Addressing Food Security.

There are three categories in addressing the issues in food security. These are,
reduction of food production demand, increasing food production, and
avoiding losses in food production.

1. Reduction of food production demand.

Food demand is predominantly driven by number of consumers and

consumer expectations. To reduce the growing food production demand,
population growth should also be reduced. Reducing overconsumption and
waste should also be done to help alleviate this issue. It has been estimated
that between 20 and 40 per cent of all produce is wasted due to uneaten
excess food, inadequate storage systems and poor harvesting practices.
Biofuel policies should also be considered. Because of increasing demands in
biofuel, lands used to produce crops are converted to produce biofuels, thus,
increasing the demands in food production per acre.

2. Increasing food production

With the increasing demand in food and some factors increasing the demand
being uncontrollable, production should also be increased. One way to
increase food production is to cultivate lands that are not used for food
production, although this is problematic due to urbanization and its threats to
biodiversity. Some farmers use canal systems for crop irrigations; however
this is problematic due to water evaporation, and needed to be replaced with
more advanced irrigation systems to increase crop yields. Next, Aquaculture
production is a good alternative to existing conventional livestock production
as it will produce more food and alleviate the problems in global marine
overfishing. Studying the genetics of crops will also allow us to understand
our crops better. Some genetically modified plants increase yields by
reducing their growth cycle. However, research and debates are going on in
the scientific society whether GMOS are safe or not. In growing crops,
fertilizers are needed, however efficient use can lead to saving money and
increase yields. For example, the use of fertilizers with nitrogen and
phosphorus on wheat, rice and maize crops could be reduced by 13-29
percent and still produce the same yields.
3. Avoiding losses in food production

The last category tackles the issues in losses during food production. When
food is lost, it is not just the potential food supply is lost but also the effort
and money spent for , fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides. Some steps can be
done to prevent this. First, is by maintaining disease resistance for crops and
livestock with the help of pesticides and genetics, although they can raise
some issues for the people and the environment. Also, food losses can be
minimized by avoiding land and water degradation and through managing
water treatment and land maintenance. Lastly, knowing that climate change
is a major restriction for food production, reducing gas emissions, efficient
use of fertilizers since they emit excess NO2 into the air , and conducting
researches to balance the large greenhouse gas, methane output of animal
agriculture, will be a great help to minimize extreme changes in our planet.