Food Security Management Strategies (Cambridge (CIE) AS Environmental Management)

Revision Note

Alistair Marjot

Written by: Alistair Marjot

Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett

Managing Food Security

  • Food security is a critical global challenge that requires comprehensive strategies to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all people:

    • Various approaches and interventions have been implemented to manage food security, addressing issues such as production, distribution, waste and access to food resources

Strategies for Managing Food Security

  • Subsistence agriculture:

    • Subsistence agriculture focuses on producing enough food to meet the basic needs of a household or community

    • It involves small-scale farming practices, often using traditional methods and relying on locally available resources

    • Strength: provides immediate, short-term food security for local communities, reducing reliance on external food sources

    • Limitation: limited scalability and productivity compared to commercial farming methods, may not meet long-term food demands

  • Increasing food production:

    • Intensification: increasing agricultural productivity on existing land through practices such as improved crop varieties, irrigation and fertilisation

    • Extensification: expanding agricultural land (i.e. using new land) to increase overall food production, often through deforestation or conversion of natural habitats

    • Strength: boosts food availability and accessibility, addressing immediate hunger and malnutrition concerns

    • Limitation: intensification and extensification practices may lead to environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, compromising long-term sustainability

  • Improved agricultural techniques and efficiency:

    • Aquaculture and hydroponics: cultivating aquatic organisms and plants in controlled environments, providing alternative, more efficient sources of food production

    • Selective breeding and GM crops: developing crops with desirable traits, such as pest resistance and higher yields, to improve agricultural productivity

    • Use of agrochemicals: controlling limiting factors such as pests, weeds and diseases through the use of fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides and biological control methods

    • Strength: enhances crop yields and resilience to pests and diseases, improving food security and farmer livelihoods

    • Limitation: dependency on agrochemicals may contribute to soil degradation, water pollution, and health risks for farmers and consumers

  • Livestock management:

    • Reducing livestock: managing livestock populations to allocate resources more efficiently and reduce environmental impacts, such as land degradation and greenhouse gas emissions

    • Promoting crop cultivation: increasing the focus on growing crops for direct human consumption rather than feeding livestock

    • Strength: diversifies food sources and income streams for farmers, contributing to household food security

    • Limitation: high resource requirements and environmental impacts associated with livestock production, such as land degradation and greenhouse gas emissions

  • Reducing food waste:

    • Implementing measures to minimise food losses and waste throughout the food supply chain, including production, distribution, storage and consumption

    • Strength: maximises the efficiency of food distribution and utilisation, ensuring more equitable access to food resources

    • Limitation: logistical challenges in implementing waste reduction strategies across the entire food supply chain

  • Large-scale food stockpiling:

    • Establishing reserves of staple foods to buffer against supply disruptions, price fluctuations and emergencies, ensuring food availability during times of scarcity

    • Strength: provides a buffer against food shortages and price fluctuations, ensuring food security during emergencies

    • Limitation: costly to establish and maintain stockpiles, and may lead to inefficiencies if not managed properly

  • Improving transportation:

    • Enhancing infrastructure and logistics to increase the efficiency of moving food from production areas to markets and distribution points, reducing food spoilage and losses

    • Strength: enhances food accessibility and reduces wastage by reducing transportation barriers (i.e. factors that slow down the transport of food products)

    • Limitation: reliance on fossil fuels for transportation contributes to carbon emissions and climate change, posing long-term sustainability challenges

  • Protecting pollinating insects:

    • Implementing conservation measures to safeguard pollinator populations, such as bees, which play a crucial role in crop pollination and food production

    • Strength: ensures the continuity of pollination services critical for agricultural productivity and food security

    • Limitation: addressing pollinator declines requires comprehensive conservation efforts and policy interventions, which may take time to implement and yield results

  • World Food Programme and Food Aid:

    • Supporting international organisations and initiatives, such as the World Food Programme, to provide emergency food assistance and long-term development aid to vulnerable populations

    • Strength: provides crucial food assistance to vulnerable people during emergencies and humanitarian crises

    • Limitation: dependency on external aid may undermine local food production systems and long-term food security objectives in countries receiving aid

  • Rationing:

    • Implementing rationing systems during times of food scarcity or crisis to ensure consistent, fair distribution and access to essential food supplies

    • Strength: ensures equitable distribution of limited food supplies during times of scarcity, preventing hoarding

    • Limitation: rationing may lead to social tensions and inequities if not implemented fairly and transparently, and may not address underlying causes of food insecurity

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Alistair Marjot

Author: Alistair Marjot

Expertise: Biology & Environmental Systems and Societies

Alistair graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Biological Sciences. He has taught GCSE/IGCSE Biology, as well as Biology and Environmental Systems & Societies for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. While teaching in Oxford, Alistair completed his MA Education as Head of Department for Environmental Systems & Societies. Alistair has continued to pursue his interests in ecology and environmental science, recently gaining an MSc in Wildlife Biology & Conservation with Edinburgh Napier University.

Bridgette Barrett

Author: Bridgette Barrett

Expertise: Geography Lead

After graduating with a degree in Geography, Bridgette completed a PGCE over 25 years ago. She later gained an MA Learning, Technology and Education from the University of Nottingham focussing on online learning. At a time when the study of geography has never been more important, Bridgette is passionate about creating content which supports students in achieving their potential in geography and builds their confidence.