The Challenges of Food Supply (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography): Flashcards
Exam code: 0460 & 0976
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Why do LICs often have lower crop yields than HICs due to technology?
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Why do LICs often have lower crop yields than HICs due to technology?
LICs lack money to invest in machinery, irrigation systems, and transport and storage infrastructure, whereas HICs can afford this technology.
Give three ways conflict reduces food supply.
People abandon or are driven off farmland; transport routes are destroyed or blocked so food cannot reach where needed; and crops and livestock are destroyed.
Government ______ are often available to help support farmers so that they keep producing food, and are more common in HICs.
Government subsidies are often available to help support farmers so that they keep producing food, and are more common in HICs.
True or False?
Government investment in agriculture tends to be higher in LICs than in HICs.
False.
Investment in agriculture tends to be higher in HICs.
Name three ways climate can negatively affect food supply.
Extreme temperatures make growing crops hard; tropical storms cause flooding that destroys crops; and changing rainfall patterns cause drought or floods that lower yields.
Which two processes can drought trigger that harm crop growth?
Desertification and salinisation.
Why are pests and diseases a bigger threat to food supply in LICs than HICs?
HICs can afford pesticides and treatments, while LICs are often in tropical areas where pests such as locusts and diseases such as African Swine Flu are more prevalent.
Define water stress in the context of food supply.
Water stress is a lack of water that affects the ability to irrigate crops; it is more likely in LICs due to lack of precipitation and poor infrastructure.
Lack of ______ in drier areas leads to low crop yields.
Lack of irrigation in drier areas leads to low crop yields.
Which four properties of soil influence the types of crops that can be grown?
Soil depth, structure, fertility and pH.
Food supply is affected by which two broad groups of factors?
Human factors (e.g. technology, conflict, government) and physical (natural) factors (e.g. climate, soil, pests, water).
Define food security.
Food security is having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Which type of country tends to have a food deficit, and why?
LICs, because they cannot produce or afford to import enough food to meet the population's needs.
The UK imports approximately ______ of the food supply required by its population.
The UK imports approximately 46% of the food supply required by its population.
Define undernutrition.
Undernutrition is when people do not consume enough calories; it is linked to 45% of all child deaths.
What is the difference between malnutrition and wasting?
Malnutrition is when a diet lacks the correct nutrients to stay healthy; wasting is low weight in relation to height, affecting 45 million children under 5.
Define famine.
Famine occurs when a significant proportion of the population suffer severe and prolonged hunger, leading to acute malnutrition and deaths from starvation.
How can food insecurity cause a country's underdevelopment?
A workforce suffering food shortages is less productive, so development slows or even reverses.
How can attempts to grow more food during insecurity damage the land?
Farmers may over-cultivate and overgraze, causing soil erosion and desertification.
Give two social consequences of food insecurity in LICs beyond hunger itself.
Social unrest (rioting and looting) and migration to other countries or urban areas, which can create illegal settlements.
True or False?
Food insecurity does not occur in HICs.
False.
Between 8% and 20% of HIC populations suffer food insecurity — in the UK, an estimated 11.3 million people did in 2021–22.
Which groups are especially vulnerable to food insecurity in HICs?
The elderly, the unemployed, those living in poverty, and people with disabilities.
Name three problems, besides malnutrition, that food insecurity causes in HICs.
Underachievement at school due to hunger, mental health issues, and an increase in crime.
Reliance on food aid has grown in developed countries — there are now almost ______ food banks in the UK.
Reliance on food aid has grown in developed countries — there are now almost 3,000 food banks in the UK.
Define irrigation.
Irrigation is the artificial watering of crops to increase yields.
How do surface and drip irrigation differ?
Surface irrigation uses gravity to flow water over the land; drip irrigation uses pipes with holes to deliver water near the plant roots.
State two disadvantages of using irrigation to increase food supply.
Loss of water through evaporation; increased soil salinity; and greater pressure on water resources (any two).
Define genetically modified (GM) crops.
GM crops have had their genetic material altered to make them disease/pest resistant, higher yielding, or drought resistant.
Name three main food crops developed as high yield varieties (HYVs).
Wheat, maize and rice.
Give two disadvantages of high yield varieties (HYVs).
They need high inputs of fertilisers and pesticides, and the accompanying mechanisation reduces jobs.
______ ploughing runs along the contours rather than up and down, which reduces surface run-off and soil erosion.
Contour ploughing runs along the contours rather than up and down, which reduces surface run-off and soil erosion.
Define intercropping.
Planting crops in alternate rows to reduce pests and diseases.
Give one advantage of mechanisation in farming.
More land can be cultivated, raising yields and saving time.
What is the difference between short-term and long-term food aid?
