There are several regions that have been (and still are) severely impacted by the issue of food availability across the globe. Some of these regions include Central and Southern Africa along with several parts of Southeast Asia. There are several factors that cause this major lack of food security. Issues like low-income, extensive poverty throughout the region, and a heavy reliance on imported food all play a role in leading to low food security within a region (according to fastcompany.com). For example, countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Niger, and Togo are among some of the lowest ranks according to the Food Security Index (foodsecurtiyindex.eiu.com). The Democratic Republic of the Congo comes in 107th place out of 113 countries, and Chad ranks even worse, coming in 111th place out of 113 countries. However, as mentioned before, countries in Southeast Asia have been severely affected as well. For example, places such as Laos and Bangladesh rank very low as well. On the "flip side" of the spectrum are countries in North America and Western Europe. The U.S ranks at the top spot, with countries like Canada and the Netherlands very close behind. So, you might be wondering: why is it that the United States and other countries in Western Europe are in good positions (in terms of food security), while other countries like Rwanda are spending almost three quarters of their income on food? Well, this question will be answered in the next few paragraphs.
There are varying reasons as to why countries in Africa and Southeast Asia are struggling to provide food for their respective populations. Among the top reasons for food insecurity in these regions are: poor nutritional quality of the food, insufficient food production, droughts or dreadful weather occurrences in the past, climate change, civil war or other militant conflicts within the region, and the sole dependence on cash crops for food (according to harvesthelp.org). Of course, these are just some of the numerous reasons for a country to become food insecure. If a country decided to solely depend on cash crops for food, this would provide food for the short term, but this "method" in the long run doesn't work. Don't just take my word for it though, as Akinwumi Adesina in a report by CNBC Africa stated that Africa is spending "35 billion U.S dollars in Importing Food". This one statement exemplifies the dire situation that the people in Africa are experiencing right now. However, what is even more shocking is that despite Africa's immense reliance on the U.S for food, it actually has 65% of the world's arable (farmable) land. Imagine that. A continent relying on another nation for food, yet having more than half of the world's arable land! On a different note, Africa isn't the only part of the world in trouble. According to worldhunger.org, "70% of the world's malnourished children live in Asia". While many people assume Africa has the worst of the food crisis (and don't get me wrong it deserves aid and attention by first world countries), Asia (in particular SE Asia) is taking a toll. For example, due to the issues of malnutrition and food shortage, children in Asia are suffering from medical defects such as stunting and wasting. What exactly is "stunting" and "wasting"? Well, stunting is where a child doesn't reach their amount of growth that they are theoretically supposed to reach. Wasting on the other hand is "low weight for height", and children with this deficiency don't even have the energy to laugh (according to worldhunger.org). The fact that the U.S and other countries produce so much food and end up throwing a significant portion away, while other countries are dealing with food insecurity is simply unjust.
When I was reading up on how deeply affected countries in Southeast Asia and Africa are, the statistics shocked me. The fact that Africa relies so heavily on the U.S for food is very worrying in my opinion. In fact, according to resilience.org "one of the five largest wheat trade flows runs from the U.S to Nigeria". What immediately comes to my mind is, what if the United States were to go through a financial crisis or even an environmental crisis that would effectively hinder our ability to provide food to countries in Africa? I don't even want to imagine what would happen. I think we need to provide more support in helping Africa provide for itself. Otherwise, when are we ever going to stop providing such a massive amount of money and aid? Now, don't take this statement the wrong way. I fully support helping nations abroad in order to support the people there. However, I just think that too much dependence on another nation for aid (for a lengthy period of time) can't have a positive outcome. In terms of Southeast Asia, I feel that the U.S needs to distribute it's aid more effectively. Granted, we only have so much money to distribute, but perhaps there should be a "smarter" (for lack of a better word) way of distributing aid. For example, Asia is home to the largest amount of the population that goes hungry (500 million people according to borgenproject.org). This issue needs to be more frequently publicized as well as talked about. I also feel that we need to persuade the persuade the public to conserve more and eat less. Furthermore, there should be more action to get involved and possibly inform youth to travel abroad. Through education and conservation, I think the issue of food availability can be solved in Africa and Southeast Asia.
