GCSE Biology revision

Factors affecting food security

Food production (biology only)

AQA 4.1.1.1

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AQA student objectives

Learning pathway

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ALL 🎯

Identify and describe What is Food Security?, The Growing Human Population and Changing Diets and Food Availability in the context of factors affecting food security.

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Explain the relationships between What is Food Security?, The Growing Human Population and Changing Diets and Food Availability and how they contribute to factors affecting food security.

SOME 🎯🎯🎯

Apply and analyse knowledge of What is Food Security?, The Growing Human Population and Changing Diets and Food Availability to interpret unfamiliar information about factors affecting food security.

Revision summary

Key knowledge

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What is Food Security?

Food security means having enough food to feed a population, where people can both access and afford food.
A balanced diet is essential so that people do not become malnourished, meaning they lack key nutrients.
Many different factors can threaten food security both globally and within individual countries.

The Growing Human Population

The global human population is projected to exceed 10 billion by the year 2100, placing enormous pressure on food supplies.
As birth rates increase, demand rises for key resources including food, water, living space, and sanitation.
Ensuring sufficient food for a growing population is one of the greatest challenges facing the modern world.

2. The Growing Human PopulationAQA

Notes

The global human population is projected to exceed 10 billion by the year 2100, placing enormous pressure on food supplies.
As birth rates increase, demand rises for key resources including food, water, living space, and sanitation.
Ensuring sufficient food for a growing population is one of the greatest challenges facing the modern world.

Changing Diets and Food Availability

When wealthier nations adopt new food trends, such as quinoa being labelled a 'superfood', demand and prices can rise sharply.
Price increases for staple foods like quinoa in Bolivia and Peru meant poorer citizens could no longer afford their traditional nutritious diet, leading to malnutrition.
Farmers in producing countries sometimes sold their nutritious crops for profit and replaced them with cheaper, less nutritious foods, negatively affecting their health.
Quinoa is now grown in other regions such as North America, reducing reliance on Bolivia and Peru and helping to stabilise prices.

3. Changing Diets and Food AvailabilityAQA

Notes

When wealthier nations adopt new food trends, such as quinoa being labelled a 'superfood', demand and prices can rise sharply.
Price increases for staple foods like quinoa in Bolivia and Peru meant poorer citizens could no longer afford their traditional nutritious diet, leading to malnutrition.
Farmers in producing countries sometimes sold their nutritious crops for profit and replaced them with cheaper, less nutritious foods, negatively affecting their health.
Quinoa is now grown in other regions such as North America, reducing reliance on Bolivia and Peru and helping to stabilise prices.

New Pests and Diseases

Increased global travel and climate change allow new pests and diseases to spread to countries where they did not previously exist.
Blue tongue disease, spread by midges that normally survive only in hot African climates, is now reaching UK livestock due to rising temperatures caused by climate change.
Affected sheep and cattle develop swollen faces, ulcers, and sores on their hooves, causing significant animal suffering and threatening livestock numbers.
Desert locusts, each weighing approximately 2 grams and consuming 2 grams of crops per day, can swarm in groups of up to 100 billion, devastating entire harvests within hours.
Climate change is expanding the range of desert locusts beyond their usual regions (e.g.
East Africa, India, Pakistan) into new areas such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Control methods include spraying pesticides and deploying natural predators such as ducks, which can each consume up to 210 locusts per day.

4. New Pests and DiseasesAQA

Notes

Increased global travel and climate change allow new pests and diseases to spread to countries where they did not previously exist.
Blue tongue disease, spread by midges that normally survive only in hot African climates, is now reaching UK livestock due to rising temperatures caused by climate change.
Affected sheep and cattle develop swollen faces, ulcers, and sores on their hooves, causing significant animal suffering and threatening livestock numbers.
Desert locusts, each weighing approximately 2 grams and consuming 2 grams of crops per day, can swarm in groups of up to 100 billion, devastating entire harvests within hours.
Climate change is expanding the range of desert locusts beyond their usual regions (e.g.
East Africa, India, Pakistan) into new areas such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Control methods include spraying pesticides and deploying natural predators such as ducks, which can each consume up to 210 locusts per day.

Environmental Changes and Climate Change

Climate change can cause both flooding and droughts, both of which destroy crops and reduce food availability.
In wealthier countries, crop destruction leads to financial loss, but in developing countries it can directly cause malnutrition and starvation.
Countries such as Somalia and Pakistan have experienced severe food insecurity as a result of flooding and drought in recent years.
Genetically modified (GM) crops can be engineered to be resistant to flooding, drought, or disease, helping to protect yields in vulnerable regions.
A key concern with GM crops is that they may increase the cost of seeds, potentially making them less accessible to farmers in developing countries.

5. Environmental Changes and Climate ChangeAQA

Notes

Climate change can cause both flooding and droughts, both of which destroy crops and reduce food availability.
In wealthier countries, crop destruction leads to financial loss, but in developing countries it can directly cause malnutrition and starvation.
Countries such as Somalia and Pakistan have experienced severe food insecurity as a result of flooding and drought in recent years.
Genetically modified (GM) crops can be engineered to be resistant to flooding, drought, or disease, helping to protect yields in vulnerable regions.
A key concern with GM crops is that they may increase the cost of seeds, potentially making them less accessible to farmers in developing countries.

Agricultural Inputs and Costs

Agricultural inputs include the costs of watering systems, pesticides, and herbicides, all of which contribute to the overall cost of food production.
Although high input costs can be a barrier, they are often offset by an increased yield — the total amount of crop produced.
Some organisations work to ensure that GM seeds resistant to flooding and drought remain affordable for farmers in developing countries.

6. Agricultural Inputs and CostsAQA

Notes

Agricultural inputs include the costs of watering systems, pesticides, and herbicides, all of which contribute to the overall cost of food production.
Although high input costs can be a barrier, they are often offset by an increased yield — the total amount of crop produced.
Some organisations work to ensure that GM seeds resistant to flooding and drought remain affordable for farmers in developing countries.

Conflict and War

War and conflict disrupt citizens' ability to access and afford food, directly threatening food security.
Conflict can cause extreme inflation, making food unaffordable even when it is physically available.
The destruction of water supplies during conflict further reduces the ability to grow and access food.
Violence prevents civilians from safely leaving their homes to obtain food, and places enormous strain on health services.

7. Conflict and WarAQA

Notes

War and conflict disrupt citizens' ability to access and afford food, directly threatening food security.
Conflict can cause extreme inflation, making food unaffordable even when it is physically available.
The destruction of water supplies during conflict further reduces the ability to grow and access food.
Violence prevents civilians from safely leaving their homes to obtain food, and places enormous strain on health services.

Linking Factors to Food Insecurity

An increasing population raises demand for food, meaning supply must grow significantly to prevent widespread hunger.
Changing diets in wealthier nations can drive up prices of staple foods in poorer countries, reducing food access for vulnerable populations.
New pests, diseases, and environmental changes such as flooding and drought can rapidly destroy crops, reducing food supply and causing food insecurity.
Conflict disrupts food production, distribution, and affordability, making it one of the most severe threats to food security in affected regions.

8. Linking Factors to Food InsecurityAQA

Notes

An increasing population raises demand for food, meaning supply must grow significantly to prevent widespread hunger.
Changing diets in wealthier nations can drive up prices of staple foods in poorer countries, reducing food access for vulnerable populations.
New pests, diseases, and environmental changes such as flooding and drought can rapidly destroy crops, reducing food supply and causing food insecurity.
Conflict disrupts food production, distribution, and affordability, making it one of the most severe threats to food security in affected regions.