food security for humanity-full paper

29
Food Security for Humanity: Challenges & Opportunities Ms Amita Marwha Lecturer Isabella Thoburn College 7, Faizabad road, Lucknow [email protected] Abstract: Purpose Drawing on both classic and modern work, I propose to find out the major humanitarian food crisis that has occurred due to man made causes such as civil wars, ethinic conflicts in different part of the regions in the world. Major sufferers are children and infants. Due to failure in experiment in social changes and development mass hysteria has developed among masses which are heavily burdened by state but does not profit from countries boom give rise to conflicts in which major proportion of the population generally end up as refugees in the countries with almost little or no excess to food and drinking water. Design/Methodology/approach- A case studies of ten different countries facing serious refugee crisis was developed.Secondary

Upload: amita-marwaha

Post on 10-Aug-2015

40 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Food Security for Humanity: Challenges & Opportunities

Ms Amita Marwha

Lecturer

Isabella Thoburn College

7, Faizabad road, Lucknow

[email protected]

Abstract:

Purpose – Drawing on both classic and modern work, I propose to find out the major humanitarian

food crisis that has occurred due to man made causes such as civil wars, ethinic conflicts in different

part of the regions in the world. Major sufferers are children and infants. Due to failure in experiment

in social changes and development mass hysteria has developed among masses which are heavily

burdened by state but does not profit from countries boom give rise to conflicts in which major

proportion of the population generally end up as refugees in the countries with almost little or no

excess to food and drinking water.

Design/Methodology/approach- A case studies of ten different countries facing serious refugee

crisis was developed.Secondary data will be used to show its economic implications especially food

insecurity as a result it requires serious discussion.

Findings- The economic repercussions of these civil wars and ethinic conflicts are huge.both for the

country where these conflicts are undergoing and for the country who takes these refugees economic

costs are huge. Prolonged episodes of this social unrest, strikes, civil wars often compromise

economic activities and political implications takes time to become fully visible.

Page 2: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Research limitation and implication-The accuracy of the findings depend upon the authenticity of

the source and information used in analyzing secondary data.

Practical implications-The result of this finding will help economists, research workers, sociologists

understand the grave problems that exist under our very nose and is creating a humanity crisis and

also importance and impact of these refugee crisis in changing and deciding world politics today.

Originality Value-This study is of its first kind which will establish the economic impact and its co-

relation with political ramifications of these refugee crises which put a big question mark on United

Nations millenium goals of providing food security world over.

Key Words - Economic ramifications, political implications, civil wars, food insecurity, internally

displaced people.

Paper type-Research Paper

Page 3: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Food Security for Humanity: Challenges & Opportunities

I

Introduction

According to Craig Pearson1the root cause of food insecurity, is quite simply, that food production

and food distribution do not meet the need of world population.underneath this simple statement

there are multiple causes that are pushing humanity to these deplorable conditions ranging from

poverty and population growth to declining agricultural production, land degradation, clmate change,

urbanizations, water shortages, diversion of cropland.Are these the only threats to humanity? When

children dies due to malnutrition, hunger, epidemics, when rape occurs as a part of systematic and

organized effort to dehumanize an opponenet class, ethnicity, colour, class and religion, when

millions becomes homeless, forced to live in the condoitions that are so deplorable and demeaning

that humanity has to bow its head in shame.then the question arises what are they losing? What

should be done to prevent these kinds of horrors?

Modern Day Threats to Humanity

According to Sabina Alkire2 “The objective of Human security is to safeguard the vital core of all

Human lives from the pervasive threats, in a way that is consistent with a long-term human

fulfillment”.Institutions that undertake there protection should be strenthened at all cost.Human

security is a condition that results from an effective political, economic, social, cultural and natural

environment and not from executing a set of administrative procedures.We are destroying that vital

core of Humanity if we fail to protect the rights and freedoms in the vital core pertaining to

1 Professor and director of Melbourne sustainable society institue, university of Melbourne Australia.2 Sabina Alkire;Centre for research on Inequality,Human security and ethnicity,CRISE,2003:University of oxford

Page 4: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

survival,livelihood and most important Basic Human Dignity.We can never insure human rights if

we failed to safeguard human dignity.Human security concept was first appeared in UN Human

development Report from 90’s.In his book entitled –‘Human Security :Paradigm shift or Hot Air?'

Roland Paris3 has given a matrix with one axis that distinguishes studies concerned exclusively with

military threats from studies of non militry security threats such as economic deprivation or

environmental crisis.The other axis distinguishes studies that concieve of the state as the appropriate

unit of analysis for security studies from studies of security for societies, groups and

individuals.Deprivation, inequality, poverty all are pervasive threats to Human security.if the vital

core of human dignity is challenged then the masses are forced to take extreme actions of the

situations they are fear full off.Implementing institutions which are gennerally assigned this task of

assuring human security generally prove to be a failure due to their small size,capacity in the

developing world.What is the source of security threat?

Military Non military,military,Both

3 Paris, Roland (2001)”Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?’International Security 26(2), 87-102.

National security

Redefined securityenvironmental and economic security

Inter state securityCivil war,ethinic conflict

Human securityEnvironmental and economic threats

Page 5: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Source: Paris, Roland (2001)”Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?

Section II

COUNTRIES FACING ACUTE FOOD SHORTAGES DUE TO REFUGEE CRISIS

Lebonan- Due to Syrian Refugees

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim said that Lebanon was facing a serious economic crisis due to

the presence of large numbers of Syrian refugees. The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon

currently registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees currently stands at

1.1 million—around one quarter of Lebanon’s population—although the actual figure is reported

to be much higher. Due to worsening civil conflict, 6.3 million people are estimated to be facing

severe food insecurity. Although some international food assistance is provided, the Syrian

refugees are also putting strain on other countries in the region.

