Food security is a global issue of concern. It is a crucial matter in the whole globe due to the impact on the standards of living and the general welfare of the population. The concerns and aspects relating to food security play a significant role in facilitating the safety of the health of the population. Food security relates to the adequacy and sufficiency of the food to the global population. Sufficiency of food plays a significant role in ensuring that the people will not lose lives due to hunger in all parts of the world. The nations have a role to play of ensuring sufficiency of food to the people so as to eliminate the risks of food shortage among the people in the society (Marilena, 2011:24). Food security also entails the aspects of food safety so as to minimize the health risks due to poisonous or contaminated foods.
Food security is essential in facilitating protection of the consumers from health risks associated with poisonous food substances. It covers the protection of the consumers from health risks and loss of lives to such negligence in handling of food by the members of the society. Food security involves proper storage of food in order to cater for the needs of the people during famines and droughts in various parts of the world. Food security takes care of the fluctuations in the prices of the food products leading to exploitation of customers. The sufficiency of food ensures a healthy population as well economic suitability to the population through stable food prices in the economy. Household food security facilitates the healthy living among the people in the society. It ensures that the people have access to the nutritional value with fewer efforts and little cost of foods in the society. Food security, therefore, helps in meeting the dietary and nutritional value to the consumers in the population.
The Global water crisis influences the levels of food availability to the population. Water deficits affect the amount of food produced by the farmers. Water shortage in the society is the threat to production of adequate food to feed the population. The production of inadequate food to feed the population leads to food insecurity among the people in the society. The water crisis influences the availability and access of food to the population in the society. The shortage in water availability for agriculture results in low outputs to the farmers leading to food insecurity in most parts of the globe (Ballar, 2012:18). Water shortage results from the over-pumping of water. The decrease in the harvests of grains leads to food insecurity in most parts of the world. The water-stressed countries in various parts of the world face the risk of food shortage and food insecurity due to low yields from the farmers throughout the year. The water crisis leads to seasonality in production of foods leading to the risks of food insecurity in various parts of the world.
The aspects relating to land degradation in most parts of the world leads to low levels of food production. Land degradation leads to poor quality of the soil which in turn results in low levels of yields to the farmers. The poor quality of soils contributes to low amounts of food supply to the population. The low yields lead to food shortage and insecurity among the people in the society. The degradation of agricultural lands reduce the capacity and potential of such lands to feed the population in the future. The reduction in land potential will make various parts of the world face the threat of food insecurity in the future. The agricultural lands in most parts of the world are turning into the real state due to population growth. The increase in the need for expansion of settlements of the society threatens the amount of lands available for agricultural production. Population pressure is a threat to food security in the society through reduction of the agricultural lands. The decrease in the agricultural lands will lead to low levels of agricultural yields in most parts of the world will lead to food insecurity and insufficiency among the people in the society. The competition of the agricultural land for other purposes like oil mining leads to a decrease in the amount of land available for agriculture. The use of agricultural land for other activities like mining and settlement results in low levels of food output.
Climate change contributes to risks and threats to food security in most parts of the world. Climate change makes it difficult for the people to predict the weather patterns for agricultural purposes. The unpredictability of the climatic conditions leads to untimely agricultural practices. This eventually leads to low yields or output in the agricultural sector. The extreme effects of droughts and famines lead to exhaustion of the food reserves in most parts of the globe. Extreme climatic conditions like floods also lead to destruction of crops and livestock leading to low levels of produce to the farmers (Parry, 1999:28). Floods and acidic rains lead to low or poor yields. The extreme climatic conditions contribute to high levels of food insecurity in most parts of the world. The food insecurity leads to the death of people in people due to hunger and starvation in various parts of the world. Most of sub-Saharan countries in Africa lose many lives to hunger and starvation due to extreme climatic changes like desertification and famines.
Conclusively, food security can be facilitated by ensuring that appropriate strategies are in place. The embracement of technology in projects like large scale irrigation will help to produce high outputs of crops even in the absence of rains. Irrigation plays a crucial role in promoting food security in most parts of the world. The governments of various nations should ensure protection of agricultural lands in order to promote sufficient supply and availability of food to the population. The government should also put mechanisms in place in order to ensure proper accessibility of food to the consumers at the affordable prices. Regulation of food prices will play a significant role in ensuring the protection of the consumers from fluctuation in the prices of food products. The government should formulate appropriate policies relating to setting of the prices of agricultural commodities. Price setting will help in ensuring food security among the people in the society. The measures to curb the climatic changes will play a crucial in reducing the impact of extreme droughts on the food supply to the population. Proper land uses policies and strategies will help in improving agricultural production in most parts of the world. The land use policies ensure high agricultural yields and output. The high agricultural produce will ensure food sufficiency, availability and stability of food in most parts of the world. Food sufficiency, availability and stability in terms of food prices will ensure food security in the society.
References
Ballar, R. G. (2012). Recommendations on Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture and Food Security in Central America.
Hoefer, R., & Curry, C. (2012). Food Security and Social Protection in the United States.Journal of Policy Practice.
Marilena, N. O. (2011). Food Security in the Future Common Agricultural Policy.
Parry, M., Rosenzweig, C., Iglesias, A., Fischer, G., & Livermore, M. (1999). Climate change and world food security: a new assessment. Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(99)00018-7
