food security
PROPOSAL OF STRATEGY Hunger and malnutrition have been proven to be the greatest threats to public result, and lead to more deaths than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Emergency food assistance, social safety nets, and nutrition interventions, including the provision of micronutrient supplements, play a vital role in addressing the immediate needs of the most vulnerable and of those in higher-risk populations, and also stabilising the situation that is hunger and malnutrition. Emergency food assistance is both a necessarily now for several developing countries and will continue to be required shortly to deal with situations, of acute food insecurity. In addition to focusing on the quantity, continued improvements to the quality of food assistance will allow for a more efficient, sustainable, and beneficial emergency food aid system. The importance of nutrition within the concept of food security requires broader recognition, understanding, and response. UNICEF stated that malnutrition plays a critical part in more than one-third of all children deaths in developing countries. Malnutrition has devastating impacts on the generation of today and tomorrow, weakening the health status of populations while reducing their resilience to disease and shock.Nutrition interventions such as the provision of micronutrients, the diversification of diets, the fortification of staple foods, and school feeding programs are a necessity to combating this critical component of food insecurity. Through the application of this idea, it is expected that the overall health of a population, will improve due to sufficient quantities of nutritious foods, the living standard will rise, and there will be an improved quality of effectiveness of food aid programming.
CAUSE PART 2 Virus resistance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from certain viruses, that result in diseases in plants. As virus resistances makes plants less susceptible to diseases caused by viruses, it allows for higher crop yields. Whereas, herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from a bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides. In situations where weed pressure is high, the use of such crops allows for a reduction in the quantities of herbicides used.
IMPACT - ENVIRONMENT PART 2 Biodiversity, critical in all ecosystems and to the sustainability of all species, is put at risk by GMOs. When GM crops are planted, generally in a mono-crop fashion, many heritage seeds are no longer used. As the nature of GMOs results in fewer flowers and, therefore, less nectar for pollinators, toxin released into the soil through the plants' routes means fewer soil bacteria. Soil bacteria is fundamental to healthy soil for plants to grow, without the use of chemical fertilizers. Toxic residues are left on the ground of GM crops, and as nutrient is not returned to the soil in mono crops, it results in the soil becoming dry and void of all nutrient. Nutrients is essential to the growing process of plants. A cycle of dependence on GMO seeds and chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, is then created to grow a single crop. Alongside, soil issues, the irrigation used to grow GM food, carries all of the chemicals used from herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers into water sources and into the air. This exposes different bacteria, insects, and animals, which all rely on water to survive to severe issues, such as those mentioned above.
DHFUS
WHAT ARE GMOS? A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is defined as an organism (i.e. plants, animals, microorganisms, etc.), whose deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been altered in some matter, that does not occur naturally, using recombinant DNA methods (gene splicing), gene modification or transgenic technology. As GMOs are designed to produce more yield, scientists have specially modified organisms, to resist disease, and grow faster for the creation of crops to occur faster.
IMPACT - HUMANS As GMOs grow faster than conventionally grown food, it means that they're more food humans get to consume. However, in saying that as GMOs are unnatural, they provoke allergic reactions, and cause unpredictable health issues. It is also proven, that while it appears with the usage of genetically modified organisms, food security would occur, in actuality, the opposite happens. GMOs neither increase yields nor do they end up accomplishing their reason for being, feeding a hungry world. In addition to this, the nutrient value in GMOs are less than its traditional counterpart, and as a result more toxic. The DNA of GMOs when consumed, may transfer to humans that choose to consume them. In saying that, GMOs last longer than its traditional counterpart, which also means that they have a longer shelf life.
STRATEGIES/ SOLUTIONS PART 2 A segment of the scientific community often purposes, how export earnings from higher agricultural yields can contribute heavily to reducing food insecurity and hunger in developing countries. However, there are many factors of GMOs that challenge the practicality of this proposal. While a few crop varieties, such as 'Golden Rice' which was mentioned previously, that was specifically created through biotechnology, can improve yields, and aid in dealing with health issues, it can be said that biotechnology cannot solve the issue that is hunger in developing countries. Nevertheless, the advantages that biotechnology can confer across a wide range of agricultural applications are in areas such as livestock management, storage of agricultural products and sustaining crop yields, with limited usage of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Biotechnology offers an extremely promising alternative to synthetic foods and is a development of the conventional plant-breeding technologies. Alongside the massive amount of other advanced agricultural technologies, biotechnology appears to be a method that will enable the meeting of consumer demand for sustainable agriculture. This especially needs to occur, in the developing world, where the use of high-yielding, disease- and pest-resistant crops will clearly have a direct bearing on improved food security, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. If the distribution and the creation of GM crops are done correctly, in a manner which completely annihilates food insecurity, once and for all, it'll allow a means to sustain everyone, and get rid of worldwide hunger. Overall, biotechnology has as everything does its pros and cons. Whether or not GMOs specifically, do end up solving major food issues, is highly dependent on the testing of genetically modified organisms before allowing GMOs into the market. In addition to this, whether or not consumers look at GMOs, as a solution to eliminate hunger which is not technological in nature, but rooted in fundamental socio-economic realities is also needed.
