Foreign Literature
In a book entitled “Food security in Asia” by Amitava Mukherjee, food security was understood as a state where all the following statement are true: Food is systematically available at all times; food that is available is culturally accepted, where culture is defined broadly to include religious beliefs, customs, usage and practices; people have economic access to food; people have physical access to food; people have social access to food; food that people consume has the requisite nutritional value for a healthy life; and people have access to potable water, for absorption of food by the body. According to Mukherjee, food insecurity and poverty are intricately intertwined and the alleviation of both is strongly correlated.
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First, the degradation of environmental resources such as land, water and forest. The impact of land degradation has been more severe on dry-land ecosystem where it has caused desertification. The hurtful impact of these phenomena on the productivity of agricultural lands has affected the food security of about a billion of people in the Asia-Pacific region. In China, soil erosion is a threat to food supply and increase the risk of flood according to a report published on 20 November 2008 by the Ministry of Water Resources. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 50% of total mangrove forests area in the world (FAO cited by Mukherjee, 2003) with South-East Asia accounting 78% of Asia-Pacific total mangrove areas. Mangrove forests are under serious threat because of the locals of Indonesia who are using its wood to build traditional hatcheries and the domestic and industrial wastes discharged in the river that find way to the forest which causes the death of the …show more content…
The waters where mangroves grow provide suitable breeding and nursery areas for a large number of fish, shrimps, crayfish, clams, and other aquatic organisms. The same waters are used as feeding, breeding, and resting places for many species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, and terrestrial and aquatic mammals. (Kathiresan and Bingham pg 81-251 2001) mentioned that mangrove forests are extremely important coastal resources, which are vital to our socio‐economic development. A vast majority of human population lives in coastal area, and most communities depend on local resources for their livelihood. The mangroves are sources of highly valued commercial products and fishery resources and also as sites for developing a burgeoning eco‐tourism (Kathiresan & Bingham, pg 81-251 2001). The mangrove forests have been shown to sustain more than 70 direct human activities, ranging from fuel‐wood collection to fisheries (Dixon, pg 5-8 1989; Lucy, pg 1-14
Mangroves only grow near the equator with low-oxygen soil that lays down peat which is heavy layers of carbon rich soil. The forest stabilizes the coastline and reduces erosion. It also serves as an ecosystem with organisms that seek food and shelter. Mangroves are very important especially because it is one of the most carbon-rich habitat in the world. Mangrove forests have have doubled the living biomass of tropical forests. Mangrove forests differ from other peat forests worldwide because the saline soils prevent methane production that is another an greenhouse gas. Mangrove forests take con from the atmosphere and stores it in the Mangrove’s rich soil. It is time to invest in prevent mangrove loss as it will help mitigate dangerous effects of global climate change. An issue is that mangroves forests are completely widespread as they cannot live in freezing temperatures. These forests have the ability to settle quickly, grow fast, thrive and give fruit in the toughest place to live. As amazing as they are mangroves have been negatively affected by human development. They have been drained and cleared out to make room for human needs when we will need these forests to help survive as the earth continues to get warmer. However mangroves are among the easiest habitat to restore as proven when a group of volunteers were able to plant 500,000 trees in a day and 30 million were planted in
After discussing these conditions, it is clear that food insecurity can cause numerous problems in the lives of both children and adults.
For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited financial resources often lead to food insecurity. According to Gundersen, Waxman, Engelhard, and Brown (2011) food insecurity is the lack of access to healthy food in quantity or quality.
Food insecurity refers to the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of adequate, nutritious food. A direct correlation has been distinguished between food, income and overall health (Noreen et al. 2001). Food insecurity has been strongly influenced by financial constraints, resulting in individuals choosing to manage their food expenditures and dietary choices based off of what they can afford (McIntyre et al. 2016). Additionally, food insecurity leads to the altering of eating patterns for adults and ultimately hunger in children; due to depletion of resources and food supplies. Households experiencing food insecurity are commonly lacking sufficient funds for food and acquire several health problems as a consequence. Food insecurity was significantly associated with poor health, multiple chronic conditions, obesity, anxiety, distress and depression (Noreen et al. 2001). Therefore, this is an issue of importance to public
“Almost a billion people are going hungry, while we waste one third of the food we produce.” (FAO. 2013). Food security refers to the long-term availability and its availability, stability, access, and utilization. Issues that surround food security such as climate change and food sovereignty are debatably wicked problems. A wicked problem refers to a complex, persistent or reoccurring and hard to resolve issue due to its links to broader social, economic and policy issues, (Ahmed S. Khana. 2010) characterised by their lack of definitive solution, uniqueness and complex attachment to other wicked problems. Firstly, we will explore both sides of food sovereignty and businesses impact on food security. Secondly, we will outline the impact of climate change on food security and different business responses
In African context, the root cause of food insecurity is suggested to be the accessibility and affordability of food due to large margins of poverty. Today most Africans in the horn of Africa live by very low monetary value. It makes it hard for prioritizing and as food is basic, one meal a day is considered fine while others try to push it to two meals in a day, nutritional value is a jargon for another day. This brings less productivity individually, nationally and internationally as developing states progress very slow.
