Food Security

What is Food Security?

Food security is when the food supply is said to be secure. This is when all people, within a society, have complete access to a sufficient amount of healthy and nutritious food at all times, so that they can sustain a healthy lifestyle. The consumers should also be able to get food easily, in an inexpensive manner. The food they obtain should also cater for their dietary needs and food preferences.

At the same time, food insecurity is when people aren't able to get, or afford, a sufficient amount of food that is healthy and beneficial.

By Euan Groenewald

What Threatens Food Security?

• The rapidly increasing human population - too many mouths to feed.
• Droughts and floods can have a major effect on crop production.
• Poor farming practices i.e. soil erosion, lack of protection
• Reduced space of agricultural land due to alien plants.
• Food being wasted at harvest/ production/ processing.
• Consumers only see the finished product in grocery stores and not where or how the food was produced.
• Poverty and Gender inequality - poorer people generally do not have complete access to a sufficient amount of healthy and nutritious food at all times. Women and children also suffer, as the burden of looking after a family, including the responsibility of ensuring that a meal is place upon the table, is generally dropped onto women. 

By Jay Sinha

How Can Drought Affect Food Security?

• Depending upon the drought's severeness, farmers may expect to go out of business as food production and and prices increase.
• Drought may also cause disaster areas for agriculture.
• Due to the current severity of the drought, in South Africa, rainfall has been confined to 6 months. this means that most crops can only be grown during this period. At the same time, the water resources will also be confined to these important 6 months.

By Simi Mehlomakulu

Maize Crops and Food Security:

South Africa is the biggest maize producer in Africa and may reap the least successful harvest since 2007, after South Africa suffered the recent extreme drought. Harvesters my produce 25% less metric tons of corn, this season that ends in April.

By Jay Sinha

How Window Farms Increase Food Security:

Window gardens can assist people, in areas where food security is low, to produce their own food in a space-friendly manner. If their window gardens are a success, this will ultimately be the best solution to the Food Insecurity issues around the world. It must be also be ensured that the amount of human input, in the food production in the window garden, must be minimal as the growers may be unskilled. This will allow the window garden to be of sufficient success and will solve the food insecurity issues in the world. 

By Josh Seymour

Bibliography:

We got all of our information from the Grade 9 Bio Notes.

Edited by Jay Sinha