Essay3-Draft-2-SHI-Li-(Shirley)

Foodsupplydraft2SHILi(Shirley)1Therearemanythreatstoglobalfoodsupplies.Explaintheproblem,identifypossiblesolutions,andassesstheimplicationsofimplementingthesesolutions.Thefoodsecurityisapotentialcrisistotheworldintermsoffoodsuppliesandfoodsafetywhiletheglobalpopulationisprojectedtoreach9billionby2050(Black,2010).Thisessay,firstofall,willjustfocusonthethreatstoglobalfoodsuppliesfromtwomainaspects:thethreatscausedbytheobjectivefactorsinabroadsense,andthechallengesattributedtothesubjectivefactorswhichcloselyrelatedtothehumanbehavior.Aftertheanalysisoftheproblems,anumberoffeasiblesolutionswillbesuggestedwiththeimplicationswhichwillbefurtherdiscussedaccordingly.Althoughpopulation,conditionsoftechnologyandeconomy,andclimatechangesseemtobecorrelatedwiththehumanbeings,theyarebothfactorswhichcannotbechangedbyasimplepolicyorashort-termplanlessthanadecade.Therefore,inthisessay,theyareclassifiedintotheobjectivefactorschallengingthefoodsupplies.Asiscommonlyknown,populationboomingwilldirectlyleadtothesevereshortageoflandandwaterwhichareessentialtothefoodproduction.Weakconditionsintermsoftechnologyandeconomyacceleratethe‘yieldgap’andaggravatethethreat,makingthepoorareamorevulnerable(Godfray,etal,2010).Also,extremeweatheralongwiththedeteriorationofglobalclimatewilldamagethecrops.Climatechangesincludingglobalwarmingwillchangetheseasonalpatternsofpollinationforcropswhichwouldinfluencetheirproduction(Slaght,2012).Ontheotherhand,humanfactorscontainmorecomplicatedreasonswhicharedifferentfromnationsandindustries.Generally,severalmainreasonscanbeconcluded:mismanagementonecosystemscausesthedramaticdeclineinsomespecieswhicheventuallyleadstothereductionoffoodsupply(Slaght,2012).Alongwiththeregionalindustrialization,theexportationsoffruitandvegetablestodevelopedcountriesdisplacelocalstaplecrops,whichindirectlyimpactstheundevelopedareassufferingfurtherfromthemalnourishment(Slaght,2012).Besides,foodwasteduringthetransportationandprocessing,retailandhomestagescomprisesalargeproportionbothindevelopedanddevelopingcountries(Godfray,etal,2010).Foodsupplydraft2SHILi(Shirley)2Solutionstotheproblemsarenumerouswhichcannotbeelaboratedinthisessay,buttwodirectionsareveryclearforusinfacingthethreats,whichcanbegenerallyapplied.Thefirstoneiscontrollingandreducing,thatiscontrollingthepopulationincreaseandreducingthefoodwaste.Forexample,inChina,One-ChildpolicyisaneffectivemeasurewhichcanbedrawnonbyothercountrieslikeIndiaandIndonesia,facingthesamepopulationboomingchallenge.Althoughitiscontroversialfromareligiousandhuman-rightperspective,wehadtoadmitthatspecialcircumstancesneedspecialtreatments.Similarly,foodwasteneedstobereducedbeforewetendtoincreasethefoodproduction.Bettertransportinfrastructure,better-functioningmarket,post-harveststoragetechnologies,legislationetc.(Godfray,etal,2010)allcouldbeappliedtosavingthepresentavailablefoodproduction.Theotherdirectionisimprovingandfacilitating.Obviously,improvingthefoodproductionthroughnewtechnologywillbackupthelong-termdevelopmentoffoodsupply.Itisalonglistshowingthetechnologicalbreakthroughsonagriculturescienceinrecentyears.Amongthose,genetictechniquesaresubstantiallyacceleratingtheyieldsofagricultureespeciallyforthestaplefoodsforpoorcommunities(IAASTD,ascitedinGodfray,etal,2010).Meanwhile,globalizationofferstheunderdevelopedcountriesorareasmoreopportunitiestotheglobalmarketandnewtechnologytoboosttheyields.Morecommunicationsinscientificresearchbetweennationsandtechnologicaidfromeconomicadvancedcountriesbecamemoreaccessible,andwillfundamentallyenhancethefoodsupplyabilityofpoorareas.Allthesolutionsaresoencouragingforgivingtheworldaprosperousfuture.However,itiscrucialtokeepacriticalawarenessthateverythinghastwosides.Globalizationthatenhancesthecommunicationbetweennationsandspecifiestheregionalfoodproductionmaybeadoubleedgeswordsincetheworldmarketcouldbeevenfurthercontrolledbythedevelopedcountrieswhichpossessthefirstchanceandtheglobalviewthroughadvancedtechnology(Godfray,etal,2010).Furthermore,newtechnologyincludinggenetictechniquesandchemicalfertilizermightcausedamagingsideeffectswhicharebeyondourwildestimagination.Allinall,foodsupplythreatsfrompopulationexplosiontoclimatechangemakethewholeworldnowaytoescape,andhumanfactorsinvariousaspectsworsenthesituation.Fortunately,solutionsindifferentlayerscanbeutilized.ItshouldbealwayskeptinmindthatthefoodsupplyshortagecannotFoodsupplydraft2SHILi(Shirley)3besettledbydependingonusingnewtechnologiesonly.Thereisnofixedmodeforanycountriesorareastosolvetheproblemsrigidly,thatistosay,differentsituationsshouldbetreateddifferently.Developedorundeveloped,profitableorenvironmental,short-termorlong-termarethekeywordsforthefuturesolutionsintacklingthefoodshortage.Itcanbeanticipatedthatmoresustainablefoodproductionandbalancedfoodconsumptionarethefuturetrendsoffoodsupply.Reference:Black,R.(2010,July12).GlobalpopulationstudylaunchedbyRoyalSociety.BBCNews.RetrievedDecember21,2011,from(2010).Thechallengeoffeeding9bil