Resource Reliance Flashcards
- How has increasing demand for resources affected our planet?
● Why is demand outstripping supply when it comes to food, energy and water?
● Overview of how environments and ecosystems are used and modified by humans:
○ Be able to explain how mechanisation of farming and commercial fishing provides FOOD
○ Be able to describe how deforestation and mining are used to provide ENERGY
○ Understand that reservoirs and water transfer schemes are used to provide WATER (inc impacts of
water extraction – Aral Sea)
Food: population growth, particularly in LIDCs - more people need more food
Climate change - food supply has been impacted negatively by unpredictable rainfall, droughts etc.
Pests and Diseases - 16% of the world’s crops are lost to disease and pests each year; pests thrive in wet, warm conditions and threaten new areas as the climate changes
Water: Population - population growth and changing lifestyles have dramatically increased the demand for water .
Industry - as countries become more developed, the demand for water in the industry for example food processing increases; industry currently uses about 20% of the world’s freshwater
Agriculture - uses 70% of the world’s freshwater; demand for irrigation has increases, particularly in response to climate change.
Energy: Use of fossil fuels - particularly coal, oil and natural gas - is increasing, especially in developing countries; these fossil fuels have a limited life and will begin to run out
Improved lifestyles, industrial growth and the development of transport have led to a massive increase in energy demand; recent industrialisation in India and China has increased energy demand significantly.
Waste - over 25% of energy each year is wasted or lost in production/transport; energy conservation is essential to preserve supply, but is limited in its adoption.
Mechanisation of farming and commercial fishing: farming practices have changed dramatically over time, largely driven by the move from subsistence to commercial farming. These changes have involved increased mechanisation, the expansion of irrigation, improved breeding of plant and animal species and the widespread use of chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides). Agricultural production has increased enormously and, as a result, famines are far less common than in the past.
Deforestation: Deforestation involves the removal of trees so that the land can be developed for other purposes, such as commercial farming, transport, settlements and mining. Tropical rainforests have been vastly deforested across large parts of South America and Asia, mainly to make way for commercial farming and mining.
Deforestation has occurred to enable TNCs to search for and extract valuable sources of energy such as coal, oil and natural gas. In Peru, oil and gas companies have removed trees in the Amazon rainforest to create access roads and drilling sites. Oil and Gas developments have also resulted in deforestation in parts of the Sub-Arctic, such as Siberia.
- What does it mean to be food secure?
● Be able to provide a definition of food security
● Be able to explain the human factors which influence food security (3 factors)
● Be able to explain the physical factors which influence food security (3 factors)
● Understand how the Global Hunger Index can be used to measure food security. Include a map in your notes.
Food security is achieved when people have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and enables them to maintain a healthy and active life.
Human factors: Population growth - global population has increased since 1950 and is likely to reach 9 billion by 2050. Much of this growth will occur in the world’s poorest countries in Africa, which already suffer from food insecurity.
Technology - Lack of technology can affect food supply and distribution in LIDCs. This includes the lack of farm machinery (low yields), poor storage facilities and lack of transport infrastructure (to distribute food).
Food consumption - Average calorie consumption is expected to rise, and dietary changes - particularly the increase in meat consumption could lead to shortages of staple foods.
Trade - some countries such as South Korea rely on imports from other countries to achieve food security, which makes them vulnerable to fluctuations in global food prices.
Conflict, and poverty are other points to make.
Physical factors: Drought - results in severe food shortages and migration; can lead to desertification and salinisation.
Floods - serious flooding results from tropical storms, which can cause a devastating effect on crops.
Pests and diseases - many tropical regions suffer from pests and diseases that affect both animals and plants. In poor societies, people may also suffer from diseases reducing their capacity to be productive
Water stress (particularly Africa)
The Global Hunger Index - The GBI was developed by the UN as a means of examining progress towards the Millennium Goal ‘to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger’. The index uses a range of indicators including undernourishment, the proportion of underweight children and the rate of child mortality. Each country is given a value from 0 (no hunger) to 100 (extreme hunger). The highest values of most extreme hunger are in Africa. Parts of Asia also suffer from alarming levels of hunger.
