Question: 1. The name and a brief description of the focus topic selected and why you selected the focus topic - this should be about one short paragraph
2. The name and a brief description of your specific sub-topic - one short paragraph containing a brief statement explaining why you chose this topic/sub-topic. This statement should explain the importance of the sub-topic
3. A thesis statement (Please note that a thesis sentence presents the central idea of the paper. It must always be a complete, grammatical sentence, it must be specific and brief, and it must express the point of view you are taking on the subject.)
The thesis statement would look something like this:
- This paper will address global food insecurity, discussing the social, cultural economic, political factors involved, as well as practical and ethical responses to the problem. This paper will discuss the problems of food insecurity and will consider two ways in which these problems are being addressed. The first, need for arable land, will be addressed in a section on agroecology, or sustainable farming, vertical farming and urban agriculture. The second, water depletion, will be treated in a discussion on new irrigation technologies designed to conserve agricultural water use. Together, the discussion of these topics will develop the approach we must take to the two most basic requirements of a comprehensive agricultural philosophy for the 21st Century.
- By 2050 population will have expanded to more than 9 billion persons. Food supply and food security, which is the ability to access sufficient nutritious food, are objects of concern. Depletion of arable land and of water supply for agricultural irrigation must be addressed if we are to meet the needs of an increasing population. Food security is seen as a fundamental right, as stated by the UN in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet a staggering 842 million people around the world still suffer from undernourishment, 98 per cent of whom live in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest concentration of food insecurity of any region, while South Asia has the highest overall number of hungry people, currently an estimated 295 million. Over time, food insecurity can negatively affect learning, development, productivity, physical and mental health, and family life.
- Estimates suggest that by 2050, agricultural water use will exceed what can be replenished. Similarly, climate change impacts - such as rising temperatures, floods and droughts - are expected to be worst in food insecure regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with the World Bank predicting decreases in crop yields of 15 and 18 per cent respectively for the two regions over the same period.
Food security poses three distinct problems - production, distribution and consumption.
- Consumption habits play a significant role in food insecurity because of their influence on the types of foods which are produced and the resources required to grow them. Expected demographic shifts fuelled first by richer populations in China and India mean that diets will evolve towards more varied, ‘Western-style' foods that are more resource-intensive.
- Production issues include agricultural water use, land use and biotechnological applications to breed crops better able to withstand pests, heat, drought and floods and to increase the nutritional value of crops. Improving the diversity and nutritional value of food farmers grow for their own subsistence will help to ensure adequate and stable nutrition.
- Raising production is not the only way to tackle food insecurity; the world already produces enough food to feed the population - it just needs to be distributed more efficiently, equitably, and with less waste.