Major problems the world faces today are water shortage, air pollution, over population, food problems, global warming. But amongst these, we are going to be discussing on the major food problems, but the big question is “is solving the world’s food problems the most important step to mankind”? Well this topic will be analysed, and a definitive answer would be brought about, as we are going to highlight on the causes of these food problems as well as the effects, and other problems faced by mankind.
Talking on the causes of food crisis, Overpopulation is a factor that could lead to food crises; this is due to an increased demand for food. By 2030, the population of the world is said to reach a staggering 8.3billion in number, this is about 15-20% increase from the current population of the world, and could cause a 50% increase in the demand for food.(L.West March 23rd 2009). An increase in the demand for food could also lead to a hike in the price of food; this has caused food problems to mankind. In countries such as Haiti, food prices increased by 50 – 100%, which brought down the government, as the prime minister was forced out of office. (Anup.Shah 10th August 2008). Furthermore, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the prices of food has not stopped going up, the (FAO) index for food prices shows that there was an increase of 12% from 2005 to 2006, 24% in 2007, and a rise to about 50% in January and July 2008. Prices of food has further increased to 83% in the last three years as figures are shown by the world bank which points at the same direction.(Esther.V 26th February 2011). The increase in the prices of food, is not only caused by overpopulation, it is also caused by the bad soil moisture in an area, soil moisture problems are usually related to soil drainage. Poor drainage can be as a result of the type of soil or grade. (1st January 1996). Areas with low soil moisture, affects the growth of planted crops, as they may not be able to develop roots, and as well may be prone to both pests and diseases. (Nicaela.C 9th December 2010). The soil could hereby lose its moisture due to the compaction of the soil. This is when the soil loses its structure, due to the mechanistic pressure mostly caused by agricultural practices. The soil structure could be lost in the form of physical degradation which results in the densification and distortion of the soil where biological activity, porosity and permeability are reduced, and the strength of the soil increased. The wheels, tracks, rollers or passage of animals, initiates this compaction process, which could lead to the erosion of the soil.(Houskova.B 26th October 2010). The government in general, also have a hand in the problems the world face with food. Talking about the government for instance in Egypt, part of the problem they face is the fact that their past government threatened to reduce food subsidies, but the present one is planning to hold the food subsidies and rather raise the energy subsidy level. (Gail.T 1st February 2011). In addition, Egypt is faced with importation problems, as the cost of importation has gone up due to an increase in the price of oil. About 40% of the foods, and 60% of the wheat consumed in Egypt are imported. Egypt is said to be largest importers of wheat, and the problem this year is that the wheat production is down due to weather problems. (Joe.W 31st January 2011).
In spite of all these causes that lead to food problems, it definitely have an effect, these effect include hunger. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a food crises left another 925million people hungry, this is an increase in about 75million from the number recorded the previous year 2007, which was about 850million. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture (ETC Group 2008), the figure is expected to rise to about 1.2billion people, by the year 2017. The current food crises is said to have started affecting half the population worldwide directly or indirectly. (Esther. V 26th February 2011). As a result, when such large amounts of people are hungry, there could be a protest, food riot, or even war. For instance in Mozambique, due to an increase in the price of foods, declared by the government as “irreversible” after an emergency cabinet meeting, it triggered deadly riot which therefore lead to the killing of two children, loots to about 25 businesses, as well as damages to about 12 buses, which is very devastating.(9th February 2010). Besides food riots, food crises could also lead to both maternal and infant death as the number of pregnant and lactating women in places like Niger is increasing at a high rate. The U.N estimates that about 3.6million people in Niger, out of a total population of about 12million have been affected by the current food crisis, while both the number of pregnant and lactating women affected by the food crisis is at its all time high, which is more than 261,000. (Raj 31st July 2008).
Despite the crisis caused by food, there are still other major problems faced by humankind, these problems include Global warming, water shortage, bad weather and climate, land, water and air pollution, war, natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, and so on. Surprisingly, these major problems humankind face today also affects the availability of foods in one way or the other. For instance, when natural disaster such as volcanoes or earthquake strike, it would definitely lead to mass land destruction, thereby causing food crisis.
So arriving at my conclusion, when the factors causing food crisis such as an increase in the price of goods, overpopulation, bad soil structures and so on are tackled, it would definitely prevent leading to effects such as food riots, hunger, both infant and maternal death and so on, thereby causing the world to live more longer, comfortably and in peace. So in essence, I would say “solving the world’s food problem is the most important step to mankind”.
