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Management of Famine in the United States
Kirsten Procunier
American Government
Professor Freeder
November 3, 2021
Management of Famine in the United States
There are goals to see world hunger end in 10 years, but the food is still scarce globally, even in the US. A survey conducted by the Economic Research Service (2021), revealed that food insecurity in the US in 2020 was similar to the case in 2019. In 2020 89.5% of US households had an adequate supply of food throughout the year. The records show that even though the percentage of food security is high, there is still a lot to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals. From the study, the remaining 10.5% consisted of households that faced food insecurity at least sometime during the year. The fact that the percentage was constant between 2019 and 2020 shows that the intervention strategies needed to be enhanced.
In 2020 the Covid 19 Pandemic significantly impacted the food situation worldwide, including the US. The analysis done by Feeding America (2020), revealed that food insecurity was projected to increase in the US mainly due to the novel covid19. States like Mississippi were projected to experience 22.6% of food insecurity which was also predicted to affect Latino individuals more than non-Hispanic white individuals due to social-economic issues such as employment which rose to 18.9% by April 2020. Food insecurity in Native American countries is associated with poverty, ongoing geographical displacement, and government policies. The Covid 19 Pandemic, therefore, contributed to public health and economic crisis, both linked to food insecurity.
The government and all other relevant organizations have a role in handling root causes of food insecurity to achieve the goal of 100% food security in the next ten years. It is important to note that famine is not merely the absence of sufficient food but also includes the inefficient distribution of food. The goal is, therefore, to improve both the production and supplies systems. Famines have always been an aftereffect of both technical, political, and natural factors. Compared to earlier years, the death rate due to farming has reduced. The target is zero deaths due to famine-related causes by 2030. Food security is linked with food supply, and recently food availability per person has increased due to the ease of transportation and importation and availability of importation options.
Generally, food availability is less of a limiting issue compared to distribution. Unavailability of markets or inefficient market systems has a lot to do with food insecurity. A comparison of two famines in northern China, one in the 1870s and the other in the 1920s, shows about 9 million deaths in the first incident and half a million in the second one. The difference in mortality rate is attributed to an improved transportation system in the latter incident; hence relief aid was transported more efficiently. A concrete distribution mechanism should support enough food production.
According to the IPC, famine classification can only be made with evidence on food security, nutrition, and mortality above the IPC thresholds. Information from all these segments enabled decisions to be made on disaster preparedness plans. The world experienced the greatest famine event in South Sudan in 2017. The effects were significantly felt due to the civil strife in the country, poverty, and high food price. Famine Is a phenomenon that requires multi-sectoral alliances to handle. Drought and conflict have worsened the problem of production, distribution, and access. Other casual factors include rapid population growth and poverty. To find a long-lasting solution to the issue, the focus should be beyond the production of more foods, but instead, it should address distribution systems.
Social safety is also a consideration that should be made to achieve an associated inclusive, sustainable solution. Food production consists of factors applied for productive purposes such as soil management, crop and livestock management, and all aspects involved in harvesting. Production elements require efficient skills to ensure appropriate land use and sustenance of crop production for long. On the other hand, distribution involves the post-harvest practices employed to preserve and supply foods. The techniques include food processing, transportation of the food from the garden and the industry, storage packaging, and marketing. Food distribution also encompasses factors such as the social-economic situation of individuals that influence their purchasing power and public food distribution. (Karsten et al.)
There are strategies in place to solve famine-related issues in the US, and the government can employ strategies to deal with the disaster and find a sustainable solution by 2030. Management solutions to food insecurity include; food assistance programs, a government initiative that seeks to provide food to those who have no access. These programs may achieve their purpose by general food distribution. Food baskets are given to families, especially the homeless, and the basket constitutes food from all the food groups since famine is often associated with malnutrition. General food distribution is an intervention that should be considered during emergencies. The government programs such as the USAID work to provide relief food assistance to communities affected by world hunger worldwide. The strategy can be applied within the US, where more governmental and non-governmental organizations can participate in public food distribution, especially during disasters, such as areas affected by floods, typhoons, or other phenomena.
Food assistance programs aim to reduce food insecurity among vulnerable communities and assist them in rebuilding their resilience. Alleviating global hunger is important to US national security since hunger is associated with instability. Other government food assistance programs are when the government may issue food stamps to families that cannot afford food to access essential meals at stores for free, and their expenses are credited to the government. This will require an effective system of ensuring the credibility of those who are supported. According to Ratcliffe and Mc Kernan (2010), people may assume that food security is not an issue due to the wealth and prosperity associated with the United States. The statement is, however, arguable.
The supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) serves as the first line of intervention against food-related hardship. Policymakers and implementers should apply the strategy to serve households below the poverty line to ensure that they are constantly supplied with food, and the income they incur is used to improve their living standards. Counterarguments against food assistance programs are that they are not sustainable since they do not improve food production. The observation is true, and the system will be more effective if the suggested solution goes hand in hand with other long-lasting strategies. another argument maybe the government may find it hard to determine individuals and families to enroll in the food programs. The US government should use data available and conduct households surveys to recruit families that are genuinely in need of food aids to avoid the strain of available national resources.
Increasing food production is another strategy to manage farming in the US. The root cause of famine is insufficient food production. The US government should ensure that the amount of food produced in the country is enough or even surpasses the current population to ensure property distribution across all the states. The supply should meet the demand. The government should support the farmers and food production facilities. Processing plants can be constructed to convert the whole food product into processed ones to reach large populations. Manufacturers can preserve foods in the factories to increase their shelf life. According to Ranganathan et al. (2018), there is a huge gap between the amount of food produced today and the amount needed to feed the whole population by 2050. The world is experiencing rapid population growth, and the US has not been left behind in the positive population growth trend. The government should consider strategies to promote food production in the country. The issue of food production goes alongside the issue of appropriate and healthy food distribution. To increase the amount of food produced, the government can reduce food loss and wastage across the food chain, from field to fork.
The government can also improve the production of meat substitutes and implement policies that favor plant-based foods to reduce the over-dependence on meat products. The government should set up strategies to irrigate land and increase land available for farming. Farmers can also be supported by being given fertilizers and other inputs necessary for production. The government can also construct more food manufacturing industries to produce foods in forms that can be easily preserved and transported. People may argue that the expansion of agricultural land to provide space for food production may be a setback to other aspects of the economy and may reduce the land available for settlement. The government may address the negative impact of increasing agricultural land by creating awareness to the farmers on ways to produce more food in their land without necessarily expanding.
The methods of increasing supply include; improving fertilization of pasture, improving food quality, and veterinary care to raise livestock production and the number of livestock products. Strategies to deal with low crop yields include eradicating pests, crop rotation, planting more resistant crops, and improving land fertility. Soil and water management will also counteract the associated problems of crop production. Another strategy to increase food production is the application of bioengineering to produce more food. The technology necessary to produce food requires less space and labor. It is a strategy that the US government should embrace to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.
Government policies can be enacted to manage farming in the United States. The governing body should come up with policies that encourage the supply of food. The government should provide farmers with incentives such as subsidized prices on products such as fertilizers. They should also be appropriately remunerated to boost their willpower; this will go a long way in ensuring that they increase food production and the quality of food. The government should encourage scientific innovations in the field of production. The presence of incubation centers to serve the purpose of such innovations will be helpful in the utilization of space for production and increase the amount of food produced. The government should ensure that the transportation links between the source of production and the market are efficient to reduce the instances of perishable foods going bad. The government is linked in one way or another to all other strategies suggested curbing famine in the US. FAO policy support on the right to food applies to all countries to design national food security and nutrition strategies while focusing on governance and incorporation of the human rights to food. The US government should consider the provisions made by FAO and provide political and social support to food production, distribution, and acquisition systems.
The national government and all state offices should formulate policies that will bind them legally to ensure food security. There are regulations such as the international covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights (ICESCR), where state parties recognize individual right to be a good standard of living for him and his family. The policy’s objectives should be to protect and realize individuals’ rights to food. When government officials and implementers are required by law to ensure sustainable food availability, they will prioritize farming eradication as a legal responsibility. A counterargument against the management strategy is that the country may fail to maintain its consumption and investment levels, resulting in imbalances due to macroeconomic shocks, causing a long-lasting problem in the future. The government can reduce negative impacts on the economy due to legislation by ensuring that all the policies are debated upon, and experts are involved in the drafting process of the policies. They should ensure that all policies enacted will have a sustainable positive impact to deal with food production and supply with little or no effects on the country’s general economy. Therefore, policies should be formulated per state since they all have different requirements.
The situation of food insecurity varies across states; government policies also influence funding, where people may argue that some states have more funding allocations than others. Equity is more important than equality. Critics should understand that states affected by high poverty levels and frequency of disasters will require more money allocations than economically stable states to keep up with efforts to alleviate famine. One of the predisposing factors to farming is poverty. The government should ensure that every individual of age has a source of income to afford the basic food needs for themselves and their families. The government should be ready to address risk factors that predispose individuals to food insecurity to deal with famine. They may provide employment opportunities to encourage self-employment by offering loans and grants for startup businesses. The government should issue tax credits to those who are economically disadvantaged. They may then save their income for other essential items, basically food. This initiative should run until they are in a position to support themselves.
