Being food-secure means having consistent access to enough food, even during natural disasters and economic crises. This can be achieved either through domestic food production or by importing food from abroad. For economic reasons, many in developing countries deal with a lack of food security every day, while for others, it only becomes a concern when disasters such as extreme weather or economic crises strike. Now, climate change means that natural disasters are occurring more often, and thanks to globalization, a problem in one country can often affect people worldwide.
Seemingly “natural” disasters leave countries like Bangladesh highly unstable in terms of food security. In fact, climate change has left Bangladesh at increased risk of flooding as cyclones become more common and sea levels rise. Located at the convergence of three major rivers, most of Bangladesh is less than five meters above sea level. In 2007, after prolonged heavy rain, an estimated 26,500 farm animals were lost to floods, and fish farms—a major source of food—were also affected as fish escaped back to sea. Above all, Bangladesh relies on rice, and the 2007 floods destroyed 2.2 million tons of the crop. [I] As a result, prices rose sharply. An estimated ten million people were left without access to enough food. In response, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) spent $51 million feeding 2.3 million people for six months.
Another food crisis in 2008 was more obviously global. Droughts in Russia, Ukraine, and Australia led to major crop failures. [II] These countries are major exporters of wheat, and without their input, a world shortage occurred. At the same time, oil prices were high due to continued demand from developed countries and increased demand from the developing world. Oil is required for intensive, mechanical agriculture, so producing crops became more expensive, and farmers passed this cost on to consumers.
[III] As an alternative to oil, the US began using more of its crops to produce biofuels (fuels made from plants or animals). This seemed like a sustainable solution, but it left even fewer crops for food, creating more scarcity. Finally, in some developing countries, as populations became larger and wealthier, demand for food grew. [IV] So just when crops were needed most, they were in short supply and were expensive to produce; at the peak of the crisis, the prices of wheat and rice rose by almost one hundred percent.
(Adapted from Reading for the Real World 3)