Suchergebnisse

World agricultural resources will be altered by climate change which will require both public and private actions. Global agriculture is affected by invasive alien pest and disease species and by severe weather such as sea-level rise flooding and drought. Rising sea levels will increase salinity in coastal groundwater and the loss of coastal wetlands. Drought will increase the vulnerability of forest ecosystems due to decreased soil moisture and increased evapotranspiration. Many changes will be needed to maintain global food security. Climate change will affect food supply and demand, as well as prices. Research and development have the potential to impact both supply and demand, especially through the adoption of biotechnology. Researching plant and animal breeding for multiple disease resistance against pathogens of global relevance has great evolutionary potential. One such program is aquaculture. Another problem is land constraints as rural and urban areas compete for land. For rural food-insecure households, land competition means necessary changes in production practices. Research and development investments could substantially decelerate food prices to prevent hunger and deteriorating living standards in rural households worldwide. Increasing food security will mean establishing dietary guidelines that alleviate the negative health and economic outcomes associated with malnutrition. It is highly questionable to aggregate all food items based solely on calories per kilogram content when not all calories are equal in their effect on health. Food security also includes increasing diet diversity while decreasing food waste and loss. It is imperative that actions be taken for a food-secure future.

Food insecurity can result from various events. When food is abundant, the entitlement to food is limited by endowments, the ability to trade, and potential transfers from family or the government. This volume utilizes a country and regional perspective to examine food insecurity. We consider the interaction between income and the share of household expenditures on food. The epidemiological risk assessment approach to food security issues is utilized as a function of agricultural and production, food distribution, and health policies. The interdependence of food security and climate change is examined. Overall trends in economic growth and poverty reduction, constraints and bottlenecks in agricultural productivity growth, regional trade agreements, and other influential policies are reviewed and discussed. We also consider food security as related to food consumption patterns and obesity. The role of income diversification as well as the impact of Farmer School Fields on food security are examined. The impact of inheritance and transfer entitlements is examined as we consider the role of remittances as well as 'ganyu' or casual labor in determining food security.

International trade agreements are central to food security. The links between trade and the four dimensions in food security (availability, access, utilization, and stability) are examined. Freer trade in agricultural products provides additional food security. This is bolstered by factors such as increasing the use of GMOs, reducing food waste, and increasing investment in research and development. Also important is the ability of poor people to obtain food in the presence of transportation bottlenecks. Since low-income households spend most of their money on food, policy makers need to be aware of the harm caused by high and volatile food prices. Thus, food security and poverty are very much linked. We provide an understanding of the meaning and measurement of food security and the impacts of government policies in poverty alleviation. In terms of investment in research and development, even with increased productivity, problems attached to food security will remain unless there are significant changes in global income distribution. Global food shortages are due more to the lack of purchasing power rather than lack of food supplies, with the food gap continuing to widen.