Global Food Security

This essay will focus on the different perspectives and ways of providing food security globally. Food security means that all public must have physical as well as economic access to safe, healthy, sufficient, and rich nutritious food which is capable to meet their nutritional requirements for an energetic and healthy lifestyle. The term ‘food security’ has become the focus of more attention in recent years, as the global population is increasing exponentially day-by-day hence the global administration is putting higher emphasis on food security and healthy wellbeing importance.

This discussion is carried out to identify, analyse and represent main problems regarding the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) while ensuring global food security (GFS) for now as well as for future needs.  It will also highlight past contributions of STI for GFS. An introduction to the global challenge for global food security is also contained. Moreover, this essay is emphasizing on technologies that can address the four dimensions of GFS. There is a need of policymakers and policies to strengthen and build innovative food systems for using science and technology constructively while implementing GFS. As food insecurity is already rooted within poverty hence it gradually decreases the capability of developing better economies and agricultural markets of the nations. This discussion will help people in drawing the key aspects of innovative technologies, and invention in achieving global food security (Smith, 2013).

Fundamentals of human existence include quality food access, healthy and hygienic food.  Global access to secure food can yield in range of positive impacts (Smith, 2013), such as global economy growth, removal of chronic malnutrition, removal of poor health, improved lifestyle and job creation. Food security means all people should have sufficient nourishment resources for each and every day to stay active and healthy.

Additionally, food security means persons can carry on long-term activities without any worry about finding food. Food security is the base of pyramid of improving public welfare. Persons who are food-insecure miss the chance for a better health lifestyle. One more thing is that people living around the food-insecure peoples will also less secured because hungry people can steal food as they become desperate gradually due to lack of good food (Rosegrant, et al., 2014).

Moreover, the task of feeding more than 10 Billion public by 2050 seems like a great challenge itself, yet we will have to achieve this (Garnett, 2014). Simultaneously, people of whole world need to reduce bad effects of bulk food production on whole ecosystem services. This will be possible through sustainable intensification means providing healthier, safer, and nutritious food for everyone whilst preserving ecosystem provision (Garnett, 2014).

Importance of food security

Global food security is very important for economic growth and for better employment opportunities worldwide. Poverty, will cause people to be food-insecure and if they will be food-insecure then they cannot earn money effectively, that will consequently reduce global health and escalate more chronic malnutrition. Trade opportunities, global security, global market stability are strongly depends upon GFS. As we know that relationship of each and every daily and professional process with improved health and healthcare is immortal. Thus, if we are aiming to see better world economies then the importance of GFS need to be emphasized.  

Dimensions of GFS include Food availability, Food access, Effective utilization of Food and Stability of the food system (Wheeler & Von Braun, 2013).

Innovative technologies can help in resolving issues related to the above mentioned four dimensions of food security. New as well as existing technologies can be implemented to struggle with biotic and abiotic stresses, raise crop productivity, improve soil richness and make water available aiming increase in the amount of food manufactured. Hence food availability for future can be addressed through above ways. Moreover, storage, transport, refrigeration and agro-processing technology innovations can address future global food accessibility. In order to improve food utilization and usage, scientific methods to produce high-nutrient primary crops will fight malnutrition. Therefore, science, technology and innovation resolve climate change modification and adaptation including accurate agriculture, initial warning systems and index-base insurance, which will remove food instability (Rosegrant, et al., 2014).

One important fact of about the recent GFS is that climate change and growing energy charges on the supply end, rising demand for good food, and fuel on the demand end, and growing water and land scarcity are affecting global grain marketplaces. They will be tighter in the upcoming era as comparative to the previous 40 years. For GFS, upcoming agriculture growth must depend on productivity gains from improved crops and animal yields (Fischer, Byerlee, & Edmeades, 2014).

Perspectives of accomplishing food sustainability in future include the three methodologies include efficiency oriented system; demand restriction perspectives; and food organization transformation (Garnett, 2014).