PROPOSAL OF STRATEGY PART 2 Historically, speaking extremely few countries were capable of achieving both sustainable and sophisticated economies without having first developing a domestic agricultural sector. Agricultural is the area from which most of the rural poverty population derive their income. In Africa, for example. 73 percent of the population is rural, with more than 65 percent -mostly women- engaged in agriculture and the remainder involved in forestry, agroforestry, and small-scale mining. Agriculture plays a vital role in livelihoods and is a primary source of economic prosperity, human health, and social well-being. In Africa, the agricultural sector generates, on average, 32 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). In addition to this, according to the World Bank, the GDP growth based on agriculture is approximately two to four times, more efficient in reducing poverty than the GDP growth originating outside the sector. Increased agricultural production and productivity apparently cannot come at the expense of the environment. Having a rapidly degrading natural resource base, the current agricultural paradigm - which demands increasing usage of fertilizers and fresh water combined with increased land expansion - is clearly not sustainable. The adoption of sustainable agricultural development - such as resource conservation, environmental impact mitigation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation - are fundamental to increasing agricultural production and productivity. Through doing this, an increase in sustainable agricultural production, and productivity by small-scale rural farmers, especially women farmers are expected. Strengthened policies, more accountable institutions, and better management processes within partner governments are also expected to occur, as a result of increased sustainable agricultural production and productivity. Overall alongside, emergency food assistance, it is believed that these two proposals will be capable of ensuring food security.
IMPACT ENVIRONMENT Most genetically modified crops are either herbicide-tolerant or pesticide-producing (or both in some cases). The changes made to these plants comes alongside with problematic environmental challenges. Toxicity is a huge issue, surrounding chemical pesticides and herbicides, both commonly used with GMOs. As GMOS are toxic to non-target organisms, such as bees and butterflies, it means that it'll cause adverse effects on the firstly the behavior, and secondly the survival of these species. Bees, for example, are important in the pollution of various foods crops, but due to modern agricultural techniques, such as GM crops are becoming endangered. Evidence suggest that small genetic changes in plants, result in significant ecological shifts, meaning that there is potential for GMO's to become persistent and weedy in agricultural conditions since they have been modified to be resistant to some agricultural techniques. Furthermore, GMOS become super weeds, -herbicide-resistant weeds-. This means that GMOs will become invasive in natural settings, where GMOs, are unable to occur naturally.
STRATEGIES/ SOLUTIONS World hunger and food insecurity are two major recurring problems, occurring in various parts of the developing world. Among the numerous potential biotechnologies now available, and the different ways they can be applied, genetic modification of crops seems to evoke attention. Genetically modified crops possessing genes from several types of species, are said to hold the key to food security, relieve global food shortages, and overall be the solution to huge issues occurring around the world involving food. Although the initial excitement surrounded the use of GM crops - that it would allow for bigger and greater harvest for farmers - questions continue to be asked as to whether GM crops are as efficient as they say to be. As the creation of GM foods was believed to have the capabilities of addressing major food issues, whether they've been as efficient as they were assumed to be or not is worth questioning. Where there's good, evil always follows; in this case, this applies also. The initial purpose of the use and distribution of GMOs were overrun by the thought of obtaining more profit and continuing this unsustainable system. The consequences of allowing GMOs into the market, without adequate understanding of the aftereffect, of consuming GMOs, has made it unclear as to what horrific damages in both the health of living organisms, and the environment, both consuming and creating GMOs will create. In saying that, it has been proven that certain GMOs have been utilised for the goods of others, one example would be the distribution of 'Golden Rice,' a creation made to produce provitamin A.
CAUSE GM foods are both developed - as well as marketed - because there's a perceived advantage to the producer or consumer of these foods. What is meant by this is, with the product being sold at a lower price, and having huge numbers of the product, it results in greater benefits (regarding durability or nutritional value) for both. Initially GM seed developers wanted their products to be accepted by producers, and bring about innovation that would bring direct benefit to farmers (and the food industry in general). One of the objectives of developing plants based on GM organisms was to improve crop protection. The GM crops currently on the market are predominantly aimed to increase the level of crop protection, through either the introduction of resistance against plant diseases caused by insects, viruses, or through increased tolerance towards herbicides. Resistance against insects is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This virus is currently used as a standard insecticide in agriculture, and is safe for human consumption. As a result, GM crops that inherently produce this toxin have displayed that they require lower quantities of insecticides in specific solutions, e.g. where pest pressure is high. Since genetically modified foods are both more durable and reliable than organic foods, it means that GM foods will last longer, have an extended shelf life and stay 'fresher' for longer in comparison to organic foods.
WHAT IS THE ISSUE BEING INVESTIGATED? WHERE IS IT LOCATED? "GMOs," was the topic chosen to be investigated. GMOs are an issue used in numerous fields such as agriculture, medicine and bioremediation. As a result of the mass use of GMOs, cultivation of genetically modified crops occurs worldwide. In saying that as of now, the production of GMOs cultivation has been banned in numerous areas, such as in Iceland, Greece and Germany. Nonetheless, despite various countries, having made it so that GM crops are banned, it has not discontinued the use of GM crops as a whole. Due to this, the appearance of GM crops still occurs, and are consumed in numerous countries across the world, despite the general public not realising. In fact, the world's leading producers of GM crops are the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, and China. As imports and exports are important for both the development and growth of national economies, it means that the trading and intaking of GM crops from these particular locations and more, continue to occur, are consumed on a day-to-day basis, and the distribution of GMOs is not contained, to simply one place.
