerable to periods of drought.
  • Decrease in global seed diversity – crop production more vulnerable to weather
  • Extinction of some crops suited for certain climate types
  • Scarce weather stations – missing information on weather (both environmental and economic factor)
• Political:

  • Conflict/war/political instability – farmers flee, crops/livestock destroyed.
  • Governments not giving priorities to financing agricultural infrastructure (irrigation, safe storage and transport, etc.).
  • Agricultural research not funded in budgets.
  • Small farms appropriated for urban expansion – pushing farmers to more marginal lands.
  • Lack of emergency food provision.
• Social/Cultural:

  • Food preferences changing to meat – producing meat is less efficient use of resources.
  • Resistance to changing traditional farming practices to more sustainable options.
  • Gender inequalities reduce access to land ownership and loans.
  • Class differences – “the untouchables” are not allowed to own land and houses
  • Low rate of insured crops – poverty in case of destroyed crops or lost yields
  • Low health insurance rate – in the case of illness people cannot afford themselves health treatments and cannot work in agriculture
• Economic:

  • Poverty (low household income) – cannot afford to buy food.
  • Local food crops replaced by export crops/biofuels – less food produced locally (also increases prices).
  • Rising cost of inputs such as seed and fertilizer.
  • Increase in food prices – growing gap between the rich and the poor that cannot afford the food
  • Low access to education – inability to improve agricultural productivity
  • Low world grain reserves - inability to cover the shortages in case of hazards
  • Low international aid (from developed to developing countries) to adapt to climate changes
  • Work in agriculture as hired workers for international companies – low income and no individual agricultural production to feed the families

4. Answer (level marking – 2 marks for one well elaborated strategy and 1 mark for poorly elaborated strategy):

• Working together, governments, international aid agencies and non-government organizations could:

  • Invest more in agricultural research to develop crop varieties that would increase food production, e.g. higher yielding crops. Crops can be more resilient to drought conditions, countries where hunger is still a concern often suffer from extreme climates.
  • Set up micro-finance schemes for loans to farmers, including women. This would allow farmers to buy machinery/fertilizer/etc. to increase production, or to buy seed after a bad harvest when they have had to eat all their saved seeds.
  • Finance the development of irrigation schemes so that farmers are not reliant on rainfall. Sustainable solution they could then grow a greater quantity of food, and also a greater variety of food.
  • Invest in more efficient and effective storage of food at a local and regional level, and of its transport. This would save a lot of food that is currently wasted through vermin, insects, water, etc.
  • Develop agricultural extension programmes so that small-scale farmers can benefit from current information on sustainable farming practices in a changing climate.
  • Establish stable fair-trade networks so that small scale farmers have increased markets for their products and can increase their income, making them less vulnerable to food insecurity.
  • Introduce school meals so that children, who are vulnerable to malnutrition, get a regular supply of nutritious food.

5. Answer (level marking – 4 marks for excellently elaborated discussion, 3 marks for fully, 2 marks for satisfactorily and 1 mark for poorly elaborated discussion):

• Attitudes in developing countries – fussy and particular about food presentation and what it looks like.
• Buying and consuming too much.
• Wealthy people can afford to waste food.
• Greater calorie consumption leading to buying more food.
• Life style.
• The power of advertising and the consumer mentality.
• Pre-packaging of products so that one buys more than needed.
• The sense of complacency – not recognizing the effort involved in food production as one just goes to the supermarket.
• Also a sense of complacency because most people in developed countries have never experienced hunger.