Short-term aid is given after a disaster or crisis such as a drought or flood; long-term aid is often given to the LIC government to distribute.
Name the main organisation and two NGOs that provide food aid.
The World Food Programme (WFP), plus NGOs such as Oxfam and Save the Children.
True or False?
Long-term food aid is always beneficial for local farmers in LICs.
False.
Free or sold-on food can undercut local farmers by lowering market prices, driving them out of farming and worsening food insecurity.
What does modern long-term food aid now focus on?
Grants and loans to help farmers produce food locally, education on sustainable farming, and support for specific groups such as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
How does terracing increase food supply?
It builds step-like platforms on slopes that reduce surface run-off and soil erosion.
Give one disadvantage of mechanisation in farming.
It reduces agricultural jobs, and machines are expensive to buy and maintain.
Define soil erosion.
Soil erosion is the wearing away of the topsoil by the action of wind or water; a natural process worsened by human activity.
Define desertification.
Desertification is the spread of desert-like conditions into semi-arid areas, caused by both natural factors and human activities.
True or False?
Desertification is the expansion of existing deserts.
False.
Desertification is when semi-arid ecosystems become desert-like through human activity and unsustainable land use — not the growth of existing deserts.
How does deforestation cause soil erosion?
It reduces interception so soil is exposed to rain, reduces roots so infiltration falls and surface runoff rises, and leaves bare soil exposed to the wind.
Define salinisation.
Salinisation is when high evaporation draws groundwater to the surface; as it evaporates, salts are left in the topsoil, making the land toxic to many crops.
How does overgrazing contribute to soil erosion?
It removes vegetation cover that protects the soil, and animal trampling causes compaction and increased surface runoff.
Define agroforestry.
Agroforestry combines agriculture with forestry so some trees remain, increasing plant variety and biodiversity.
______ is tree planting, such as the Great Green Wall across the Sahel, used to combat desertification.
Afforestation is tree planting, such as the Great Green Wall across the Sahel, used to combat desertification.
How do contour stones help manage soil erosion?
Laid along the contour lines, they prevent soil being blown or washed away, increase infiltration, and trap dead organic matter that decomposes to add nutrients.
Why is afforestation effective against soil erosion?
Tree roots bind the soil, the canopy provides shade preventing drying and rain-splash erosion, and falling leaves replace nutrients.
The Great Green Wall project, launched in 2007, aims to plant an 8,000-km band of trees across ______ Sahel countries.
The Great Green Wall project, launched in 2007, aims to plant an 8,000-km band of trees across 11 Sahel countries.
By 2024, what had the Great Green Wall achieved, and how complete was it?
It had restored 30 million hectares of degraded land and created three million jobs, but was only 30% complete.
What did Oxfam's contour stone (bund line) project achieve in Burkina Faso?
It preserved topsoil and improved food production, increasing millet — the staple crop — production by 50% on average.
Where is Yemen located?
In the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula.
Over ______ of Yemen's population relies on agriculture as their main source of income.
Over 73% of Yemen's population relies on agriculture as their main source of income.
Which event in 2015 was the key trigger of food insecurity in Yemen?
A civil war broke out after years of internal conflict, later displacing over 4 million Yemenis.
How has the conflict in Yemen disrupted food aid supplies?
Port blockades have cut off aid, while damaged roads, airports and communications prevent food from moving around the country.
How did pests worsen food insecurity in Yemen in 2019?
Swarms of locusts destroyed many crops, and the conflict disrupted monitoring while a lack of pesticides meant they could not be controlled.
True or False?
In Yemen, food aid always reaches those who need it most.
False.
Corruption means food aid is often taken by those involved in the fighting and those in power.
Yemen became dependent on imports for ______ of its grain supplies, much of it from Ukraine.
Yemen became dependent on imports for 90% of its grain supplies, much of it from Ukraine.
By how much did food prices rise in Yemen, and by how much in 2020 specifically?
Food prices rose between 30 and 70%, with the 2020 increase alone being over 150%, so people could not afford a healthy diet.
How many Yemenis does the UN estimate have died due to food shortages and lack of health services?
More than 226,000 Yemenis.
What proportion of Yemen's under-5s are threatened by acute malnutrition?
Over 50% of children under 5.
Name three organisations providing aid to Yemen.
UNICEF, the Red Cross, the World Food Programme and Oxfam (any three).
Through what three means does the World Food Programme assist 13 million people in Yemen?
Rations, vouchers and cash transfers.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has provided US$______ million to restore agricultural land and infrastructure in Yemen.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has provided US$38 million to restore agricultural land and infrastructure in Yemen.
What is Yemen's main climate?
A mainly hot desert climate, with a temperate climate in the western mountains.
How many people were expected to be food-insecure in Yemen by the end of 2022?
19 million people.
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