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examBoard: Cambridge
examType: IGCSE
lessonTitle: Global Food Supply and Demand Patterns
Food is one of our most basic needs, but getting enough food to everyone on our planet is a complex challenge. As our global population grows, ensuring there's enough food for everyone becomes increasingly difficult. This topic explores how food is produced, distributed and consumed around the world.
Key Definitions:
Food production varies greatly around the world. HICs (High Income Countries) often use industrial farming methods with machinery, fertilisers and pesticides. LICs (Low Income Countries) typically rely more on subsistence farming with manual labour and fewer inputs. The Green Revolution in the 1960s dramatically increased crop yields through improved seeds, irrigation and chemical inputs.
Food consumption patterns differ between regions. HICs typically consume more meat, processed foods and calories overall. LICs often have diets based more on staple crops like rice, wheat, or maize. As countries develop economically, their diets often shift towards more meat and processed foods (known as the 'nutrition transition').
Multiple factors influence how much food can be produced globally and in specific regions:
Climate, soil quality, water availability and terrain all affect what can be grown and how productive the land is. Climate change is increasingly disrupting traditional growing patterns.
Access to capital, technology, markets and infrastructure influences farming methods and productivity. Poorer farmers often can't afford inputs that would increase their yields.
Population growth increases food demand, while urbanisation reduces available farmland. Cultural preferences and farming traditions also shape food production systems.
Food production is not evenly distributed around the world. Some regions produce far more than they consume, while others struggle to meet local needs:
Countries like the USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia and France produce more food than they need and export the surplus. These countries often have:
Parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East often cannot produce enough food for their populations. These regions may face:
India has transformed from a food-deficit nation to one that is largely self-sufficient, despite having to feed over 1.3 billion people. The Green Revolution in the 1960s introduced high-yielding crop varieties, irrigation systems and chemical fertilisers. This dramatically increased rice and wheat production, especially in Punjab and Haryana states.
However, challenges remain:
Global food demand is changing due to several key factors:
The world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, requiring about 70% more food production. Most growth is occurring in regions already struggling with food security, like sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.
As people become wealthier, they typically eat more meat, dairy and processed foods. Producing meat requires much more land, water and grain than growing crops for direct human consumption. For example, producing 1kg of beef requires about 25kg of grain.
Despite producing enough food globally to feed everyone, around 690 million people still go hungry. Food security faces several major challenges:
Climate change is already affecting food production through:
By 2050, climate change could reduce crop yields by up to 25% in some regions.
Approximately one-third of all food produced globally is wasted. In HICs, most waste occurs at the retail and consumer level (e.g., supermarkets discarding imperfect produce, households throwing away uneaten food). In LICs, waste happens mainly during production and storage due to poor infrastructure and technology.
Malawi, one of Africa's poorest countries, has implemented several strategies to improve food security:
Farm Input Subsidy Program: The government provides vouchers for fertiliser and improved seeds to smallholder farmers. This has helped increase maize production significantly.
Conservation Agriculture: Techniques like minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation help maintain soil fertility and moisture.
Results: Maize yields have increased from about 1 tonne per hectare to 2.5 tonnes in many areas. However, challenges remain, including climate vulnerability and dependence on a single crop (maize).
Meeting future food demands while protecting the environment requires innovative approaches:
Farming methods that work with natural ecosystems rather than against them. These include intercropping (growing multiple crops together), agroforestry (combining trees with crops) and using natural pest controls.
Precision farming uses GPS, sensors and drones to apply exactly the right amount of water and inputs. Vertical farming grows crops in stacked layers, often in urban areas, using less land and water.
Better storage facilities in LICs, improved supply chains and changing consumer behaviour in HICs could significantly reduce the 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted annually.
International trade plays a crucial role in global food supply, but it raises important questions:
As you can see, ensuring adequate food supply for a growing global population while dealing with climate change and environmental concerns is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Solutions will require coordinated action at local, national and international levels.
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