How to Change Unequal Distribution of Food

Worldwide, the distribution of food is wildly unequal, with some populations enjoying great abundance while others suffer from malnutrition and scarcity. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations reports that in 2010 about 925 million people worldwide were malnourished. Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen explains that food insecurity does not necessarily reflect a lack of nutritional resources, but results from an inability to access affordable foods and unequal distribution. To change the unequal distribution of food requires taking steps to assess populations needs and climate conditions, and to reallocate valuable resources.

Instructions

• 1

  Determine population needs. Assess the nutritional requirements for different regions based on population size and other characteristics, such as the prevalence of disease and the proportion of the population that are children or pregnant mothers. This assessment helps to target regions where food is insufficient and alternatively where populations are consuming too much.

• 2

  Analyze regional climate and agricultural productivity. Environmental factors, such as soil fertility and rainfall, affect the type and volume of food that can be grown in a region. Determining the strengths or limitations of an agricultural environment helps to identify where resources are lacking, and where food imports may be required.

• 3

  Identify food resource destinations. Food produced in a certain area does not necessarily go to feed the local population. In many developing countries, a significant proportion of agricultural products exit the country and are sold in international markets. Malnutrition and starvation are more common in developing countries than elsewhere. This form of export-based market can negatively affect the public health and nutritional needs of local populations, especially among the very poor.

• 4

  Examine land use patterns. Many agriculturally fertile regions do not support food crops, but are rather used to grow non-edible products. In Brazil, a country with staggering rates of malnutrition, millions of acres of productive land are devoted to growing crops for biofuels, at the expense of local populations being able to grow food. Similarly, the Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that in Africa over one millions acres of productive land have been given over to tobacco crops.

• 5

  Promote sustainable food policies. Countries, such as India and China, which bear the highest rates of malnutrition worldwide, are also among the world's largest food producers. Support policies that enable food products to remain in the areas in which they are produced.

• 6

  Lower costs for poor consumers. As economist Amartya Sen observes, the primary culprit in unequal food distribution is not scarcity, but costs that make food too expensive for the world's poor.

• 7

  Support charitable organizations. Several nonprofit organizations and international institutions run effective programs on reducing inequalities in food distribution. By making monetary or food-based contributions, you can aid in achieving needed changes.