Food was classified as one of the most basic needs of the human race. That implied that, without food alongside other basic needs, it would have been very difficult for human beings to live comfortably. The importance of food to the human body was very significant in the daily activities of a human being. For example, there are types of food that gave the human body the required energy to engage in different activities. Other types of food would help human beings fight off diseases and help in the body building process. The supply of food was, therefore, necessary to be guaranteed or better off be known to the human race. The laws of demand and supply, therefore, ought to be at a balance in as far as food demand and supply was concerned. a balanced demand and supply is what would be referred to as food security. Food security, therefore, entailed the progressive presence of food to the human race in the face of adversities and competition from other sections of the society. This meant that there needed to be a constant and sustainable availability of food that would be enough to feed the citizens of a given locality or just the entire world.
Food security in the global arena had been a hotly debatable issue in the current state of affairs. Due to the ever increasing world population, there had been need to ensure that every person that was being born in the world was guaranteed to have enough food to feed them in the foreseeable future. This concern about food security notwithstanding, there had been several challenges that food agencies faced to ensure that the whole world was secured as far as the demand for food was concerned. These challenges, although the food agencies have tried to address them, they have continued to pose the biggest threat to attaining a secure world in terms of food to feed the entire population.
Attempts to increase production and access to food would have been a very plausible effort in addressing the problem of food security. It was suggested that the world would have raised the highest amount of food in the most economical way and the most environmental friendly way if farmers all over the world were given the right crops to plant in the different climates that they operated in with the right technology. Farmers would benefit from the cooperation between the public and private sectors that would enable them to grow more food sustainably and make that food accessible to others. A deliberate boost in the funding and attention was needed in transportation, distribution and storage of food commodities. Infrastructure, research and development in agricultural science extension and education and the advocacy in the best practices around legal and business structures to encourage private sector investment would also be welcome. If every nation strived in this direction towards self-sufficiency in food, the problem would have been addressed.
Removal of barriers in the transportation and trade of food related commodities would also be a sure way to tackle the problem of food security. There were areas, for instance, that produced more food than others. The food produced in excess in these areas should as a consequence be transported to areas that do not produce enough food for themselves. This measure could help address the problem of food waste and correct the lapses and gaps in food safety. If the barriers to these movements of food items were removed, food security would be attainable.
Then there would also the possibility of provision of food aid to those in need of food items. Natural consequences such as in adequate rainfalls or political reasons as conflicts and instability can lead to lowered food production. If the world agencies could find some stock and continued supplying such kind of people who would be in need of food from one particular moment to another, the imbalances in food security would as well have been addressed. Safety nets such as food banks and others like emergency feeding programs like in schools or in refugee camps ought to be taken seriously among nations to address the people affected by such deficiencies in food production.
In as much as food security remained a global area of concern, attempts to address this issue also needed the input of the global ideas. The possible solutions that we have mentioned would be a great stride in the right direction at tackling the menace of food insecurity that continue to pose a challenge to the world even in this 21st century. Attempts should, therefore, be made at increasing food access and production. Barriers that hinder the movement of food from the areas of production to where they are needed should also be harmonized. Areas and people facing challenges in producing their own food should also be assisted during their hour of need to attain food dependency. Global powerhouses, therefore, needed to take very deliberate efforts to ensure that such programs are put in place to ensure that one of man’s most basic needs is guaranteed all over the world.
Reference List
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KRACHT, U. (1999). Food security and nutrition: the global challenge. Münster [u.a.], Lit [u.a.].
MCDONALD, B. (2010). Food security. Cambridge, Polity. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=577209.
ROMEO CASABONA, C. M. (2010). Global food security: ethical and legal challenges. Wageningen, Wageningen Academic Publishers.
