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Running head: FOOD SCARCITY 1

FOOD SCARCITY 5

Food Scarcity in Developing Countries

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Food scarcity is one of the major challenges facing developing countries in the world. Food security has become a major concern in the world today. Food security measures availability and access to food by people to meet their dietary needs for a healthy life. Many countries in the world are striving to achieve food security. The developing countries have a high demand for food than their supply. Therefore, food supply in the countries does not meet the demand for food among its people. This means that some people in developing countries are exposed to the pangs of hunger. There is a connection between food security and poverty, which seem to be interrelated. Food scarcity can be caused by several factors, both natural and other humans. The current climatic change, the growing global population, the environmental stressors, and the spiking food prices have a significant and uncertain impact on the worldwide state of food security (Yuan, 2020).

The changing climate has resulted in unpredictable weather patterns, which scares away farmers. Farmers might not be willing to invest their money in farming when the weather is unpredictable because it adversely affects agriculture resulting in low farm production. Low production means reduced returns to the farmers and insufficient supply. The ever-growing global population has led to a steady rise in demand for food. Higher demand than the supply for food would eventually result in a deficit. The deficit means food is not adequate for the people in that region. Environmental stressors are a significant cause of food insecurity in developing countries in the world. Environmental stressors such as global warming have resulted in a change in the weather patterns (Zarei, Karami & Keshavarz, 2020). Unpredictable weather patterns may result in low rainfall or excessive rainfall, which adversely affects crop production, leading to short food supply in the market. Farmers heavily rely on rainwater for farming. The changing weather patterns have forced farmers to adopt other agricultural practices to maintain their farm production. These adopted agricultural practices have increased production costs, which translates to a rise in food prices. Increased food prices make it hard for low-income earners in developing countries to afford food. Thus, the poor people who cannot afford the food are left exposed to hunger. Human conflict is another major cause of food scarcity in developing countries. One of the world's most affected areas with conflict is the Horn of Africa, which has been plagued with conflict since time immemorial. Conflicts displace able-bodied people from agricultural production, resulting in a low supply of food in the region. It also diverts resources that would have preferably been used in food production or other socially beneficial uses to resolve the conflict.

However, these challenges can be overcome by implementing well-formulated policies and strategies to respond to global changes. Some of the global changes that need to be considered in eradicating food scarcity are water allocation options, land use patterns, post-harvest food processing, food trade, food prices, and safety. Land use patterns are a significant point of concern in addressing food security. Today people are developing even the productive agricultural lands that were once explicitly used for growing crops. This has diminished land that would have preferably been used in the production of food. Reduced land has resulted in a low supply of food in the market-leading to food insecurity. Control of food prices and safety is an acceptable policy that can be used to caution consumers from exploitation by farmers. By controlling market prices, food would be retailing at an affordable price enabling even the low-income earners to purchase. Post-harvest food processing is vital in ensuring harvested food is well processed and stored for future use. Post-harvest processing minimizes wastage or spoilage of food, thus availing more food for use in the future when there is low food production. Preserving the environment needs to be prioritized as it plays a significant role in producing food on our farms. The recommended environmental practices help stabilize the weather patterns making it easy for farmers to plant at the appropriate time, thus maximizing food production. Conflicts can be resolved through dispute resolution methods to create a peaceful environment that can support food and other beneficial economic activities (Pachapur et al., 2020).

Food security should always be put into consideration when planning on critical issues in a country. Food security affects the growth and development of a country directly or indirectly. Countries should put more effort and resources into fighting food scarcity to attain food security. For a country to prosper socially and economically, food security should be a priority in its strategic planning. Developing countries should devise ways of feeding their people in the event of famine or any calamity to avoid falling into a hunger-stricken nation. Food security makes people more healthy and productive.

References

Yuan, M. H., & Lo, S. L. (2020). Developing indicators for the monitoring of the sustainability of food, energy, and water. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 119, 109565.

Zarei, Z., Karami, E., & Keshavarz, M. (2020). Co-production of knowledge and adaptation to water scarcity in developing countries. Journal of Environmental Management, 262, 110283.

Pachapur, P. K., Pachapur, V. L., Brar, S. K., Galvez, R., Le Bihan, Y., & Surampalli, R. Y. (2020). Food Security and Sustainability. Sustainability: Fundamentals and Applications, 357-374.