Supplies of food, energy and water are three of the most challenging issues the world faces. Significant numbers of people are resource poor, whilst others consume more than their fair share. This topic investigates emerging patterns, where demand is outstripping supply, before taking the issue of food security and considering the question ‘can we feed nine billion people?’ Learners will investigate what it means to be food secure, how countries try to achieve this and reflect upon the sustainability of strategies to increase food security.
8.1 Will we run out of natural resources?
a. How has our increasing demand for resources affected the planet?
- Outline the factors leading to demand outstripping supply of food, energy and water
- Overview of how environments and ecosystems are used and modified by humans including: mechanisation of farming and commercial fishing to provide food deforestation and mining to provide energy reservoirs and water transfer schemes to provide water.
8.2 Can we feed nine billion people by 2050?
b. What does it mean to be food secure?
- Understand the term ‘food security’ and the human and physical factors which influence this.
- How world patterns of access to food are illustrated, such as the world hunger index and average daily calorie consumption.
- Investigate the differences between Malthusian and Boserupian theories about the relationship between population and food supply.
b. How can countries ensure their food security?
Case study of attempts to achieve food security in one country (UK) to include:
- Investigation of statistics relating to food consumption and availability over time.
- The success of one attempt in helping achieve food security at a local scale
- The effectiveness of one past and one present attempt to achieve food security at a national scale
c. How sustainable are these strategies?
Explore the environmental, economic and social sustainability of attempts to achieve food security, in relation to: