Nutrition in the Developing World - Assignment Example

Nutrition in the developing world Assignment 2 Name: University: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction “The Horn of Africa is the projection in the eastern side of the African continent. This projection juts into the sea for hundreds of kilometers. When the Horn of Africa is mentioned, it usually denotes the region in which Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea are located” (Horn of Africa, 2010, viewed on 12th March, 2010). Most of the land in the Horn of Africa is mountainous but the low lands of this region are mainly arid areas. This is in spite of the proximity of this region to the Equator. “The larger part of the Horn of Africa receives very low rainfall even during the monsoon season. This is brought about by the dry winds blowing over the area” (Horn of Africa, 2010, viewed on 12th March, 2010).       “Due to these conditions, the region does not produce enough food to feed the entire population. The volatile political environment in most parts of the Horn of Africa does not help the situation. Most of the population has fled their homes to go to settlement camps due to the war in their home areas” (Drought Imperils, Horn of Africa, 2006, viewed on 13th March, 2010). While in these settlement camps, they are entirely dependant on relief food donated to them. If this supply of relief food is halted or even delayed, millions would die of malnutrition related ailments. “The piracy on the Somali coastal line worsens the situation as it leads to delays in the delivery of relief food. Focus on this region should be emphasized because the rise in food prices will affect this region higher than any other region in the world” (3 million face malnutrition in Horn of Africa, 2008, viewed on 12th March, 2010). For instance in 2008 there were 1.8 million people in Somalia in need of external food assistance (Food Security and Nutritional Working Group, 2008, viewed on 18th March, 2010).       “Food security can be considered as the availability of enough food to meet all the dietary needs of the population. This food should also be accessible to the people with ease” (Food Security, 2010, viewed on 12th March, 2010). The four dimensions of food security are; food accessibility, food stability, food availability and food utilization. Food availability is affected by factors such as climate, disasters, social status, agricultural practices, trade, population size, war and trade. Affordability refers to the cost of food. When food prices are on a high only a certain number of the population will be able to afford it while another part will not be able to. The utilization of food refers to the ability of a people to be able to access a variety of foods and prepare them safely (Food Security, 2010, viewed on 18th March 2010). Malnutrition refers to a situation where an individual does not get the adequate amount of food; it may be under-nutrition or over-nutrition (Malnutrition, 2007, viewed on 18th March 2010). Under-nutrition is a condition in which an individual does not receive the correct amount of calories and proteins for maintenance and growth or they do not properly utilize the food they get due to illness. Over-nutrition is a state in which an individual consumes too many calories. “The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that malnutrition is the gravest single threat to global public health. In this context will focus more on under-nutrition as it is the most prevalent form of malnutrition in the horn of Africa” (Malnutrition, 2007, viewed on 18th March 2010). “The major signs and symptoms of malnutrition are; fatigue, wasting of the body, high risk of respiratory failure, susceptibility to cold and reduced tissue mass” (Signs and symptoms of malnutrition, 2010, viewed March 15th 2010). “Malnutrition is caused by; food shortages, lack of breastfeeding, food prices, poor diet, mental problems (depression, bulimia, anorexia), digestive disorders (for instance Celiac disease in which a person cannot absorb gluten) and alcoholism. Malnutrition if left unchecked results to death” (Causes of malnutrition, 2008, viewed 14th March, 2010). “Food prices have reached an all time high” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). The high food prices has been rapid and sustained across all main food crops. It is noted that the high food prices climaxed in the first part of 2008 (that is the January, February and March). “The prices were the highest international prices in almost 30 years for vital food commodities. The prices are forecast to be high in the next couple of years and will lay a toll on a number of developing countries” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). According to FAO the Food Price Indices rises were as follows: “eight percent in 2006, twenty four percent in 2007, the first three months of 2008 recorded fifty four percent increases. Furthermore price increases for the following products were also noted; vegetable oil prices rose by ninety seven percent, grains rose by eighty seven percent, rice by forty six percent and dairy products by fifty eight percent” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). “The high food prices are attributed to the following factors; exchange rate swings, biofuel demand, speculative transactions, high energy prices, food stocks decline and supply scarcity” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). “An increase in biofuel demand has led to the scarcity of food crops employed as biofuel thus a rise in their prices” (Impact of high food and fuel prices on developing countries, viewed 18th March, 2010). For instance there has been an increase of the use of maize for bioethanol production and rapeseed for biodiesel production. Also the felling of forests for palm oil tree plantations has led to environmental degradation. “Speculative transactions have been on the rise since investors are looking to change their line of investments due to one reason or the other. The