Social Sciences: “What role does poverty play in world hunger issues, and how does it affect the daily lives of those living without food”?
The ecosystems around the world are vital aspects of our everyday lives. Without the many resources and materials we harvest or use, life as we know it would be drastically different. In modern society, money is prioritized over essential benefits from nature. Due to this unfortunate truth, the stability of the environment has decreased on a global scale. Several of these issues include pollution, destruction of habitats, and causing species to go extinct due to events such as overfishing. Another human-caused problem is deforestation, particularly in the Amazon Rainforest.
With the increases in the global population and the increase need to feed this population, comes the great debate in how governments of the developed and developing world must tackle this important issue. In his article, The Politics of Hunger: How Illusion and Greed Fan the Food Crisis, Paul Collier examines the root causes of the food crisis and three ways (the slaying of giants) governments can easily come in finding a solution in the near-term, middle-term and long-term. The root causes, as outlined by Mr. Collier, are the increasing demand for food and increases in food prices. First, Collier states, “the first giant that must be slain is the middle to upper-class love affair with peasant agriculture.” In other words, increasing commercial agriculture and farming. Second, Collier states that the lifting of the genetically modified foods (GM crops) ban by Europe and Africa will allow a decrease in global food prices. Lastly, he states the United States must lift the subsidies on corn produced for biofuel and find an alternate biofuel source (like Brazilian sugar cane), thus decreasing the price on corn produced for food while increasing overall grain production.
“Food insecure seniors are 60 percent more likely to develop depression, 53 and 40 percent more likely to report heart attacks and congestive heart failure, respectively, and 200 percent more likely to develop asthma.” (NCSL) On the other side of the spectrum, children also suffer greatly from food insecurity. Food is the most crucial key for children to grow and develop their bodies in order to function properly.” Additionally, the brain develops rapidly at a young age. Without the right nutrients, the brain cannot develop properly, resulting in long term effects on learning abilities.” (Borgen Project) This means that if children are lacking in nutrients to develop their minds, they will not be able to pay attention to their school materials and will end up falling behind in their classes. When children fall behind, it then leads to another issue with education and getting stable paying jobs. Adults also suffer from hunger in the same way that if they are not getting the proper amount of nutrients in their bodies they will also suffer have sleeping issues as well as being able to function at one hundred percent with their daily routines. While food insecurity seems like it may be impossible to end, there are many ways everyone can help combat food insecurity. There are programs in place already that helps people with food, however these programs can only help as much as everyone decides to help
Food insecurity and poor nutrition is an alarmingly large problem for low income families, especially in developing countries. Many strategies exist to fight this problem, although not many of these address all the factors contributing to it along with all the possible solutions to solve it. In many cases, multiple strategies must correlate and work together so that all the determinants of this issue are addressed and can fight food insecurity from different angles. This essay will discuss the significance of the problem, a range of possible strategies to solve the problem, and go into detail on a select few that will correlate and work together to solve different factors of food insecurity and poor nutrition.
“The dull pain in the pit of your stomach spreads like a cancer to your chest and shoulders. As the days pass, every part of your body begins to ache… Your body begins to consume itself in a frantic search for energy… A lack of protein causes your belly to bloat; your legs and arms become little more than skin covered bones… Flies flit into and out of your mouth and crawl over your eyes because you lack the energy to brush them off. Near the end, your breath comes in short gasps, as if your lungs can’t get enough air. Finally—perhaps mercifully-your weakened heart simply stops beating.” (“Hunger” 1-2)
Hunger and poverty have been a major problem in the world, which has being leading most people to death than cancer, Ebola, and malaria do. More than thousands of people die from hunger and poverty, and most of the people who suffer most are children below the age of ten. Hunger and poverty have contributed to the world food crisis that has an impact on the economy, the environment, and political issues. People living with hunger and poverty are more than those living a successful life in both developed and developing the world. Hunger makes victims live underweight, causing numerous of sickness to their health. Lack of
There are those that believe our planet has reached its maximum capacity to sustain humanity and we need to reduce our population to rectify it. It is also said that our planet is well capable of providing both the nutrition and caloric needs for humanity, both now and into the future as well. Regardless of where one’s opinion of the facts fall between these two arguments, global food security is not where it should be. Uneven development could be argued to be a cause of this. But it is not the only issue affecting the planet.
Kundu A. 2006. Food security system in India: analysing a few conceptual issues in the contemporary policy debate. New Delphi: World Food Programme.