food security 3 Flashcards
poverty, inequality and food insecurity (17 cards)
food insecurity definition
food security: “a person is food secure when he or she has access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life” (Smith et al p.200)
not just famine: also chronic hunger
can be more subtle – sustained nutritional deprivation over extended period
environmental stress and food security in the global south
Climatic and ecological pressures
Climate change
land degradation, landscape over use
subsistence farming
impacts of ppt patterns on food security
fluctuations in precipitation and evapotranspiration e.g. Northern Nepal
generational shift to more unpredictable climatic patterns
delayed rainfall disrupts agricultural cycle
extreme periods of dryness and ppt cause soil erosion and flooding
heat extremes - less frost killing bugs in winter, insect damage to crops
salination impacting food security
in costal areas e.g. Ganges basin
storms, sea surges and cyclones
bring salt onto farming land
extreme temperatures
high levels of evapotranspiration
crops dry out
reduced yield
vulnerability and resilience to food insecurity
“Vulnerability - the extent to which a system or population is susceptible to harm” (Adger 2006)
resilience is the capacity of a system or population to recover from ‘shock’
Ecological resilience:
Social resilience:
hazard risk approach to food insecurity vulnerability
there are two approaches: hazard risk approach
- vulnerability as multiple outcomes of one biophysical event e.g. flood or drought
- dominant in contemporary policy discourse on climate change adaptation
social constructionists/political economy approach to food insecurity vulnerability
vulnerability due to multiple causes rooted in social structure
capacity to adapt to shocks variable and rooted in social relations
class, gender, social position etc influences access to resources to adapt to stress
social drivers of food insecurity 1
unequal land access
gender in equality in food distribution
exploitative rural economy: usury (high interest loans) exploitative wages, landlord
inter region disparities: neglect of irrigation systems, seasonal work only
social drivers of food insecurity 2
economic liberalisation
withdrawal of support and subsidies
market pressure: crop failure in part of the world impacting prices
corruption
conflict
spatial geographies of inequality
back ground to Eastern Gangetic Plains
India, Bangladesh, Nepal
vast and densely populated
extreme inequality in division of land and property
well connected to roads
highly fertile
sufficient land to support the population but uneven distribution
division of land in Eastern Gangetic plains
marginal farmers with <0.5 hectares from majority (at least 75%) of rural population
rarely enough space for a family to subsist
many houses are tenants and surrender a portion of the crop as rent
families rely on labour in addition to farming
minority of people, land holders, very wealthy
impacts of climate change in Eastern Gangetic-Plain
increasing unpredictability
dry spells during monsoons
heat spells
more extreme ppt
rain-fed agriculture is more risky
water shortage is important to farmers; nature storage in aquifers shows most potential
adapting to change in the easter Gangetic-plain
access to ground water and other stored water source (e.g. ponds) act as buffer during droughts
essential to adapting to climate change
however, only 10% of tenants and small farmers own pump sets and tube wells, must rent them to access wells
constraints of using ground water stores
cost of boring as well as tenancy cost
farmer is unlikely to invest in land that doesn’t belong to them
cost of pump sets
operation costs due to poor electrification and dependence on diesel
unable to access gvmt schemes bc don’t own land or land too small
another example
Tigray region
northern Ethiopia
89% people in need of food aid
