Factors Affecting Food Security (AQA GCSE Biology): Revision Note

Food production

• Food security is having enough food to feed a population

• That ‘population’ could represent a group of people on a range of different scales, from a family, to a town, to a region or even a whole country

• Food security gives an indication of how much food is available

Biological factors threatening food security

• Changing population

  • An increased population due to increasing birth rate has threatened food security in some countries (the birth rate of many developing countries is rising very quickly)

• Changing diets

  • Changing diets in developed countries means scarce food resources (often from developing countries) are transported around the world, meaning these food sources become even more scarce in the countries that need them most

• Changing environment

  • Environmental changes can affect food production, leading to widespread famine occurring in some countries (eg. if the rains fail in a particular year)

• Pests and pathogens

  • Farming is often threatened by new pests and pathogens (eg. bacteria and viruses) that affect crops or livestock

• Costs

  • Farming has high input costs

  • The costs of irrigation (watering crops), machinery and livestock can make farming too expensive, leading to a lack of farming and food production in some areas

• Conflicts

• Conflicts in some parts of the world have already affected the availability of water or food and will continue to do so as these resources become increasingly scarce in some areas for many of the reasons above

Sustainable production

• Sustainable methods of farming and producing food are needed in order to overcome food shortages and help populations whose food security is under threat

• Sustainable food production involves making enough food but ensuring this is done without using resources (such as water and soils) faster than these resources can be renewed and used again