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‘Threats to food security are greatest in dryland areas.’ Discuss
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Essay on ‘Threats to food security are greatest in dryland areas.’ Discuss [33] for OCR A-Level Geography
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‘Threats to food security are greatest in dryland areas.’ Discuss [33]Food security is when all people at all times have physical and economical access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food that meets their dietary needs & food preferences for an active & healthy life. Dryland areas are
defined by a scarcity of water. They are zones where precipitation is balanced by evaporation &
evapotranspiration. This means that some of the conditions for growing crops such as temperature, water
availability aren’t met which threatens food security in dryland areas and this problem can be exacerbated by
anthropogenic factors. However, patterns of food insecurity vary spatially & are not limited to dryland areas as
the threats to food security are also faced by low income developing countries [LIDCs] which are not
necessarily located in dryland areas.
One example of a dryland area that is facing great threats to food security is the Sahel which is a region in
Africa that suffers from desertification. It consists of countries such as Mali, Niger, Sudan, Chad & many more
& suffers from food insecurity. Desertification is reduction in agricultural capacity due to overexploitation of
resources & natural processes such as drought. One of the physical threats to food security in the Sahel is that
it receives less precipitation of only about 200-800 mm of rainfall a year. This reduces the water availability for
agriculture as water is essential for the germination of seeds & crop growth as it’s needed for photosynthesis &
other metabolic processes. Furthermore, although the winter rain can infiltrate the soil, in the summer, light
showers fall on hot surfaces & are quickly lost to evapotranspiration which means that the soil retains less
moisture. Due to sparse vegetation, there’s little accumulation of organic little in soil & when land is cultivated,
the organic matter is lost which decreases the soil’s fertility so further results in low yields. Lower precipitation
result in droughts as there’s limited amount of moisture so results in low productivity in the ecosystem & low
biodiversity which means that soil’s can’t support agriculture so there’s lower food production which is
important in regions such as the Sahel as the countries tend to be LIDCs which rely on subsistence farming to
be food secure & those in commercial farming receive a lower income due to lower yields which means that
being food secure is less affordable to them. These all physical factors threaten food security in dryland areas
such as the Sahel.
Anthropogenic factors also significantly threaten food security in dryland areas such as the Sahel. For
example, exponential increase in population as the population of sub-Saharan Africa is around 1.1 billion and
is expected to double by 2050. Therefore, population growth means that there is more demand for food which
may exceed supply so less food is available to most people threatening food security and this is exacerbated
by rising temperatures as a result of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by anthropogenic factors such as
deforestation, agriculture, urbanisation and much more. Furthermore, rapid population growth also increases
the demand for fuel wood which therefore results in increased deforestation for fuel wood for cooking. Less
trees means that there are less roots to bind the soil so there’s increased wind and soil erosion resulting in
loss of organic matter which reduces the soil’s fertility so limits plant growth and therefore results in lower
yields which further reduces supply of food so it can’t meet the demand of an increasing population in the
Sahel. Therefore, physical factors threatening food security in the Sahel [dryland area] are exacerbated by
anthropogenic factors.
On the other hand, the risk and vulnerability to food security is also threatened by shocks such as natural
hazards. This can be seen in Nepal where the 2015 earthquake led to devastating impacts as it left 35 million
in need of emergency food aid. The earthquake led to destruction of crops and many farmers missed the
planting season from May onwards and were unable to harvest rice [country's staple food] which meant that
there was less food production. Livestock were also killed and machinery damaged or destroyed such as vital
irrigation and drainage systems. Therefore, farmers suffered a loss of income and since Nepal is an LIDC, the
government can’t reimburse farmers which is significant as ⅔ of people rely on agriculture for their livelihood.
Therefore a loss of income means that food is less affordable, threatening food security. Widespread damage
to infrastructure meant that markets couldn’t function as food distribution was disrupted which increased waste
so less food available to people in Nepal. Furthermore, since infrastructure was destroyed movement of
emergency assistance/aid workers was also severely constrained with further increased the risk of food
insecurity especially in rural areas in remote mountains which is isolated and therefore difficult for aid workers
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