Causes of Food Insecurity in Developing Countries
Food insecurity and security describe whether or not people within a nation have access to abundant, quality and quantity of food. Food insecurity has many effects to the entire population in a nation. Increased food security is essential for the global reduction of poverty and hunger, more so for economic development. Eradicating poverty and hunger are a few goals at the top list of the MDGs or Millennium Development Goals. Food insecurity is known to be caused by a few factors that many developing countries have been trying to offload.
Hunger has been one of the many devastating issues affecting millions in developing countries. Despite many interventions by governments and multilateral organizations, the numbers are not falling. The key components of food security are; availability of food in a nation, nutritional amount of the available food, stability of foods’ access and ability of the people to use the food. For many decades, food insecurity has been a hot topic not only by the humanitarian organizations, but also by many countries facing hunger and related issues.
In developing countries, many citizens wonder why they are experiencing frequent hunger when there are vast lands, water for irrigation and extensive labor. Indeed, there are causes of food insecurity that many fail to see despite spending many years the food production sector. Children are dying of hunger and malnutrition and infant mortality rate has been alarming in many nations. Here are a few notable causes of food insecurity developing countries can focus on and alleviate this menace.
- Low rates of food production -The amount of food produce in many developing countries has not been able to keep up with the ever increasing population. Many of the countries affected by food insecurity have relied on imports from other nations and most of the available food products are reduced or their prices hiked. Some countries are not investing greatly on agriculture as it is the mainstay for economy.
- Low access to food due to poor infrastructures- Despite food being available in some parts world, it does not
mean it is secure for all. Lack of infrastructures, income, education and poor healthcare all affect people’s food consumption. Some developing countries have sufficient food production, but the number of underweight children is high. Hence, the quality of the available food matters. - Unstable markets- The prices of agriculture produces have been unbalanced for many years. Hence, it makes its challenging for the poor people to get quality and nutritious food. Poor nations need to access adequate food all the time, however when prices spike temporarily it becomes a challenge for many. Some consumers shift to cheaper and less-nutritious foods that may lead them to nutrients deficiency disorders.
- Food wastage- A lot of food goes unused making it hard to increase food security where one person out of eight goes hungry globally, more over in developing countries. Each food produces and not utilized means that other resources used go to waste. For instance, a lot of water is consumed in irrigation and producing foods leads to about 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases that aid in food production.
- War and migration- In many developing countries, war and displacement have been the talk of the day. Conflicts and movement of people from one region to another constantly disrupt food production. Hunger emergencies emerge as fighting continues, and many people relocated into new place with nothing to feed on or their children. Good examples are ongoing conflicts in Hamas, Syria and Somalia; many citizens after left languishing in hunger as food is these days a privilege.
Food insecurity should no longer be a big challenge to the developing nations these days. With the advent of technology and great way to conserve the environment for better climates, every nation should make agriculture the most reliable way to make income, reduce child mortality rate and generally improve living standards. On top of this, each nation should find a better way to meet the MDGs within the shortest time as possible. Agencies, NGOs and many other institutions should lend a helping hand and guide every country to success in food production.
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