Global food security/GFS101/Population, Hunger, Inequality/Hunger, Inequality
In week 1 Aidan outlined why Hunger is an important issue/problem of food security and how the term 'Global Hunger' is used as a substitute word for chronic undernutrition. By only looking at population growth in different countries and the prevalence of hunger you may be tempted to conclude with a type of Malthusian argument that the problem is population itself (i.e. too many people) overshooting natural resource limits to food production i.e the carrying capacity of a particular country/region. Since this argument was first forwarded by English economist, Thomas Robert Malthus, in 1798, it has been used by political elites to justify indifference toward famine and to shape social policies around welfare and since at least the 1960's has been deployed by popular environmentalist writers, such as Paul R. Ehrlich in his 1968 book ' The Population Bomb', Jared Diamond's in his 2005 book 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed' etc to argue for limits to and control of population growth. However, Malthus was not able to foresee how successful a global system of food production and trade aided by science and technology, economic development, medical development in hygiene and disease control would be in altering the terms between natural resource limits and population growth.
It is important to realise that terms 'global hunger' can mask the specific instances and geography of its occurrence. Only by looking in more detail can we start to see relationships between socio-economic factors and the prevalence of hunger. In the next lecture, Aidan raises questions over the organisation of the global food system and its role in the social production of hunger in any one particular country. He highlights the while the current organisation of the global food system has helped to increase global food production, it has at the same time consolidated power over that system within the hands of a few. He makes the point that today we have more than enough food to feed everyone, and indeed with the current supply of calories in the food system we can potentially feed an even larger population. However, because of unequalness in power within the global food system, we have limited our capacity to fairly distribute food to everyone. Thus the challenge of global food security is not only a technical issue but also an issue related to the politics of who gets what and why.
After watching the previous lecture brainstorm the following questions:
1. What are the root causes of entrenched economic inequality around the world?
In your response also consider the relationship between poverty and food security.
Please direct your self to the Discussion Board titled Week 4: Activity 3: Population, Hunger, Inequality XXXXXXXX so that other students can engage with your response. Feel free to comment on other posts as it will help you with your own thinking. .
Looking at the kind of choices we can make about the global food system, The World Economic Forum 2017 publication 'Shaping the Future of Global Food Systems: A scenarios Analysis outlines 4 possible future worlds each with consequences for different actors within the global food production system:
1. Survival of the Richest, marked by resource-intensive consumption, disconnected markets and inequality in terms of who gets what.
2. Unchecked Consumption, marked by market connectivity, resource-intensive consumption, and high environmental impact.
3. Open-source Sustainability, marked by market connectivity, resource-efficient consumption, and international cooperation and innovation.
4. Local is the New Global, marked by fragmented local markets, resource-efficient consumption, a focus on local foods by rich resource countries and hunger in import-dependent regions.
These potential scenarios challenge global leaders in thinking through the implication of choices we make today on what our global food system could look like into the future. While the purity of these scenarios may be misleading they do however highlight the role of future demand for food and agricultural commodities in light of human health, social and environmental impacts considerations, resource constraints, climate change, potential yields, and changes in food markets, trade, wealth, income and technological and technical innovation within the food production system. Outlined is a sober account of some of the challenges ahead and factors involved in securing food into the future. Highlighted are some of the potential trade-offs and competing interests in increasing food production, affordability, and accessibility while managing its impacts. What is clear is that questions over the quality of the system we build are just as important as questions over the quantity of food produced in creating a more sustainable global food system.
"We hope that this unit has helped you think through not only what changes might be needed to create a more just and fair global food system but also inspired you to participate in bringing such a system into being" Unit Coordinators
FAO/IFAD/UNICEF/WFP/WHO, 2017: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017. Building Resilience for Peace and Food Security. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, vi.
FAO 2015. Statistical Pocketbook 2015; World Food and Agriculture. FAO: Rome.
UN, DESA, 2018. Population Division. World Population Prospects. New York: United Nations. Available
World Inequality Lab, 2018. World Inequality Report 2018. World Wealth and Inequality Database. Available
