2) Global and Regional pattern of food production and consumption

people facing world hunger in 2030

nearly 670 million people (8%) will still be facing hunger in 2030 (UN)

Agricultural productivity

= the ratio of agriculture outputs to inputs

Food security

= securely exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy life

Undernourishment

= dietary intake below the minimum daily energy requirement

(1700 - 2000 kcals per day)

... depends on gender, age, and physical activity

World food summit (1996)

"food security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life"

increase in world population + undernourishment

world population expected to grow to 10 billion by 2080

... more than 1/2 of this growth will occur in Sub-Saharan Africa

(in this region 1/4 of the population are currently undernourished)

World hunger - the LDCs

the poorest households in the developing world spend 60-80% of their income on food

every 5 seconds a child dies of hunger

every year, 6 million children die of starvation

UN estimates

... that there will be 9.7 billion people on the planet by 2050

global food production and calorie intake per capita have increased over the last decade

food security = an increasingly important issue

every 1 degree increase in temperature ...

... can cause a 10% decline in agricultural productivity (UN)

Food insecurity, problems and possible solutions

food insecurity may cause political unrest as demands exceed production

- we need to increase food productivity by 50% to meet the demand by 2030

- doubling food productivity will lift 70 million people out of poverty in Africa

Pattern between wealth and size of a country and it's food production

countries with vast human resources like China and India have agricultural output values in excess of $100 billion

The USA, Brazil and the EU have very large output values due to intensification of farming methods in large capital investments

Smaller less developed countries (e.g., in Sub-Saharan Africa) produce less food due to a lack of technology and less availability of resources

Food production is not evenly distributed

influenced by 2 main drives

1. environmental capacity
... influenced by the environment, climate change, water availability, and soil type

2. Human Capacity
... refers to the population size and skills in regard to agriculture and the financial capacity a country can invest into agricultural infrastructure

Top global producers of agricultural products

Much of our global supply originates in Asia
... Asian countries produce the most cereal crops (oats/corn), wheat, rice, sugar, meat, milk, and fish

- China and India are the largest producers of meat, fish and milk

- South America grows the most oil crops

- North America grows the most coarse grain (for feeding animals and brewing)

- Europeans grow the most barely

The Green Revolution

= the term used to describe the transformation of agriculture in many developing nations that led to significant increases in agricultural production between the 1940's and the 1960's

India = the main contributor

- IRH = a new highly yielding variety of rice used within their revolution
- introduction of fertilisers and pesticides
- increase in irrigation
- globalisation

Global Trade + agricultural productivity

... increased reliance on global trade

= allows an increase in agricultural productivity

- large TNCs invested in foreign countries, allowing them to grow more crops

- during the 1970's net imports of cereals by LICs more than tripled

- enabling specialisation to benefit from the "theory of comparative advantage"

World Food production...

is actually enough to feed everyone 2800 calories per day

however...

... food production and availability is so uneven that 798 million are still undernourished

Trends in food consumption around the world

larger, wealthier countries often consume over 3,000 calories a day

smaller, poverty stricken less developed countries only consume an average of around 2000 calories or less per day

LIC countries like in Africa have the largest number of countries in a continent that consume less than 2000 calories a day

developed countries have the ability and accessibility to be able to afford and buy food

Global Food Production - Tropical fruits

Tropical fruits = bananas, pineapples, mangos, papayas, avocados
... cultivated in the equatorial, subequatorial, tropical and subtropical climates

Philippines, China, Mexico and Brazil represent the majority of world trade in tropical fruit
- approx. 98% of tropical fruit production comes from underdeveloped nations
- developed countries make up 80% of major importers of tropical fruit

Tropical fruit production climate necessities

natural ecosystems are unique and produce dramatically diverse plants in both genotype and phenotype

tropical fruits have to be grown in warm and wet conditions - close to the equator = tropical climates with low pressure

tropical fruits = much more difficult to control as are susceptible to cold injury