increase in the number of speculators has resulted in the increase of liquidity and thus has influenced the decisions made by market players. This phenomenon has led to an increase in prices volatility and thus the kind of decisions made by investor. High energy prices has led to an increase in food prices since” (High energy costs could affect food process, 2010, viewed, 17th March, 2010. The persistent two year high food prices will have a number of repercussions. It will lay a toll on the following areas; balance of payments, agricultural production, and household food insecurity. “The World Bank also projects that about a hundred million people will be put in poverty due to the unprecedented high food prices” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). The balance of payments has been affected by the high fuel and food prices which threaten macro-economic stability and growth. “A negative balance of payments means worsened food problems and thus eminent undernourishment problems and minimal investment funds. Prevailing balance of payments is determined by a country’s net imports” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). For instance countries which have an over zealous dependence on petroleum imports, cereals and oil seeds felt a greater impact of high food prices and thus suffered from a higher extent of hunger problems. It is reported that the total cost of food imports in developing countries was; $254 billion in 2007. This was an all time rise from the precedent 2006 by 33 percent and which in turn was 13 percent higher than 2005. These effects have seen a decrease of about 3 percent in the GDP of most African countries (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). “Household food insecurity has been made worse by the high food prices. It is thought that more people are bound to suffer. A greater number from the current estimated 854 million people, are bound to suffer from food insecurity” (Rising food price intensify food insecurity in developing countries, 2008, viewed 17th March, 2010). This will greatly impact the developing countries; where food represents over half of consumer spending and a great percentage of expenditure for low income families is severe. “Since most of the people in developing countries are food buyers than producers they are at a greater risk in suffering from the impact of soaring food prices” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). “It is noted that about 23 percent of households and 31 percent of rural households are net sellers which is an indication that a majority are net buyers of staple foods which further implies that a large number of poor people stand to lose from the soaring prices” (What is nutrition, 2010, viewed 18th March, 2010). “Agricultural production is likely to be positively impacted by the high food prices if government consumer protection policies do not strive to lower the high food prices. High food prices will imply high incomes, expansion in production and additional investment in productive assets. It is therefore deduced that the soaring world food prices should mean an increase in world food production if and only if government polices do not lower them” (Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products, 2008, viewed 18th March 2010). Conclusion “For the international community to meet the food needs of developing countries especially those of the Horn of Africa, a fully coordinated approach is required. The response chosen should aim at helping the poor small scale farmer to boost production of food” (High food prices, impact and recommendations, 2008, viewed 19th March, 2010. Educating the general public is also another approach. Though not effective in the short term, education will go a long way in helping the communities get away from food insecurity. An educated society will know how and when to farm and the most suitable farming methods that suit their environmental surroundings. “The Horn of Africa for instance is a region that is frequently hit by droughts” (Drought imperils, Horn of Africa, 2006, viewed 13th March, 2010). Through educating the public, the people can learn about irrigation and slowly, the food insecurity giant can be eradicated. References 3 million face malnutrition in the Horn of Africa: UNICEF, viewed 12th March, 2010, www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/36062.html Advisory committee on paper and wood products viewed 18th March, 2010, www.fao.org/docrep/009/j7552eoo.html Causes of malnutrition, viewed 14th March, 2010, www.malnutrition.org/malnutrition.html Drought imperils, Horn of Africa, viewed 13th March, 2010, www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006 Effect of high energy cost on food prices, viewed 17th March, 2010, www.guardian.co.tt/bussiness/2010 Effect of rising food prices, viewed 17th March, 2010, www.ifad.org/operations/food Food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, viewed 13th March, 2010, www.fao.org/docrep/003/x85oe Food prices on the rise, viewed 14th March, 2010, www.news.bbc.co.uk Food security, viewed 12th March, 2010, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/food-security High food prices, impact and recommendations, viewed 19th March, 2010, www.ifad.org/operations/food Horn of Africa, viewed 12th March, 2010, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/horn-of-africa Impact of high food and fuel prices on developing countries, viewed 18th March, 2010, www.imf.org/externalinplexs/faq Malnutrition in the Horn of Africa, viewed 18th March, 2010, www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/36062.html Rising food prices, viewed 12th March, 2010, www.wsws.org/articles/2008 Signs and symptoms of malnutrition, viewed 15th March, 2010, www.livestrong.com/article/18046/signs-symptoms-malnutrition The magnitude and causes of food insecurity, viewed 14th March, 2010, www.usaid.gov/regions Worsening food insecurity looms in the Horn of Africa, viewed 12th March, 2010, www.newstimeafrica.com/archives Read More