Describe the Green Revolution and evaluate its
advantages and disadvantages
increase in agricultural production via:
- high-yield varieties of cereal grains (wheat, rice)
- irrigation
- fertilizers- synthetic N source
- pesticides, herbicides
increase of 170% yield
benefits:
- increased yield staple grains
- reduced need to food imports in some nations
- reduced poverty/hunger in countries- but not even
disadv:
- dependent on fertilizers, irrigation, chemical pesticides, mechanical plowing
- negative enviro impact
- expensive- poor farmers can’t afford
- loss crop diversity, deplete soil fertility
- increase disparity btw rich and poor farmers
- increases in yields not everywhere
Describe “sustainable intensification” strategies to
increase food production
= more output from same land area while reducing enviro impact and considering social, political, economic factors
- produce more sustainably, not at a rate that exceeds Earth’s capacity to replace resources
- use crop varieties/livestock that produce a lot compared to input
- avoid unnecessary external output (i.e. machinery, fertilizer, labour)
- use agroecology: nutrient cycling, N fixation, predation and parasitism
* **4. minimize strategies with negative impact on enviro/human health - use human and social capital
- minimize GHG, h2O pollution, neg impact biodiversity
i.e. in Tanzania, farming maize (staple grain) and legume (restores soil fertility, improve dietary protein)
Describe and comment on three views of the role of
aid
- aid as temporary: big push out of poverty, cope with short-term crisis
- aid as permanent: global social safety net, redistribution of some wealth/resources
- aid as distortion: distorts markets, causes dependency
Compare local/regional procurement to transoceanic
delivery of food aid; discuss the strengths and
limitations of each
LRP: quicker, cheaper, preferred (quality, texture, storability), no sig. impact on prices at local market
Transoceanic: longer delivery, some items cheaper (fortified oil), preferred on some criteria (cleanliness, nutritional quality perceived), maybe negative impact local markets
Evaluate the assertion that receiving aid will result in
dependency on aid
- dependency occurs if intervention intended to meet recipient’s current need results in reduced capacity for recipient to meet needs in future
data suggest that no. for ex, food aid in Ethiopia didn’t displace other methods of getting food because it is unpredictable
- complicated question, mixed results
Use UNICEF framework to analyze/organize food insecurity in South Sudan
conflict (basic) –> displacement (under) –> inadequate dietary intake/sickness
“is aid effective”, difficulty of assessing evidence for effectiveness, strategies to make more effective
yes- some ppl say short-term aid is. humanitarian aid saves lives, needed for progress toward development goals
maybe- benefits of aid may be exaggerated, aid may not reach those who need it most
no- aid increases risk of conflict, promotes corruption, weakens democracy, may promote dependence and undermine social capital
difficulty assessing effectiveness:
- rely on case studies= biased
- confounding variables
- diff. outcome measures (what is development?)
- time lag btw when aid received and when effect evaluated
- lack high quality data
- how to interpret
Paris Declaration 2005- how to make more effective:
- ownership- nations set own strategies
- alignment- donors align behind local systems
- harmonization
- results- focus on
- mutual accountable for results
history of celebrity involvement in aid, implications for perceptions of humanitarian aid, how aid tends to be framed- is that appropriate
Ethiopian Famine 1983-85
- Band Aid sold song to raise money, donate
- representation of famine contributed to view of humanitarianism in which moral responsibility towards impoverished parts of “Africa” is based on pity rather than demand for justice
** food security is a human right!
