food security problem.docx

food security problem.docx

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Introduction:

FoodSecurityIsaGlobalConcern

Document（s）8of34

MustafaKoc,RodMacRae,LucJ.A.MougeotetJenniferWelsh

Inrecentdecades,demographic（人口）andeconomicgrowthhavechallengedthelimitsofeconomic,social,andecological（生态）sustainability（可持续性）,givingrisetoquestionsaboutfoodsecurityatthegloballevel.Despitetechnologicaladvancesthathavemodernized（现代化）theconditionsofproductionanddistributionoffood,hungerandmalnutrition（营养不良）stillthreatenthehealthandwell-beingofmillionsofpeoplearoundtheworld.

Accesstofoodisstillperceivedbymanyasaprivilege特权,ratherthanabasichumanright,anditisestimatedthatabout35000peoplearoundtheworlddieeachdayfromhunger.Anevenlargernumberofpeople（mainlywomen,children,andtheelderly）sufferfrommalnutrition.Farfromdisappearing,hungerandmalnutritionareontheincrease,eveninadvancedindustrializedcountrieslikeCanada,whereeachyearanestimated2.5millionpeopledependonfoodbanks.About30millionpeopleintheUnitedStatesarereportedtobeunabletobuyenoughfoodtomaintaingoodhealth.Thecontinuingrealityofhungerandtheunsustainabilityofcurrentpractices,bothlocallyandglobally,makefoodsecurityanessentialconcern.

AccordingtotheUnitedNationsFoodandAgricultureOrganization’s（FAO’s）widelyaccepteddefinition,

“Foodsecurity”meansthatfoodisavailableatalltimes;thatallpersonshavemeansofaccesstoit;thatitisnutritionally营养adequate充足intermsof在以下方面quantity,qualityandvariety;andthatitisacceptablewithinthegivenculture.Onlywhenalltheseconditionsareinplacecanapopulationbeconsidered“foodsecure.”

Toachievelastingself-relianceatthenationalandhousehold家庭levels,initiatives倡议mustbefoundedontheprinciplesofeconomicfeasibility可行性,equity,broadparticipation参与,andthesustainable可持续性发展useofnaturalresources.

Inrecentyears,mostoftheresearchinitiativesforfoodsecurityhavefocusedonfourkeycomponentsoftheFAO’sdefinition:

∙Availability可用性—Providingasufficientsupplyoffoodforallpeopleatalltimeshashistoricallybeenamajorchallenge.Althoughtechnicalandscientificinnovationshavemadeimportantcontributionsfocusedonquantityandeconomiesofscale,littleattentionhasbeenpaidtothesustainabilityofsuchpractices.

∙Accessibility交通—Theequalityofaccesstofoodisadimensionoffoodsecurity.Withinandbetweensocieties,inequitieshaveresultedinseriousentitlementproblems,reflectingclass,gender,ethnic,racial,andagedifferentials,aswellasnationalandregionalgapsindevelopment.Mostmeasurestoprovideemergencyfoodaidhaveattemptedtohelpthedisadvantagedbuthavehadlimitedsuccessinovercomingthestructuralconditionsthatperpetuate延续suchinequities不公平.

∙Acceptability—Asessentialingredients成分inhumanhealthandwell-being,foodandfoodpracticesreflectthesocialandculturaldiversity多样化ofhumanity.Effortstoprovidefoodwithoutpayingattentiontothesymbolic象征roleoffoodinpeople’sliveshavefailedtosolvefood-securityproblems.Thisdimensionoffoodsecurityisalsoimportantindeterminingwhetherinformationandfood-systeminnovationswillbeacceptedinacountry,giventhesocialandecological生态concernsofitscitizens.

∙Adequacy充足—Foodsecurityalsorequiresthatadequatemeasuresareinplaceatalllevelsofthefoodsystemtoguaranteethesustainabilityofproduction,distribution,consumption,andwastemanagement.Asustainablefoodsystemshouldhelptosatisfybasichumanneeds,withoutcompromising损害theabilityoffuturegenerationstomeettheirneeds.Itmustthereforemaintainecologicalintegrityandintegrateconservationanddevelopment.

Unfortunately不幸的,anumberofglobaleconomicandecologicalproblemscontinuetolimittheprospectofglobalfoodsecurity.Worldpercapitacerealproduction（62%ofleast-developedcountries’[LDCs’]foodconsumption）,forexample,hasbeenincreasingonlymarginallyinrecentyears.Infact,ithasevenbeenonthedeclineinsub-SaharanAfricaandinLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,particularlyinlow-incomecountriesstruckbyeconomicreforms,naturalandotherdisasters,andotherfactors.TheLDCs’dependenceonnetfoodimportshasbeengrowingandissettocontinuetogrow;currently,104of132LDCsarenetimporters,althoughimportshavebroughtlittlereliefoverall（Singer1997）.Insub-SaharanAfrica,thenumberofchronicallyundernourishedpeoplemorethandoubledin1970–91,notwithstandingthatthisregiondependedonfoodaidforhalfitstotalfoodimports.Thepopulationofthisregionisexpectedtomorethandoubleby2020（deHaenandLindland1997）.

