Food security exists when every individual in a nation has an easy access to sufficient quantity of nutritious food to meet his/her regular dietary needs. However, there are times when a country faces an acute shortage in its overall food production and as a result there is a great decline in the supply of the same. This leads to an uneven distribution of food among the masses. As a result, the food security of the nation is affected.
So, what are the countries doing in order to tackle the food security issue? The nations first try to increase the domestic production in order to meet their internal consumption. The surplus is stored to tackle situations like floods or a famine, where the general public is offered food grains and other daily commodities at a much lower price or in some cases free of cost. This procedure used by the government is known as food self-sufficiency.
A nation with a disturbed food security may also prefer adopting an income self-sufficiency policy, where it tries to increase the income of its people by increasing job opportunities. As a result, an individual is able to survive even in extreme situations such as a famine or an outbreak of an epidemic. The nations adopting the income self-sufficiency policy are generally those that own a land unsuitable for agriculture or animal gazing, and so it is impossible for them to implement a food self-sufficiency policy. Presently, China has a maximum level of food self-sufficiency at 95 percent. On the other hand, Singapore being geographically disadvantaged has introduced an income self-sufficiency policy.
Countries do not tackle the food security issues on their own. The UN has set up sub-organizations that assist the nations in maintaining food security. Food security is not just affecting the government bodies alone, but the entire nation as a whole.
There are times when the food supply is low and the government is forced to raise the prices in order to stabilize the situation once again. Take for instance the price of cocoa. The past few months have witnessed a serious rise in the cocoa prices. This was due to the shortage in the production of cocoa. Therefore, blaming the government alone for the price rise is definitely not a wise option.
Although many nations do succeed in overcoming the food security issues on their own, you may find a few who don't, and this is when they need to seek the necessary assistance from the external sources. Presently, countries mainly in Africa and Asia are suffering from food security related issues. The only thing that can put an end to such problems is a perfect planning of production and distribution of food resources, and this is possible only when the developed nations of the world meet together with an intention to implement techniques that will assist the poverty-stricken countries in acquiring food security.
