Test Your Knowledge 🔒Play Lemonaire 🔒Play Last Stand

Food » Global Food Security

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

AQA spec: 3.2.3.2

Where in the world has food surplus and where has food deficit
Why the demand for food is rising
The factors that affect how much food is supplied
The impacts of food insecurity

Note: AQA students study only ONE of the optional resource topics: food, water or energy. This lesson is for those who study food.

🔒 Unlock Full Course Content

Unlock This Course

Food surplus and food deficit

Some countries have a food deficit, while others have a surplus

Everyone needs food to stay alive and healthy. The problem is that food is not shared out evenly around the world. Some places grow or buy more than they need. Others cannot get enough.

An area with a food surplus has more food than its people need. We say it has food security, because people can rely on having enough to eat. An area with a food deficit has less food than its people need. We say it has food insecurity, because supplies cannot be relied on.

Key terms:

Food security: when people can always get enough safe, healthy food.
Food insecurity: when people cannot get enough food, or cannot rely on getting it.
Food surplus: more food than people need.
Food deficit: less food than people need.
Calorie intake: the amount of energy people get from food each day, measured in calories.
Food supply: the amount of food available to a country or area.

Global patterns of calorie intake and food supply

A calorie is a unit of energy. An adult needs roughly 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, depending on age, size and how active they are. A map of average calorie intake per person shows a clear pattern.

🌾 Surplus (food security)

North America, Europe and Australia have a high calorie intake and a plentiful food supply. Many people here eat more than they need.

⚠ Deficit (food insecurity)

Parts of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia have a low calorie intake. Food supply here is often too small for the number of people.

Remember, this is an average. Even in a country with a surplus some people go hungry, and in a country with a deficit some people eat very well.

Why is demand for food rising?

The world needs more and more food every year. Two main reasons explain this.

Rising population. More people means more mouths to feed. The world population keeps growing, so total demand goes up.
Economic development. As people become better off, they can afford more food and more varied food. Many people start to eat more meat and dairy products. These need far more land and crops to produce than a plant based diet, because animals must be fed crops first.

Factors affecting food supply

Drought and climate can badly cut food supply

Supply can be reduced, or made unreliable, by several factors.

Climate

Crops need the right temperature and rainfall. Droughts, floods and storms can destroy a harvest. Climate is a major reason why some areas grow more food than others.

Technology

Machinery, fertilisers and better seeds raise yields. Farmers without them grow much less from the same land.

Pests and disease

Insects, fungi and animal diseases can wipe out crops and livestock before they are eaten.

Water stress

When there is not enough water for crops, harvests fail. Farming depends on a reliable water supply.

Conflict

War forces farmers to leave their land. Fields, roads and stores are damaged, and food cannot be moved safely.

Poverty

Poor farmers cannot afford seeds, tools or fertiliser. Poor families cannot afford to buy enough food even when it is on sale.

Worked example: linking factors

A farming area has a long drought (climate and water stress). The harvest fails. Families have little money (poverty), so they cannot buy food from elsewhere. If roads are unsafe because of fighting (conflict), aid cannot arrive. One factor often leads to another.

Impacts of food insecurity

When food supply is not enough, people and places suffer in several ways.

Famine: an extreme shortage of food in an area, leading to widespread hunger and many deaths.
Undernutrition: when people do not get enough food, or enough of the right nutrients, to stay healthy. Children can stop growing properly, and people get ill more easily.
Soil erosion: hungry farmers may overuse the land to grow more food. Soil becomes exhausted and is blown or washed away, so future harvests are even smaller.
Rising prices: when supply falls or demand rises, food costs more. The poorest people spend most of their money on food and are hit hardest.
Social unrest: when people are hungry and prices are high, they may protest, riot or fight for food. This can lead to conflict, which then reduces food supply even more.

Common mistakes

Writing that food insecurity only happens in poor countries. Rich countries can have areas of food insecurity too. Another mistake is to say that a food deficit is always caused by a lack of food in the world. The world can grow enough food. The problem is often that it is not shared out evenly, or that people cannot afford it.

Exam-style question

(a) Give two factors that can reduce food supply. [2 marks]

(b) Explain why the demand for food is rising globally. [4 marks]

Model answer

(a) Any two of: climate, such as drought (1); pests and disease (1); conflict (1); poverty (1); water stress (1); lack of technology (1).

(b) The population is rising, so there are more people to feed (1). Economic development means people can afford more food (1) and more meat and dairy products (1). These need more crops and land to produce, so total demand rises further (1).

(c) Food insecurity means people cannot get enough to eat (1). Food prices rise as supply falls, so people cannot afford it (1). Hungry people may protest or riot, which is social unrest (1).

Exam tip

In 'explain' questions, link your points with a word such as 'so' or 'because'. In (b), name both reasons, then say what each one does to demand.

Test Your Knowledge