Regionalandglobaleconomiccrisesandchronicproblemsofunderdevelopmentmakethesituationparticularlybadinthedevelopingworld.Theoverallmeanpercapitaincomeofso-calledBlackAfrica,forexample,is,atitsbest,nohigherthanitwasin1960,andtheregionhaslessweightintheglobaleconomytodaythanitdidinthe1960s（Brandt1997）.Economicinformalizationclearlyaccompaniesaneconomy’sdisintegration.Realpricesindomesticfoodmarketshaveincreasedoverthelastfewyearsandaresettoincreasefurther.Toimprovefoodsecurityandglobalfoodsupplies,policyscenariosofthe2020VisionInitiativerequireincreasedexportsofstaplefoodsfromindustrializedcountriestotheLDCs（vonBraun1997）.Butinsufficientpurchasingpoweramongtheworld’spoorest800millionpeopleremainsaprimaryobstacletosuchstrategies.

Multilateralagreementsintradeandinvestmentfurtherthreatentheavailabilityandaccessibilityoffoodforlargesegmentsoftheworld’spopulation.ManyexpertsagreethatthereductioninworldsurplusesandtheincreaseininternationalpricesencouragedbytheUruguayRoundoftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTradeposeanimmediatethreattoregionsalreadysufferingseverefoodinsecurity.Thedurationofthisthreatisunknown.

Globalprospectsforimprovingfoodsecurityarefurtherthreatenedbyenvironmentallimitationsonproductionincreases,eveninGreenRevolutioncountries,andbygrowingpoverty.InAsia,alargeshareofthepopulationwillsoonbewithoutaccesstoadequatefoodsupplies（Zarges1997）.So,despitethetechnical

modernizationoffoodproductionanddistribution,hungerandmalnutritionstillunderminethehealthandwell-beingofmillionsofpeopleandactuallyseemtobeworsening,particularlyamonglow-incomeurbanresidents.ThisledDrUweWerblow（1997）oftheEuropeanCommissioninBrusselstorecommendfavouringproductionofmoretraditionalfoodcropsinruralareasanddevelopingnon-land-usingproductioninperi-urbanandurbanareas.

Foodsecurityandurbanpopulations

Althoughtheconsequencescanbevisible,thecausesandthescopeoffood-securityproblemsforurbanpopulationsmaynotbeapparent.Fromproductiontoconsumption,thefoodsystemcomprisescomplexinterrelatedandinterdependentparts:

socialandeconomicelements,agencies,processes,andstructures.Theirinterdependentrelationshiprequiresastructuralandsystemicanalysisfocusingonglobalaswellaslocallinkages.Therural–urbanandlocal–globalinterrelationshipsmakeitimpossibletostudyurbanfood-securityissuesinisolation.Yet,itisalsoclearthattheextraordinaryurbangrowthinthe20thcenturyandincreasingthreatstofoodsecurityformillionsofurbandwellersmeritsparticularattention.Thescopeandurgencyoftheproblemsrequireanalysesoffood-securityquestionsforurbanareasandnewpoliciesandpracticestoencouragetheadoptionofsustainableurbanfoodsystems.

Foodsecurityhasbecomeanincreasingconcernofurbanpopulations.Weidentifyfourmajorchallengestofocusouranalysis.First,urbancentreshaveexpandedenormously,inpopulationandinsize.Inthe20thcentury,urbangrowthhasreachedunprecedentedlevelsinmostpartsoftheworld.Inthreerecentdecadesalone,theurbanpopulationindevelopedcountriesdoubled,from448millionin1950to875millionin1990.Inthesameperiodtheurbanpopulationindevelopingcountriesmorethanquintupled,from280millionto1.6billion.In1990,33%oftheworld’surbanpopulationwaslivingincitieswith1millionormoreinhabitants.Bytheendofthiscentury,sixofthelargestcitieswillbefoundinthedevelopingworld.Havingurbansettlementsapproaching30millionpeoplewilllikelystrainalreadyoverburdenedservicesincountrieswithlimitedresourcesandextremeincomeinequalities.Urbanexpansionhasconvertedasignificantportionofgreenspaceandgood-quality,oftenscarce,agriculturalland.Ithasalreadyincreasedwaterandairpollutionandcreatedseriouswaste-disposalproblems.Also,zoningbylaws,speculativelandmarkets,andsoilandwatercontaminationhavecreatedobstaclestoeffectivelocalfoodsystemsandurbanagriculture.

Asecondchallengehasbeentheunevennessofaccesstofood.Historically,povertyhasbeenpredominantlyaruralphenomenon.Yet,asthemajorityoftheworld’spopulationmovestourbanareas,weareseeingareversalintheregionaldistributionofpoverty.WorldBank（1990）figuresindicatedthatin1988about25%ofthepoorestsegmentsofthedevelopingworldwerelivinginurbanareas.TheWorldBankalsoestimatedthatby2000thiswillreach50%（WorldBank1990）.Indevelopingcountries,theranksoftheurbanpoorhaveswelledasaresultofsuchfactorsasthecontinuousmigrationoftheruralpoorintothecities,thelimitedabilityoftheurbaninformalsectortoabsorbtheunemployed,thelimitedemployment