Food and Hunger

1
Food and Hunger

• By
• Todd King
• Willy Khiang

2
Definitions

• "hunger" is defined as "the uneasy or painful
  sensation caused by lack of food.
• environmental constraints are limitations on
  food production caused by the environment

3
Causes of Hunger

• Environmental degradation
• Population growth
• Slower growth in Yields
• Land ownership
• Consumption by affluent nations
• Income distribution

4
Environmental degradation

• Deforestation
• Overplowing and using marginal land
• Wind and Water erosion.
• Overgrazing (desertification)
• Salinization
• Overpumping

5
Population Growth

• Population is growing faster than agricultural
  yields
• Growing population is increasing ecological
  stress
• Fresh water, land, forests, and fisheries are
  today being used at or beyond capacity.
• World's population is expected to grow from its
  current 5.5 billion to about 8 billion by 2020

6
Slower Growth in Yields

• High energy prices hamper agricultural production
• Little effort has gone into improving traditional
  agricultural methods
• Increased fertilizer use is resulting in minimal
  improvements
• Soil and water have become polluted from
  excessive fertilizer use.

7
Land Ownership

• In many 3rd world countries most of the land is
  owned by a few wealthy land owners.
• These landowners produce exotic crops for
  exportation to foreign countries.
• The landowners buy out the smaller farms thus
  devoting more of the land to exportation rather
  than staple food production

8
Consumption by affluent nations

• Large landowners produce non-food crops for
  export such as coffee, tea, tobacco, and cotton.
• These non-food products are produced instead of
  the staple foods 3rd world countries need such as
  corn and wheat.
• Large American companies control mexican
  companies which produce luxury foods
  (strawberries, etc) for export to America.

9
Income distribution

• Total world food production is equal to twice the
  minimum calorie and protein requirements for the
  average person.
• Problem is the rich buy too much food and the
  poor can not afford enough.
• Worldwide, 1.3 billion people live on less than
  US1 per day
• American medical researchers found that out of
  the 567 patients interviewed (52 of whom had
  incomes below 10,000), 24 reported decreasing
  the size of meals or skipping meals because they
  could not afford food, 13 reported not eating
  for an entire day because they could not afford
  food

10
Environmental Constraints

• Soil erosion
• Soil conservation
• Irrigation
• Surface water

11
Soil erosion

• Wind and Water erosion lack of roots and
  vegetation allows top soil to be washed or blown
  away
• Deforestation and overplowing promote wind and
  water erosion
• Overgrazing if vegetation is consumed
  completely, desertification will occur
• Use of marginal land plowing on steep slopes
  without terracing causes severe soil water erosion

12
Soil conservation

• Several governments have enacted plans to plant
  top soil enriching plants in areas where erosion
  has occurred
• These plans prevent farmers from using some farm
  land for crops.

13
Irrigation

• Major problem is Salinization
• Areas with poor drainage have salt deposits from
  the evaporating water.
• Irrigation gets most of its water from
  underground aquifers, water is being pumped
  faster than it can be replenished.

14
Surface water

• Surface water is also in short supply.
• Fresh water lakes are also being overpumped and
  are gradually shrinking.
• Overpumping reduces water volume and increases
  salinity in fresh water sources, hurting the
  aquatic life.
• Fresh water like oil is becoming in short supply.

15
Stakeholders

• Farmers
• Corporations
• Hungry/Poor people
• Environment
• Future generations
• (everyone else we havent mentioned)

16
Professional issues

• Is it right for 1st world corporations to use 3rd
  world countries land to produce luxury foods for
  export instead of staple foods the 3rd world
  country needs?
• Should industrial agriculture practice
  sustainable development by not using the land and
  other environmental resources past their capacity?

17
Legal/Policy issues

• Do landowners have a right to treat their land
  anyway they want?
• Should people have unrestricted access to water
  regardless of the environmental effects

18
Ethical issues

• Is it right to use the land past its capacity to
  provide more food for the hungry people?
• Is it right to practice sustainable development
  at the risk of producing less food and making
  more hungry people?
• Should we leave a damaged environment for our
  future generations?

19
Possible Actions

• 1 Ignore environmental constraints and produce
  more food for the hungry people.
• 2 Strictly observe environmental constraints and
  create more hungry people.
• 3 Improve food distribution and use more
  effective irrigation techniques.

20
Action 1

• Ignore environmental constraints and produce more
  food for the hungry people.
• Disadvantages
• Environment gets hurt
• Food production decreases over time as
  environment is damaged
• Future generations must deal with damages
  environment
• Advantages
• More food is produced so prices decrease
• Hungry people can afford food.

21
Action 2

• Strictly observe environmental constraints and
  create more hungry people.
• Disadvantages
• Less food is produced so food prices increase
• Poor people cannot afford food
• Increases number of hungry people
• Advantages
• Preserves the environment
• Leaves our future generations with a healthy
  environment

22
Action 3

• Improve food distribution and use more effective
  irrigation techniques.
• Disadvantages
• Will take a lot of time and work to even out
  distribution of food and wealth.
• Large initial cost to implement newer more
  efficient forms irrigation
• Advantages
• Preserves environment by reducing salinization,
  water pollution, and water consumption.
• A better distribution of food will allow more
  people to meet their caloric needs without
  increasing consumption.

23
Final Decision

• We think Action 3 produces the most common good.
• Must protect environment while providing for the
  needs of all the people.
• Must also fund research into more efficient and
  environmental friendly methods of agriculture so
  we can cope with future population growth.

24
Links

• http//www.northwestharvest.org
• http//www.centeronhunger.org/
• http//www.frac.org/
• http//www.ifpri.cgiar.org/2020/briefs/number19.ht
  m
• http//www.pahunger.org/