● Be able to describe Malthusian and Boserupian theories about the relationship between population and food
supply.
○ AND be able to outline differences between the two theories
Malthusian theory: In 1798, Malthus predicted that food supply would not be able to keep pace with the rapidly growing world population. He suggested that subsequent food shortages would result in global catastrophes such as devastating famines and wars. He referred to historic famines in countries like China as evidence for his somewhat ‘doom and gloom’ theory.
Boserupian theory: Boserup suggested a more positive relationship between food supply and population growth in the 1960s. She argued that people would respond to future resource depletion by making technological advances that would lead to an increased food supply. She also argued that people can respond to shortages by reducing food consumption.
Boserup was more positive and scientific research and technological advances would allow food to supply the growing population. Food supply would grow geometrically. Malthus on the other hand had a more negative approach, and claimed that the population would outgrow food production. Food supply would grow arithmetically.
- How can countries ensure their food security? TANZANIA CASE STUDY!!!!!
● Be able to quote data and refer to trends on food consumption and availability over time in Tanzania
● Local Level solutions: Can Goat Aid help achieve food security?
○ DESCRIPTION/ SUCCESSES/FAILURES
● National Level solutions: How effective was the Tanzania-Canada Wheat Programme (past attempt at
achieving food security
○ DESCRIPTION/ SUCCESSES/FAILURES
● National Level solutions: How effective will the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania be? (future
attempt in achieving food security).
○ DESCRIPTION/ POTENTIAL SUCCESSES/POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS
Goat aid is one of the examples of a bottom up aid project which talks to villagers about their needs, providing them with £200,000 worth of toggenburg goats which costs 400 each. They chose these goats because they produce 3 litres of milk per day however the villagers would need to provide for them and profit from them otherwise they wouldn’t be able to pay off the loan which it cost to get them.
Failures: the goats require lots of water to hydrate them, which the villagers don’t have, as well as the damage which the hooves do to the land, ending in land dissertation. If you remove grass from a semi-arid climate this could potentially lead to increasing desertification. Problematic because low income farmers don’t have the money to pay for the veterinary bills. Lack of water in the region, giving water to goats means there isn’t enough water for the humans. They would also require a lot of money for veterinary bills and between 1961 and 2020, poverty has increased by 380 million.
Successes: One of the villagers receives an average of 16 goats a year, they sell some goats and sell the goat’s produces and use the money to buy an ox cart and two bulls for more useful animals for farming, materials for fixing their house, banana seedlings and tools for spraying their animals for ticks. Another Villager says the goats give their family a more nutritious diet by giving them stronger bones from the calcium of goats. The goats manure has also worked as fertiliser for free (which can be quite expensive). They also earn money from selling milk, butter and cheese and they can also now send their children to school so they get a good education. Overall this can clearly help the villagers by giving them easy aid for cheap money.
By gaining profit from selling these food supplies - the villagers can then send their kids to school which will provide for better jobs in the future which in the long term can lead to better food security.
The Canada wheat program took place in Hanang District in Tanzania, it consisted of growing large amounts of wheat using modern technology. The wheat programme covered 26,400 hectares in Tanzania, showing its effectiveness.
Successes / failures or criticisms: Chemicals and equipment were free, but eventually Tanzania had to pay for them. Forced the Barabaig (nomadic tribe) off their land causing conflict. Apparently the Barabaig’s villages were burnt down, and the people were raped, beaten, fined and imprisoned as they tried to carry on their traditional life. It threatened the livelihoods of 40,000 people.
Provided 60% of all Tanzania’s wheat
121 Tanzanians received training in wheat production
150 mechanics gained skills in maintaining farm machinery.
Up to 400 people worked on the farms
Road, rail and electricity connections were improved.
In the 1992 drought, Tanzania was the only southern African country not to rely on food aid.
Only wheat was grown, so biodiversity and soil fertility was decreased
After harvesting, rain washed the topsoil away.
Most Tanzanians can’t even afford bread made out of wheat, so maize would have been better
Tanzania could not afford spare parts and fuel for repairing tractors.
