How does food shortage affect the planet?

Roots are collected for food in drought stricken countries. Madagascar.
© WWF-Canon / John E. NEWBY

There are 3 factors which determine whether a country will face food shortage or not: availability of arable land; accessible water; and population pressures.

The resources of a region or country are always limited. For a region that has a balanced population, there is no pressure on the resources.

When populations increase at a very high rate, the limited resources are not enough to meet basic needs. This happens mostly in poor, developing and underdeveloped countries. Even if there are efforts to increase the production and supply of food to ensure it gets to the needy, they are undermined by the other effects.

How does it cause environmental damage?
As the world population continues to grow there is great pressure to find land that is fit for irrigation and agriculture, water, energy, and biological resources to provide an adequate supply of food. But because of use of unviable technology, population pressure and wasteful agricultural practices, efforts to increase food production have had an adverse impact on the environment.

Impact on soil
Many regions around the world have agricultural practices that harm the soil and waste precious resources such as fertile forestland and water. While focusing on getting a good crop, very few farmers pay attention to protection of the topsoil. So when erosion takes place and the soil becomes unproductive, they move to another area. All over the world, cropland gets abandoned because erosion makes it unproductive. Nothing is done to restore it, and it becomes almost like a wasteland.

Impact on forests
As the pressure on land increases, people start taking up marginal land (poor quality land that is likely to yield a poor return) and forestland for agriculture. This leads to large-scale deforestation. The affects of deforestation are many. One of the most significant is the loss of ecological balance in the area as many animals and plants lose their natural habitat.

Impact on water
Nearly 70% of the world's fresh water (water found in lakes, ponds, rivers and streams) is used by agriculture. With more demand for food, the demand for freshwater also increases. In addition to this, irrigation methods are not efficient, so a lot more water may be used than what is required.

With the growth of cities and creation of more urban settlements, there is increased pressure to take more water from the rivers and lakes. As regions dry up and water becomes scarce, states within a country, and countries that share boundaries in river basins are fighting over their rights to river water. Surface and ground water resources are drying up fast all around the world.

Impact on fossil fuels
Fossil fuel such as coal, gasoline and oil are limited resources. Humans have always used this fuel for different activities. Coal, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and other variants of fossil fuel have been used for a long time for food production.

As population increases, the pressure on this resource also increases. Newer and more efficient technology may be used to make efficient use of such resources, but no technology can reproduce the Earth's natural resources.

Impact on fish
Man has been dependent on fish as an important source of food and income from the time civilization began. With improvements in technology and an increase in demand for fish, all the world's fishing grounds are facing over fishing problems.

Most of the problems highlighted above occur because all regions or countries do not have access to the best agricultural methods or means of population control. This has a tremendous impact on their ability to practice environment-friendly lifestyles and agricultural practices.

Barriers to change
Poverty prevents many regions from accessing information and education on environmental issues and sustainable practices. In richer countries, despite access to education and new technologies, serious environmental damage occurs because the rate of consumption of resources outsrips production rates. Conversion of countryside to cities and towns means there is less land available to produce food..

How can we ensure food supplies & still protect the environment?
Countries must ensure that measures are taken not only to increase crop yield without harming the environment, but also by ensuring that the population growth rate is also under control. Population programmes for health and family welfare and family planning services must reach people who need them most.

Programmes on environmentally-sustainable agriculture, improved natural-resources management and environment conservation must involve the participation of the local people. Such efforts must be undertaken not only at the level of governments, but also individually.

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