Food Crisis - Sources and Solutions

Countries around the world are experiencing what experts are referring to as a food crisis. Many of these countries are home to some of the poorest people in the world. What is causing this food crisis? Is it as simple as rising food costs, or is there a deeper, underlying cause to the food crisis? And what is being done to assist those in need? Some countries are using a combination of solutions to help the hungry.

The Asia and Pacific region has the largest number of hungry people with 642 million, according to the “What is the right to food?” article. This number seems extremely high compared to other regions around the world. However, take into consideration the amount of people living in this area of the world. The food crisis in the Asia and Pacific region could be due to overpopulation. Consider where this number of people would live. Major cities must continue to expand in order to accommodate a growing population. These cities may be expanding into the rural farming areas, essentially cutting off their own food production. Food must then be imported to in order to meet the growing demand. This could also lead to higher food costs at markets, making it more difficult for low income families to purchase food. However, not much is being done to reduce the effects of the food crisis in this area of the world.

Another area being devastated by the food crisis is Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the “What is the right to food?” article, some 264 million people living in this region are hungry. One major cause of the food crisis in this region of the world is drought. These droughts have caused great turmoil as countries battle for valuable resources. The food crisis in this region could also be attributed to war. During times of war, many products, such as food, are rationed in order to conserve goods for the troops. With food in short supply due to the drought, the war puts a lot of strain on the food production. A short term solution in Malawi has temporarily suppressed the food crisis. Malawi has begun investing in chemical fertilizers to supplement grain growth. The government in Malawi is currently “re-evaluating the program and exploring other options, like using agroforestry to reduce dependency on agrofertilizers. One program the country is exploring is incentives for farmers to plant acacia trees that capture nitrogen from the atmosphere to fertilize the soils” (Who says food is a human right?).

Brazil is one of the few countries that has taken tremendous steps in reducing the number of hungry people. Brazil has instituted policies to increase access to food “by developing farmers’ markets, community kitchens, programs to prepare food for the very poor and other initiatives, a new localized food system was rebuilt from the bottom up in ways that later became a source of inspiration for social programs across Brazil” (Who says food is a human right?).