For an example, TC banana technology added with better crop management will cause substantial increase in the farm as well as household incomes. So, technology implementation reduces comparative food insecurity in a major way. Moreover, TC technology can be well-being improving for implementing farm household systems. Implementation should be promoted through up scaling correct technology supply systems (Kabunga, Dubois, & Qaim, 2014).

Dimensions of Global Food Security

As the main cause behind, tightening of world food supply is growth in population, fast-tracked urbanisation, variations in diets as well as climate. Thus, in order to fulfil the increased global food demand, production growth will depend on productivity of the agriculture land. In addition to the agriculture land protection there should be an effective crop-protection method to cut major crop losses. For crop-protection measures, chemical pesticides can be used in pest management as ecological compatibility of crops is increasing and at the same time modest alternatives are not globally available. Additionally, pesticides give economic benefits to producers through security of crop quality and yield. Pesticides raise agricultural production and farm revenue by preventing huge crop losses. Further, adverse effects of pesticides can be minimized by cultivating application technologies (Popp, et.al, 2013). Innovative technologies within pesticide-delivery systems in plants will definitely reduce bad ecological impacts of them. The right use with advanced technologies, of pesticides can provide substantial socio-economic and ecological welfares.

A wide set of agricultural technologies can be introduced for implementing GFS. Moreover, the future technology mix will be having major effects on food consumption, agricultural production, environmental quality, trade, and food security within developing countries. Investments in advance agricultural science, comprising biotechnology as well as genetic alteration, are required for quick agricultural growth, added with fertilizers, pesticides, and water. Through modelling technology-induced modifications in crop yields, the analysis will explain effect of the mix of technology over the global food market reflected in trade flows and food prices as well as calorie availability, specifically in developing countries (Rosegrant, et al., 2014).

Sustainable intensification and study of alternative approaches such as food demand management and reduction of waste can help in bringing major change in the global food systems. It means that while ensuring GFS, we need to preserve land security as well as agriculture land conservation for future. We cannot let the GFS mission to affect land availability for other purposes.

On the other hand, wheat is playing important role for global food security, as it is providing more than thirty five per cent of the total cereal calorie consumption of the world’s developing countries, seventy four per cent in the world’s developed countries and forty one per cent globally through direct intake. Thus, the future of GFS in wheat will depend on management practices and new varieties to fulfil the demand. While many rain fed areas benefited by semi-dwarf varieties, still technology implementation in rain-fed as well as riskier upward regions is slow and lagging behind than other areas. Hence, improved innovations through technologies and policy selections are required for substituting outdated ranges with up-to-date cultivars as well as motivating farmer’s funds in sustainable crop, soil as well as water management. Therefore, to ensure regional and GFS, achieving the productivity required more than Green Revolution (Shiferaw, et al., 2013).

Technologies addressing GFS

The current newly invented technologies allow DNA and RNA sequencing more quickly and economically than conventional Sanger sequencing, hence these technologies have revolutionised the research of genomics as well as molecular biology (Rosegrant, et al., 2014).

There are latest technologies which are helping countries and government to achieve effective GFS, as follows:

• Genomics: The Genome Technologydoes research to develop novel methods, instruments and technologies which promote less-cost determination of DNA sequence, rapid, SNP genotyping and functional genomics
• Next generation sequencing: Next-generation sequencing (referred as NGS), known as high-throughput sequencing, used to introduce numerous different modern sequencing technologies comprising: Illumina sequencing, Ion torrent: Proton / PGM sequencing, Roche 454 sequencing and Solid sequencing.
• Applying methods to balance Biotic and Abiotic stresses: stresses originated from the nearby environment are called abiotic or non-living stresses to plants; conversely stresses which are caused by living organisms and can cause disease as well as damage to plants and crops are called biotic stresses.
• Transgenic crops and Soil management also improve agriculture productivity; hence it is a best way to execute GFS in present as well as in the future.
• There are technologies which improve water efficiency in order to feed more demand of agriculture products. For an example, crops like okra, millet, maize and wheat can make use 50 per cent less water added with 29 per cent increased crop yield by using innovative fungal seed and plant treatment (Rosegrant, et al., 2014).
• By using big data and IoT (referred as Internet of things) for promoting precision in agriculture will enhance GFS.
• There is an emerging technology named as Crop Watch, which can be used as cloud-based global crop monitoring system and use multi-remote sensing data sources to cover spatial levels include global, regional, and national.

