Geo: Opt F Food and Health

Global Health Indicator - Global Food Security Index

• Established in 2016

• Composite, 28 indicators

• Qualitative AND quantitative

• 0 (worst) - 100 (best)

1. Affordability

• Govt. programmes

• Consumer purchasing power

• Food price risks

2. Availability 

• Agricultural production

• Supply chain infrastructure

• Research effort

3. Quality 

• Nutritional value

TOP 3

1. Finland 85.3

2. Ireland 83.8

3. Netherlands 79.9

BOTTOM 3

1. Syria 36.3

2. Haiti 38.5

3. Yemen 40.1

Global Health Indicator - Health Adjusted Life Expectancy

: measure of population health that estimates the average number of years someone can live in ‘full health’

• Composite indicator

• Calculated through HALE = Life expectancy - Years lived with disability

• Comprehensive, measures QOL, not just length

• Examines differences between LE and HALE, can indicate need for improved healthcare systems

• Excludes certain groups/disparity

• Only collected once every 5 years

• ‘Disability’ is not clear

Global Health Indicator - Infant Mortality Rates

:annual number of deaths of infants under 1 year old per 1000 in an area

• Shows healthcare access

  • Affordability

  • Availability

  • Quality

• Environmental quality (hazards, sanitation)

• Levels of development in an area

TRENDS: high by equator - Chad, Niger, Afghanistan have 20%

• Easy comparison

• Predictive power - early warning sign for instability

• Leading indicator

• Doesn’t account for QOL

• Doesn’t account for those surviving, but with disabilities

• Does not explain cause

Agribusiness TNC - Cargill

: agriculture conducted on strictly commercial principles involving production, processing, manufacturing, transporting, distributing etc.

• Responsible for all aspects of agricultural supply chain

• Involved in movement of goods from start to end (grows crops, gives farming advice, manufacture animal feed)

• Part of the ABCD group that controls over 70% global grain trade

• $165bil revenue

ISSUES WITH POWER

• Overreliance

• Corruption threatens food security 

• Cargill and other group Monsanto now owns 60% world seed supply - affects price and method

ISSUES

• Farmers get less than 6% retail price

• Intensifies systems 

• Commits to eliminating deforestation but 2017 accusation of illegal deforesting in Ivory Coast

POWER

• Reinvented sugar in their lab in Shanghai, creating Truvia, a 0 cal alternative to sugar

  • TRUVIA: used in Coca Cola

  • $500mil in sales 

  • Expected to grow by 7% in the next 8 years

Diffusion of Technology - Vertical Farming - Singapore

:growing crops vertically to reduce amount of space required, done under controlled conditions

SINGAPORE

• Imports over 90% of food due to unfavourable physical conditions

• Less than 1% land is arable

• 30x30 goal - be able to locally provide 30% nutritional needs by 2030

Done through:

• Vertical farming 

• Opened world’s tallest vertical farm in Jan 2026

• $80mil installation cost

• Can provide 2,000 tonnes produce annually

Vertical farming:

• Saves 1mil gallons water/week

• Uses 1% of land compared to traditional

• No pests, bugs

• Not influenced by climatic conditions

• Requires less space - less deforestation for agricultural land

• High initial investment

• Loss of jobs as fully mechanised

• Unfavourable to countries that rely on agriculture for GDP

Waterborne Disease/Disease of Poverty/Diffusion of Disease - Cholera

Waterborne: spread through contaminated or dirty water

Disease of poverty: tend to be associated to lack of access to food/clean water and sanitation

• Transmitted through the fecal oral route by consuming contaminated water/food

• Disease of poverty 

  • Due to poor sanitation and lack of clean water

• 1.3-4mil cases yearly, 24,000-140,000 deaths/year

• 99% cases in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia

• Children under 5 most at risk

• Quick spread due to increasing climate events (flooding)

Symptoms:

