Famine in the 21st Century Research Paper

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innovations in agricultural technologies, the dire predictions of global famine made by Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb (1968) have not materialized to date. Nevertheless, hunger continues to persist in many regions of the world, especially its major cities, due in large part to urbanization and 7.5 million people die of hunger each month (Holmes, 2008). The hunger that does exist in the world today is largely the result of increased urbanization and national political leadership that either uses food as a weapon or lacks the resources or will to ensure that adequate food distribution is achieved in their countries (Wurwag, 2014). To determine the facts, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature concerning urbanization and the urban structure to identify those factors that are most responsible for preventing adequate distribution of food to urban residents. A summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Since time immemorial, food security has always been a problem for humankind. For instance, according to Quinn (2014), "Throughout history, the quest for daily sustenance has often been precarious. Food shortages caused by crop failures or extreme weather were (and are) common enough" (p. 19). These issues became even more pronounced following the Industrial Revolution when millions of people relocated from farms to urban environments and population levels exploded (Quinn, 2014). At the time, Adam Smith considered how all of these millions of people would be fed, and conceptualized the "invisible hand" as being the major operative force that was involved in food distribution. In this regard, in 1776, Smith published his seminal The Wealth of Nations, wherein he explained that self-interests guide the distribution of food. According to Smith, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest" (cited in Quinn, 2014, p. 20). By sharp contrast, published a few years later in 1798, Thomas Malthus's "An Essay on the Principle of Population" cautioned that the explosion in human population would inevitably result in massive food shortages. For example, Malthus argued that, "Unless kept in check, human reproduction would outrun the best efforts to increase the food supply and would lead inevitably to famine and mass death" (Quinn, 2014, p. 20).

In truth, Mathus's dire predictions became harsh reality following the publication of "An Essay on the Principle of Population." As Quinn points out, "Between 1845 and 1961 -- a span of little more than a century -- the number of deaths from hunger and its effects exceeded the total in all of preceding human history" (2014, p. 21). These hunger-related deaths were no accident, though, but were rather the direct result of national policies and economic theories that denied certain populations food supplies to the benefit of others. A salient example of this includes the Irish potato famine Ireland remained a net exporter of food to Great Britain during a time when millions of their own population starved to death (Quinn, 2014). Likewise, both Stalin and Hitler used food as a weapon during World War II, resulting in yet more millions of deaths from starvation (Quinn, 2014).

More recently, there has also been another mass migration of people into the major cities of the world, and this urbanization has profoundly challenged the ability of national governments in developing nations to provide an adequate infrastructure that ensures the basic needs of living for tens of millions of the global poor, including sufficient food supplies. According to Tucker (2005), "Urbanization refers to the transition from a rural economy to an urban economy on a national scale [and] has been the benchmark used by United Nations in determining and forecasting growth in developing countries" (p. 11).

Although adequate global food supplies exist to ensure that all nine billion people in the world have enough to eat, there is an enormous disconnect between available food supplies and hungry people in many developing countries today (Tucker, 2005). In this regard, Tucker emphasizes that, "Urbanization is a serious challenge in addressing the hunger and poverty concerns of the developing world. Urban saturation in developing countries means a slowing urban economy and therefore rising urban poverty" (2005, p. 11). Certainly, urbanization is taking place around the world, but the trends are especially pronounced in developing countries where the process can exact a serious toll on already marginalized populations.

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For example, Wurwag (2013) reports that, "With more than half of the world's population urbanized and two-thirds of urbanites in developing countries, populations are moving away from agriculture-based livelihoods. However, people still must eat" (p. 75).

Moreover, the urban structure in which many of the citizens of developing nations live and work is less than conducive to efficient food distribution methods (Wurwag, 2014). As a result, there are growing disparities between food availability in developed nations compared to their emerging counterparts (Wurwag, 2014). As Wurwag points out, "Even as our food system becomes increasingly globalized, the way lower-income people eat in urban centers is often very different from the way higher-income people eat" (2014, p. 76). These fundamental disparities contribute to increased risk for nutrition and diet-related diseases in developing nations (Wurwag, 2014).

There are other urban structure factors involved in food security as well. For example, some factors either facilitate or limit food distribution in developing nations, including the availability of governmental resources and the proximity of major cities to agricultural regions (Wurwag, 2013). This latter problem appears to be especially intractable. For example, Gonzalez-Pelaez (2005) emphasizes that, "A solution for the problem of hunger cannot be found without addressing the need for a balance between rural and urban populations. Globalisation has destabilized family farming all over the world" (p. 111).

Almost paradoxically, less expensive foods from developed nations have served to adversely affect the agricultural production capabilities in developing countries for a number of reasons, many of which directly relate to urban structure (Gonzalez-Pelaez, 2005). For example, even when urban residents enjoy the short-term benefits of less expensive foods imported from developed nations, their countries experience a concomitant loss of long-term food production capabilities as fewer citizens engage in agricultural pursuits and seek employment in cities (Gonzalez-Pelaez, 2005).

This point is also made by the United Nation's World Food Programme (2015) which reports: "Three-quarters of all hungry people live in rural areas, mainly in the villages of Asia and Africa. Overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture for their food, these populations have no alternative source of income or employment. Many migrate to cities in their search for employment, swelling the ever-expanding populations of shanty towns in developing countries" (Who are the hungry, para. 2). In fact, even food donations can damage local economies, particularly when the donations are used as an outlet for surpluses from developed countries (Gonzalez-Pelaez, 2005). The disparities in global hunger are readily apparent when presented in a graphic form as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Distribution of the 805 million hungry people in the world ( 98% in developing countries)

Source: World Food Programme at http://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/images/2014/who-hungry-banner_01-%282%29.jpg

In addition, there have also been a number of basic lifestyle changes that have resulted from urbanization that have also contributed to food insecurity in many developing countries. In this regard, Holmes (2008) emphasizes that, "Rapid urbanization has led to the conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses, and low food prices have encouraged farmers to shift to alternative food and non-food crops" (p. 15). In addition, this shift in agricultural practices has resulted in soil erosion, land degradation, nutrient depletion, increased water scarcity and the disruption of biological cycles in ways that further exacerbate exiting food security problems in urbanized areas (Holmes, 2008)..

Despite the presence of these factors in many major cities of the world, food-insecure citizens in many developing countries frequently live in the same cities as the food-secure (Wurwag, 2013). In this context, food security exists when people "have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food necessary to maintain a healthy and active life" (Wurwag, 2013, p. 76). When food security is threatened, two hunger-related adverse outcomes can result: (1) famine, defined as "an extreme and usually short-term scarcity of food," or (2) chronic hunger or malnutrition, which is "the more pervasive lack of the right kind of food over an extended period of time" (Wurwag, 2013, p. 76).

Unfortunately, despite innovations in agricultural technology and the fact that sufficient food supplies are available to feed the global population, the world's resources are finite while the world's population is not. Indeed, it would seem that Malthus and Erlich were prescient in their predictions about how population growth would outstrip the world's ability to feed its people, if not the timing. In fact, more people today are hungry and malnourished than ever before.....

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