Moreover, there are several emerging technologies include breeding practices; marker assisted selection, reproductive technologies and induced as well as transgenic resistance. Global Food Security helps in preventing over-eating, constrains weight gain and improving nutrition value. To promote a better lifestyle and decrease unwanted behaviours, stress and anxiety, food security is needed to be globally implemented (Garnett, 2014).

Moreover, climate change is the major challenge and factor affecting GFS. Global under-nutrition and chronic malnutrition will increase even after hundreds of technological innovations as well as great efforts in positive direction if we will not do anything in response to climate change causes which are created by us only. Greenhouse gases emissions need immediate actions to address global food insecurity in the next 3-4 decades. If there will be no efforts to prevent or stop vast climate change and extreme weather events then they will be more regular in the future and will increase risks as well as uncertainties in the global food system (Wheeler & Von Braun, 2013).

In conclusion, although no tragedy is predicted but there should be no room for satisfaction, especially when we are heading to ensuring GFS. Multi-disciplinary agricultural STI will remain the key to success in this context. Along with investment in groundwork and institutions, the world should also manage sufficient food for its increasingly growing population. On the other hand, the solution to the challenges of food security will never be ideal as at some level of environmental harnessing it has to stop. Still, we should not discourage our efforts towards GFS (Fischer, Byerlee, & Edmeades, 2014).

Additionally, new, conventional, emerging technologies, containing synthetic biology, tissue engineering, and artificial intelligence may have potential effects on the future of crop as well as livestock agriculture. However, coupling such technologies for GFS will require huge investments in research, development, infrastructure, human capital and knowledge flows. Furthermore, technology forethought and agricultural innovations assessment must be appropriate to handle technological risks, during maximizing advances in GFS. The policy of innovative food systems (referred as IFS) should preferably provision pro-poor and prudent agricultural innovations, endorse the involvement of smallholder farmers, identify local and old knowledge systems, and facilitate gender parity. Therefore, if biology can develop its own information technology, then it might be possible to produce foods outside the unoriginal factory farm model to harvest animal products in the laboratory itself.

References:

Fischer, R., Byerlee, D., & Edmeades, G. (2014). Crop yields and global food security. Canberra: ACIAR.

Garnett, T. (2014). Three perspectives on sustainable food security: efficiency, demand restraint, food system transformation. What role for life cycle assessment? Journal of Cleaner Production, 73, 10-18.

Kabunga, N., Dubois, T., & Qaim, M. (2014). ). Impact of tissue culture banana technology on farm household income and food security in Kenya. Food Policy, 45, 25-34.

Popp, J., Pet, K., & Nagy, J. (2013). Pesticide productivity and food security. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 33(1), 243-255.

Rosegrant, M., Koo, J., Cenacchi, N., Ringler, C., Robertson, R., Fisher, M., & Sabbagh, P. (2014). Food security in a world of natural resource scarcity: The role of agricultural technologies. Washington: International food policy reserach institute.

Shiferaw, B., Smale, M., Braun, H., Duveiller, E., Reynolds , M., & Muricho, G. (2013). Crops that feed the world 10. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by wheat in global food security. Food Security, 5(3), 291-317.

Smith, P. (2013). Delivering food security without increasing pressure on land. Global Food security, 2(1), 18-23.

Wheeler, T., & Von Braun, J. (2013). Climate change impacts on global food security. Science, 341(6145), 508-513.