• Diarrhoea, vomiting, leads to severe dehydration (this is what makes it deadly)

Haiti 2010 Outbreak

• Was brought to Haiti after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, where intl. Aid workers from Nepal arrived for recovery, bringing cholera with them, from a UN Peacekeeper base

• 800,000 affected, 9,000 deaths

• 47% patients hospitalised by Dec 2010

VULNERABILITY

• High % of IDPs (earthquake left 1.5mil displaced) and rural area populations with poor sanitation

• Earthquake destroyed 56 pipelines, so disease spread even quicker

MGMT

• 30 cholera treatment centers established, 13 in capital Port Au Prince

• Haiti ministry of health sent out over 10,000 workers

• Oral cholera vaccines and oral rehydration solutions distributed

→ CTCs very successful, hospital fatality rate dropped 3% 

• 87% deaths were outside of hospitals

• 11% fatality rate in rural vs 3% in urban areas

FACTORS AFFECTING SPREAD

Physical: floods/heavy rainfall wash sewage into water sources, Hurricane Tomas happened at a similar time which increased cholera cases 

Human: high pop density and poor hygienic practices

Political: poor water and sewage infrastructure

Haiti deemed cholera free by Jan 2019 with 0 cases reported

Vectorborne/Disease of Poverty/Diffusion of Disease - Malaria

:infections transmitted by bite of an infected arthropod species

• Transmitted by mosquito bites - infectious, non contagious (or through blood transfusions/contamination of needles)

• Can be treated through medicine

• Children under 5, pregnant woman, and girls are at higher risk of severe infection - more vulnerable

• 282mil cases, 610,000 deaths globally in 2024

• 95% cases in Africa

• Children account for 75% deaths

SYMPTOMS:

• Fever, fatigue, diarrhoea

• Destroys red blood cells and can lead to organ failure and death if untreated

Malawi

• Endemic across 95% Malawi

• 9.4 mil cases in 2024, 2252 deaths

• High transmission rates in low lying regions like Lakeshore districts/Shire River valley due to high temps and near water bodies

VULNERABILITY

• Prolonged, with rapid surges in rainy seasons

• As climate change exacerbates, longer rainy seasons and higher temps create breeding pools for malaria

FACTORS AFFECTING SPREAD
Physical: high temps (16-32^oC), high humidity, seasonal rainfall

Human: high poverty rates - can’t invest in prevention like window screens, year round irrigation for agriculture creates breeding pools

Political: chronic healthcare shortage - 57% healthcare from foreign aid, only 0.1/1000 doctor to patient ratio

MGMT

• National Malaria control Programme that aims to reduce incidence by 90% in 2030

  • Done by providing insecticide treated nets

  • RTS,S vaccine being piloted

• 33% drop in children cases since 2000 already

BUT

• Malaria becoming resistant to antimalarial drugs

• Rural isolation - 81% population in rural 

• Slow global medical progress (as a disease of poverty)

• Cannot be eradicated

• Climate change exacerbates

Famine - Yemen

: extreme, widespread food shortage in a region

2016-2021 famine

• Over 17 mil at risk - 3.3 mil women and children suffering from acute malnutrition 

CAUSES: 

• Civil unrest 

• Lack of imports

  • 90% reliant on food imports

  • Commercial imports fell to 40% of previously

• Poor sanitation

  • Only 50% health facilities fully functional in 2021

  • 2.5mil cases of cholera in 2021

• Economic collapse, Yemen Rial lost over 200% value 

IMPACTS:

• Displacement - 3mil people internally displaced

• 223,000 deaths attributed to hunger/disease

• 17mil people food insecure

• Healthcare system breakdown - people could not access the required medical care

AID:

• UN raised $1.2bil towards its total $4.3bil plan 

• World Food Programme reached 13.5mil people per month by 2021

• Doctors without borders - focuses on helping the malnourished, supporting Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centers (ITFCs) at hospitals, providing medical assistance for those who are acutely malnourished, admitting 3,300 people in 2021