In the US and other first-world countries, hunger arises from poverty due to scarcity of jobs or low-paying jobs. The aspect of poverty targets specific individuals such as former inmates who face discrimination making it hard for them to find employment. Families with single parents also find it hard to ensure food sustenance since there is only one source of income. In the US, families with low income cannot maintain a constant food supply to their families, necessitating them to reduce the amount they spend on food, therefore skipping several meals per day. Poverty also contributes to poor infrastructure, which causes food transportation to areas where there are food shortages. Poverty is contributed by fluctuating market prices. For families who survive under a dollar, unstable markets with an increase in the cost of food items limit their affordability.
Strategies to reduce poverty in the US should include stabilizing the economy to avoid more damage to families at the bottom of the chain. The government can deal with poverty by expanding safety net programs to benefit all in need by meeting their basic needs. Safety includes insurance to cover monthly expenses anywhere in the country, especially the long-term unemployed and self-employed citizens. The food assistance programs should be expanded to accommodate different categories of poverty and not only focus on families. The government should also increase the remuneration rates for government jobs. They should create new job opportunities with allocation for workers’ protection. The government should invest in these employment opportunities to provide decent wages and benefits. The minimum wage should also be raised to ensure economic stability for all individuals.
When the government can deal with poverty, the end goal of alleviating famine will be more achievable since more people will afford food on their own, and the government does not have to step in and offer relief and food stamps. The budget can then be adjusted to contain more sustainable and long-lasting programs towards ending hunger in the US within the next ten years (Ross and Pathak 2021). Opponents to raising the minimum wage argue that raising it will increase operating expenses for companies hence increasing the price of products and services to cover the increased labor costs; therefore, the solution is short-lived period the government can address this by providing relief tax to individuals to maintain the cost of living even after increasing their minimum wage.
International collaboration is a sustainable effort of dealing with farming. The United States is a member state of various international organizations, including the United Nations (UN). The membership is essential for assistance during an emergency associated with famine; international organizations provide relief food to families that are victims of the disaster. The UN has units that offer nutritional support to countries that need it. Famine can be averted when food items are given to the population at risk. The government should also have reserves as a precaution towards emergency circumstances such as floods or tsunamis that may internally displace citizens; therefore, be a government parastatal that is specifically responsible for food disaster mitigation and management.
Organizations such as the United Nations, the world bank, the international community of the Red Cross, and other organizations are launching the famine action mechanism (FAM) dedicated to avoiding famines in the future. The mechanism’s goal is to save more lives and increase humanitarian costs by as much as 30%. The strategy encompasses innovative technology and financing to build strong partnerships to prevent famine. By belonging to these organizations, the US takes a collaborative approach to deal with hunger hence making the sustainable development goals more achievable and reducing the cost spent on programs to deal with famine. Objectives contained in the FAM are to promote investments that deal with the root causes of starvation to enable individuals to build coping mechanisms to famine. The world bank has invested almost three billion dollars annually to support food security initiatives in the last ten years. Therefore, a unified approach to handling famine is beneficial to the US, and they are also expected to support the initiatives in other regions.
An intergovernmental organization that is separated from the government will be helpful in times of famine to provide strategies that counteract the negative impacts of the disaster. An opposing argument against international collaboration is that the UN and other international organizations have challenges addressing natural resources, natural disasters, imagined climate changes, and other contributors to famine such as poverty, illiteracy, and diseases. The challenges can be addressed by an inclusive and coordinated approach that allows formal district holders to add ship at all levels to deal with other risk factors to food security (The world bank 2018).
Famine Is a natural disaster that various initiatives can mitigate by both the local and national governments using proper mechanisms for both production and distribution. Dealing with farming would therefore require a coordinated approach at all levels. The US should invest in sustainable production, distribution, and consumption mechanisms and embrace coherent policies and coordination to address famine. Achieving zero hunger by 2030 is achievable if the government and other stakeholders are willing to address the root cause of the problem and build long-lasting solutions.
References
Economic Research Service (2021) Food Security and Nutrition Assistance. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-security-and-nutrition-assistance/
Feeding America (2020). The impact of the coronavirus on food insecurity in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/coronavirus-hunger-research
Karsten, H, Vanek, S & Zimmerer, K. Food Systems: Environments, Production, Distribution and Household utilization of food. Retrieved from https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog3/node/1032
Pathak, A & Ross, K (2021). The top 12 solutions to cut poverty in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/top-12-solutions-cut-poverty-united-states/
Ranganathan, J, Searchinger, T & Hanson, C (2018). How to sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050, in 21 charts. Retrieved from https://www.wri.org/insights/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts
Ratcliffe, C & Mc Kernan, M. S (2010). How much does snap reduce food insecurity. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=84335
The World Bank (2018). United Nations, World Bank, and Humanitarian Organizations Launch Innovative Partnership to End Famine. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/09/23/united-nations-world-bank-humanitarian-organizations-launch-innovative-partnership-to-end-famine
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