... also, anatamical and physiological changes in fruit during post-harvest handling and logistics decreases their marketable value, meaning much fruit goes to waste
... high production cost, little profit

impact of climate change on tropical fruit production

- tropics will be the first and most likely to suffer due to climate change because of the poor economic conditions of countries/majority of population, the higher dependence on natural resources and the relatively narrow temperature ranges that fruit can be grown in

- projection of climate change for the tropics indicates a rise temp. of 0.8 - 3.2 degrees by 2050 and a 1.2 - 6 degrees increase by 2100

- atmospheric Co2 concentration likely to reach 550-800 ppm by the end of the century (currently 400ppm)

- drought, extreme rainfall and extreme heatwaves have all increased in the last 35 years

- any deviation from optimum temperature and tropical fruits cannot grow, affecting production drastically

- elevated CO2, reduced water availability, pollinators, pests, suitability of species and cultivars have demonstrated impacts of climate change on fruit production

- some may benefit, some may shift to grow in different areas, some may have to develop strong adaptation strategies

UN stats on global fruit exports

world exports of tropical fruits were expected to drop 5% in 2022 according to a report by FAO of the UN

- global exports of mango were expected to fall by 1.5% to 3.2 million tons

- global pineapple exports expected to fall by 1.5% to 3.2 million tons

- global exports of avocado were expected to fall by 6% to 2.4 million tons
... major cause was an anticipated 32% decline in shipments from Mexico following substantial losses from destructive storm in June + drought

- global papaya exports expected to have grown by 1% to 370,000 tons
... due to production expansion in Mexico (still low, high cultivation costs)

- Russian invasion of ukraine disrupted tropical fruit markets in many countries and these drops translated into some 2.4% of global tropical fruit shipments that have been facing considerable obstacles to reach their destination market in 2022

- volume decline in produce exports + increase in prices and costs to grow (+ higher transport costs)

- disruption of Russian fertiliser shipments to producing nations (e.g., Mexico, declined 59% in first 9 months of 2022)

Double Burden of Malnutrition

Coexistence of undernutrition and overweight/obesity

(or diet related non-communicable diseases within the same households)

the depth of food-deficit

the differences between consumption and requirements

... communities in chad are on less than 264kcal a day

HICs consuming high calorie foods that are low in nutritional value

Causes of Malnutrition

poor distribution of wealth

high disposable incomes in HICs and a lack of wealth in LICs
(disposable income allows people to go out to eat, afford more food + live a certain lifestyle that promotes obesity)

lack of knowledge about the nutritional value of food

lack of access to healthy foods

urban poverty

urban poverty + obesity

i.e., living in an urban area but not benefiting from the access to health care services or knowledge of a healthy lifestyle

... being able to access fast food chains 24/7, transport readily available so don't have to walk

... afford to live in urban area but can't afford the more expensive healthy food alternatives/ingredients to prepare food

Effects of malnourishment

undernourishment (stunted growth, lack of nutrients, shorter life expectancy, certain diseases)

obesity (diabetes, cancer, cardiac problems, bone, and muscle problems)

malnourishment

the long-term absence from the diet of one or more essential nutrients

... increasing urbanisation changes the agri-food systems as unhealthy foods become cheaper and more accessible
e.g., crisps, sweets, ready meals
... leads to malnutrition

level of wealth and malnutrition

HICs have more access to food and higher disposable incomes

= money to spend of food, more knowledge about nutrition, wider variety in diet

LICs have either less nutritious food or less food all together, generally consume fewer calories in poorer countries

... other end of spectrum = LICs cannot afford nutritious food so rely on fast food or high calorie food which can lead to obesity

Sustainable development goals to end world hunger

The sustainable development goals aim to end world hunger and malnutrition by ensuring access to nutritious food,
support small-scale farmers,
maintain genetic diversity of plants,
and promote resilient agricultural practices to boost food production sustainably and equitably

global increase in calorie consumption 2023 (% daily kcals)

Whole world = 8.1%
developing countries = 10%
latin america and caribbean = 10.1%
south asia = 17.1%
east asia = 8.4%
east and north africa = 5.2%
sub-saharan africa = 13.6%
industrialised countries = 3.4%
transition countries = 8.6%