4.3 Population-resource relationships

Question 1

concept of food security

Answer 1

all ppl at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food to meet dietery needs and food preferences

Question 2

3 main aspects of food security
+ define them

Answer 2

1. Availability - sufficient food quantities available on a consistent basis
2. Access - sufficient resources to obtain food for nutrition
3. Use - appropriate use of food using basic knowledge of nutrition/care and having adequate water and sanitation

Question 3

lack of food security consequences

Answer 3

poverty, slow developments, political instability

Question 4

4 + 2 environmental causes of food shortages

Answer 4

1. soil exhaustion
   -overuse of soil (eg overcropping, monoculture) -> desertification/erosion -> low crop yields
2. drought
   - tropical areas have SEASONAL rainfall, plants/crops die when no rain
3. flood
   -severe floods kill entire crop yield
4. tropical cyclones
   -prominent in low-lying coastal areas
   tidal surges –> severe floods –> destroy crops/drown livestock/poison soil with salt

5. pests
   - insects destroy 25% global crops
6. diseases
   -fungal diseases destroy stored grains
   -foot-and-mouth kill livestock -> milk?meat
   -banana bunchy-top virus destroy banana

Question 5

3 econ causes of food shortage

Answer 5

1.poor capital investment - in tech -> poor productivity

2. poor transport - rising transport costs + poor infrastructure development -> limits export
3. biofuels - farmers produce rapeseed/elephant grass to earn more

Question 6

4 impacts of food shortage

Answer 6

↑ food prices SAMM

1. starvation
2. aid dependency - farmers stop producing as they cant sell food –> whole country relies on aid
3. malnutrition - resort to cheaper foods like sorghum
4. migration - to access food aid (food production decrease, cycle of shortage)

Question 7

3 ways technology may be used to increase food production and explain/eg

Answer 7

1. drip irrigation
   - minimise runoff opposed to sprinklers, efficient
2. mechanical traps for pest control
   -pennsylvania saved $20M on pesticides in 90s
3. satellite farming
   -detects problems like diseases/pests before they spread

Question 8

tech ↑ food production
4 positive impacts

Answer 8

FYII

1. farm incomes + living standards of rural ppl increase
2. yields increase (export)
3. irrigation allows water to be stored and sent into dry areas –> put more land into agricultural use, increase yields
4. improve ppls diets and nutrition

Question 9

tech ↑ food production
3 negative impacts

Answer 9

ONE

1. overpopulation (carrying capacity, population eventually outstrips resources)
2. no significant benfits to LICs (lack of infrastructure/gov corruption)
3. expensive (fertilisers/pesticides)

Question 10

define “carrying capacity”

Answer 10

maximum no. of ppl that can be supported by the resources of an area

Question 11

what will increase carrying capacity + eg

Answer 11

discovery of new resources eg oil fields

Question 12

when will there be
under/over/optimum population

Answer 12

under
insufficient ppl to use all available resources (low population density)

over
available resources unavailable to support population (population growth races ahead of availability)

optimum
balance between available resources and population
hard to achieve as tech/resoruces always chnaging

Question 13

define “ecological footprint”
+ how

Answer 13

measures natural resource consumption in global hectares

• sum of all cropland/grazing land/forest/fishing grounds needed to produce wood
• fibre/timber it consumes to absorb wastes emitted / provide space for infrastructure

Question 14

6 components of ecological footprint

Answer 14

Built-up land footprint
Cropland fp
Carbon fp
Grazing land fp
Forest fp
Fishing grounds fp

Question 15

3 factors of ecological footprint

Answer 15

1. population growth rate
2. level of development/consumption
3. nature of available technology