There are varying reasons as to why countries in Africa and Southeast Asia are struggling to provide food for their respective populations. Among the top reasons for food insecurity in these regions are: poor nutritional quality of the food, insufficient food production, droughts or dreadful weather occurrences in the past, climate change, civil war or other militant conflicts within the region, and the sole dependence on cash crops for food (according to harvesthelp.org). Of course, these are just some of the numerous reasons for a country to become food insecure. If a country decided to solely depend on cash crops for food, this would provide food for the short term, but this "method" in the long run doesn't work. Don't just take my word for it though, as Akinwumi Adesina in a report by CNBC Africa stated that Africa is spending "35 billion U.S dollars in Importing Food". This one statement exemplifies the dire situation that the people in Africa are experiencing right now. However, what is even more shocking is that despite Africa's immense reliance on the U.S for food, it actually has 65% of the world's arable (farmable) land. Imagine that. A continent relying on another nation for food, yet having more than half of the world's arable land! On a different note, Africa isn't the only part of the world in trouble. According to worldhunger.org, "70% of the world's malnourished children live in Asia". While many people assume Africa has the worst of the food crisis (and don't get me wrong it deserves aid and attention by first world countries), Asia (in particular SE Asia) is taking a toll. For example, due to the issues of malnutrition and food shortage, children in Asia are suffering from medical defects such as stunting and wasting. What exactly is "stunting" and "wasting"? Well, stunting is where a child doesn't reach their amount of growth that they are theoretically supposed to reach. Wasting on the other hand is "low weight for height", and children with this deficiency don't even have the energy to laugh (according to worldhunger.org). The fact that the U.S and other countries produce so much food and end up throwing a significant portion away, while other countries are dealing with food insecurity is simply unjust.
When I was reading up on how deeply affected countries in Southeast Asia and Africa are, the statistics shocked me. The fact that Africa relies so heavily on the U.S for food is very worrying in my opinion. In fact, according to resilience.org "one of the five largest wheat trade flows runs from the U.S to Nigeria". What immediately comes to my mind is, what if the United States were to go through a financial crisis or even an environmental crisis that would effectively hinder our ability to provide food to countries in Africa? I don't even want to imagine what would happen. I think we need to provide more support in helping Africa provide for itself. Otherwise, when are we ever going to stop providing such a massive amount of money and aid? Now, don't take this statement the wrong way. I fully support helping nations abroad in order to support the people there. However, I just think that too much dependence on another nation for aid (for a lengthy period of time) can't have a positive outcome. In terms of Southeast Asia, I feel that the U.S needs to distribute it's aid more effectively. Granted, we only have so much money to distribute, but perhaps there should be a "smarter" (for lack of a better word) way of distributing aid. For example, Asia is home to the largest amount of the population that goes hungry (500 million people according to borgenproject.org). This issue needs to be more frequently publicized as well as talked about. I also feel that we need to persuade the persuade the public to conserve more and eat less. Furthermore, there should be more action to get involved and possibly inform youth to travel abroad. Through education and conservation, I think the issue of food availability can be solved in Africa and Southeast Asia.
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-09-26/africa-s-challenge-in-the-21st-century-food-security/
http://www.worldhunger.org/asia-hunger-facts/
http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/special-report/2016/06/14/agriculture-adesina-food-imports/
https://agricultureandfoodsecurity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2048-7010-1-2https://www.fastcompany.com/3031180/the-best-and-worst-countries-for-food-security
http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/
http://www.harvesthelp.org.uk/causes-of-food-insecurity-in-african-and-other-third-world-countries.html
https://borgenproject.org/%E2%80%8Bten-facts-hunger-asia/
http://www.worldhunger.org/asia-hunger-facts/
http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/special-report/2016/06/14/agriculture-adesina-food-imports/
https://agricultureandfoodsecurity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2048-7010-1-2https://www.fastcompany.com/3031180/the-best-and-worst-countries-for-food-security
http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/
http://www.harvesthelp.org.uk/causes-of-food-insecurity-in-african-and-other-third-world-countries.html
https://borgenproject.org/%E2%80%8Bten-facts-hunger-asia/