The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Initiative is a Public-Private Partnership initiated at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa (WEFA) Summit in Dar es Salaam in 2010. Tanzania, as well as many other foreign governments, aid agencies and TNC’s invest millions of dollars to try to improve the infrastructure of things like roads, railways and irrigation in Tanzania. They hope to develop a modern agricultural economy creating 6 cluster areas with better connections to national and world markets. This will help with food security by producing more food. It will also earn money by selling food to other countries therefore helping the economy of Tanzania . It is claimed that by 2030 the project will create thousands of jobs bringing millions out of poverty. However this requires a lot of money and funding from other countries.
- How sustainable are these food security strategies?
Explore the environmental, economic and social sustainability of attempts to achieve food security, in relation to:
● Ethical consumerism, such as:
○ fairly traded goods – description, positives and negatives
○ food waste – description
● Food production, such as:
○ Organic methods - description, positives and negatives and
○ intensive farming - description, positives and negatives
● Technological developments, such as:
○ GM crops - description, positives and negatives
● Small scale ‘bottom up’ approaches, such as:
○ Urban gardens - description, positives and negatives
Ethical consumerism: Ethical consumerism involves the choices made by customers to buy particular products. For example, many people choose to buy products that are grown locally to support businesses and reduce food miles. Some people make choices based on the welfare of animals, such as buying free-range eggs, or they may wish to buy organic produce.
Fair trade: Fairtrade is a global movement that began in 1988 by guaranteeing Mexican farmers a fair price for their coffee. Today there are over 1.4 million farmers from over 70 countries whose produce is sold with the Fairtrade label. Fairtrade pays farmers a higher price and supports local community projects. The aim is to make income sustainable for farming families, and use some of the additional money to support community facilities like wells, schools and cities. Producers are paid a premium or an extra amount of money beyond the price of the goods so that the farmer/producer can invest in further machinery, seeds, education, healthcare or farm improvements.
The downsides of fair trade are that the extra income is small, and fair trade products are more expensive for consumers. Higher prices and smaller customer pools: the higher prices associated with fair trade may have a part to play in the size of the customer pool. Some products are likely to be less appealing to consumers on a budget, and some might simply be unaffordable. Not everyone will be willing or able to pay a premium.
According to the UN, one third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. Food loss or wastage occurs from field to plate. In developed countries, most food waste occurs at the consumer stage, with people refusing to buy or eat misshapen fruit and veg or simply overbuying food and then not using it.
Organic farming: involves the production of food without the use of chemicals. It is widespread across the world, in both ACs and LIDCs. Organic food production is in harmony with nature and reduces the harmful effects of chemicals. However, it tends to be more labour intensive (for example weeding by hand) and yields tend to be lower than for more intensive forms of farming. This means that the produce can be more expensive to the consumer and raises questions about its economic sustainability.
Intensive farming: Intensive farming involves maximising the yield from the land. it is often associated with mechanisation and the use of chemicals and clearly has some disadvantages:
Monoculture involves growing the same crop in a field year after year, using chemical fertilisers and pesticides to raise productivity. Monocultures can damage soil structure and increase the risk of pests and diseases.
Chemicals used in food production can leach through the soil and contaminate groundwater supplies.
Excessive irrigation can cause water tables to fall - if abstraction exceeds recharge, groundwater supplies will become unsustainable.
Chemicals could harm farm workers, affecting their economic and social well-being.
However much higher level of crop yield, more efficient use of land, cheaper for consumers than organic farming.
GM crops are genetically modified plants which are resistant to pests reducing the need for pesticides - and herbicide. GM crops are bred to increase productivity as well as resistance to climatic extremes such as drought.
GMO foods also provide a healthier and cheaper method of production while adding nutrients, fewer pesticides and cheaper prices.GM crops are already in use however by the US as in 2018, the US grew 94% of its soybeans and 92% of its corn from genetically modified seeds. However, there is a concern that GMO crops may cause allergic reactions and increase your antibiotic resistance which would draw away many people who suffer from allergies. GM crops can be unsustainable, both economically and environmentally, requiring irrigation and the use of chemicals.