  • 33% of their admittees are between 1-6months old

Reducing Food Waste - Biocollectors, UK

• Closed loop waste mgmt system to transform food waste into renewable energy/agricultural products

1. Collection: collects commercial food waste through trucks that are powered by the biofuel they produce 

2. Anaerobic digestion: microorganisms break food waste down without oxygen

3. Biogas production: produces biogas, pumped directly in UK National Grid

4. Biofertilisers: leftovers from process turned into nutrient rich fertiliser

5. Sustainable cycle: fertiliser given to local farms to grow new crops

• This ensures 0% waste sent to landfill

Reducing Food Waste - Wonky Veg, UK

• initial idea launched by Asda in 2016 to reduce food waste by selling foods that may not fit aesthetic appeals 

Morrisons - “Naturally Wonky” line

• Most extensive range with over 33 seasonal lines/products

• Sell 1,200 tonnes of wonky produce every week

• Has been expanded to wonky flowers and frozen fruit mixes

Reducing Food Waste - Feeding HK

• Preventing food waste on a restaurant level

• Aims to redistribute food surplus and prevent it from going to waste

• Volunteers go on ‘bread runs’ to collect extra food from restaurants and redistribute to homeless

• Works with 440+ donors and 150+ charity organisations

• 250,000 meals distributed per month

Reducing Food Waste - Ethiopia National Nutrition Programme

• Targets malnutrition and reduce stunting

• Joint Land Certification programme to give women right to land so they can have legal rights

Done through:

• Emergency nutrition response and management of malnutrition

• Strengthen food fortification

Stats:

• Decrease stunting by 20%

• Decrease anemia for pregnant women by 12%

Approaches to Food Production - GMOs

: Organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering

• Env sustainability 

• Food security

• Reduced chemicals

• Consumer attitudes - skepticism with Impossible meat

• Biodiversity risks - modified genes of saltwater rice and low stress tolerance

IMPOSSIBLE FOODS

• genetically engineered yeast to produce Heme (soy that gives meat it’s ‘meat’ flavour)

• Soy DNA inserted to yeast that produces Heme through fermentation

• Over 1mil pounds produced a month

• But costs tend to be 20x more than actual meat 

• 95% less land, 69% less water than actual meat

LINK: reduces pressure on meat espc as NGMC population increases (less CO2, embedded water)

CHINA SEAWATER RICE

• Hybrid breeding of wild salt resistant rice with HYVs

• Creates salt tolerant rice that can grow in saline/alkaline soils and barren land

• Potential to feed extra 80mil people

Approaches to Food Production - Vertical Farming

: crops grown in vertically stacked layers rather than on traditional fields to optimise growth

SINGAPORE

• 90% food is imported, less than 1% land is arable 

GREENPHYTO 

• Largest indoor vertical farm opened in 2026

• Costs $800mil

• Produces 2000 tonnes/yr

• 70+ types of crops

• Uses tech to control climate - fully automated

• Uses 1/50th of water compared to traditional farming

• 50-100x more efficient than traditional farming methods

• Consistent, available production

• Extremely high energy consumption

• High operational cost

• Limited crop variety

Approaches to Food Production - In Vitro Meat

: cultivated meat produced by growing animal cells in a lab rather than raising/slaughtering animals

PROCESS

• Isolate specific cells in warmth and oxygen feeding them nutrients to replicate and grow into muscle fat/tissue

UPSIDE FOODS, US

• Growing meat in a controlled environment

• One of two companies that are allowed to sell their lab grown meat in the US

• Designed to produce 50,000 pounds of meat/yr

• Better animal rights

• Potential efficiency

• Controlled quality

• Extremely expensive 

• Fed with serum nutrients that come from animal blood (ethicality is questioned)

• Energy intensive 

• “Ick” factor - people may not want to eat it