The majority of Syrian refugees arriving in Lebanon are living in extreme conditions. They are often

fleeing out of desperation. Many have lost a family member, witnessed extreme acts of violence or

been the victims of such acts. Many have come from relatively comfortable lives, having enjoyed

good services in Syria and relative stability over the last 20 years. Yet they have arrived in Lebanon

with only the possessions they can carry. Many are living in tents, with only the most basic of

water and sanitation facilities. They have been freezing over the winter, and are now sweltering in

the summer. Those living in rented accommodation are often paying extremely high rents, forcing

several families to co-habit, sometimes as many as 20 people sleeping in a room together. Many of

these refugees have lost any sense of stability and community, and are striving to establish a new life

in an unfamiliar location. They do not know when, or if they will be able to go home.4

4 UNDER PRESSUREthe impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on host communities in Lebanon; July 2013World Vision Lebanon and WVUK RR-HA-02

Page 6: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Conflict in Syria-background

On 15 March 2011, protesters gathered in the Syrian city of Deraa following the claimed detention of

several youth who had been writing anti-government graffiti. Three days later, with the protests

gathering momentum, fighting broke out, resulting in the death of several people. These events

sparked a significant escalation in the unrest already bubbling across the country. The following

months saw a gradual increase in violence between government forces and protesters. By the

end of 2011, the violence had spread across the whole country, with roughly 10,000 people

reportedly killed. The year 2012 saw a significant escalation in the scale and brutality of the conflict.

The conflict has increasingly been portrayed as having taken on a sectarian divide, with both sides

appearing to be receiving significant support from groups both within and from outside of the

country. This has allowed both sides to become entrenched. Few people predict an end to the conflict

any time soon.

Syria- Economic Cost of civil war

Tourism-most

damaged sector

since the

protests began

Accounts for 12% in GDP and directly

contributes 10% of the employment

Foreign Direct

investment

Several Persian gulf and foreign

companies have announced their plans to

cancel investment in Syria

Budgetary

Deficit

Bashar Assad issued a decree increasing

monthly salaries and wages by 1,500

The cost of these measures,

which were not anticipated in

Page 7: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Syrian lira ($30), in addition to a 30%

increase for monthly salaries under

10,000 lira ($200) and a 20% increase for

salaries at or above 10,000 lira. The

government also reduced fuel prices by

25% to aid citizens’ purchasing power and

counter negative effects of the inflationary

pressures accompanying the protest

wave.

this year’s fiscal law, is

estimated at more than 2% of

GDP. This means the budget

deficit will expand and could

surpass 8% of GDP unless tax

revenues — and economic

activity — rise.

Devaluation of

currency

The Syrian lira has also recorded a drop in

its value versus the dollar, falling up to

15% at times. There has also been an

increase in currency trading in the

unregulated (black) market.

Staistics and Facts-Magnitude of the Humanitarian Crisis within Syria

93,000 have already been

killed in syrian conflict.

6.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistence.

4.25 million are displaced within syria and over 2 million

are refugees in the neighbouring countries.

The number of refugees that have already arrived from

Syria In Lebonan is

around 525,00013.

Syria Has A Population Of 22.5

Million

Page 8: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Staistics and Facts-magnitude of the Humanitarian risis in Lebanon

The recent sinking of a refugee boat bound for Australia off Java, which had 68 Lebanese on

board, highlights the complexity, magnitude and reach of the Syrian civil war.The international

focus has tended to be on the refugees, but the impact on host countries also demands attention.

All of Syria’s neighbours - except Israel - have been affected by the flow of refugees which, in

the case of Lebanon, has raised fears for the survival of the state. The issue is not just

humanitarian. It is highly political as well.

Lebanon is particularly vulnerable to the pressure from refugees. It is a fragile state that lacks

effective administration. The country has been operating under a caretaker government since

March, largely because of an ongoing domestic political crisis.The situation in Lebanon has

reflected deeply divided politics, a stalemate between the main political actors, extensive foreign

intervention and the precarious regional security situation. But to its great credit, Lebanon has

maintained an open border policy for Syrian refugees.

The population of Lebanon is estimated to be a little over 4.3 million

Even by the most conservative figures, the number of refugees currently in the country has swelled by more than 12% in little over a year.

When we factor in 400,000 Palestinian refugees, the true scale of the crisis facing Lebanon becomes apparent. By these (conservative) estimates, almost 25% of the people in Lebanon today are Refugees

Page 9: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

This has meant that the country has found itself host to more than one million Syrian refugees,

with around 50,000 new registrations each month. In addition, 55,000 Palestinian refugees from

Syria have registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency. Syrian refugees now represent the

equivalent of 25% of the total Lebanese population of around four million. The influx of such

numbers would present a fundamental challenge to even the most organised of political systems.

Economic cost for Lebanon due to Syrian refugees

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel countries deep in a years-long drought that has claimed

thousands of lives and left millions battling for survival. This year, more than 20 million people

in the region are facing food insecurity, and 5 million children are malnourished. A massive

The country’s budget deficit reached around A$1.89 billion in April this year

refugee crisis, which, according to the World Bank, has cost Lebanon over A$7.75 billion .

The resulting challenges manifest in various ways. For example, when Lebanese public schools opened this October, they were expected to provide educational opportunities for refugee children. They were able to find places for 100,000 school-aged refugees but a further 100,000 missed out. This has long-term implications for the students’ development and has led to increased delinquency and crime in some areas.

Page 10: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

influx of refugees from Mali has put additional pressure on local food supplies. About 50,000

Malian refugees are estimated to be living in the country as of November 2013. Mostly in

Oudalan and Soum provinces of the northern Sahel region, which has been already facing food

insecurity and high malnutrition rates.

Tuareg refugees at Mentao South camp in northern Women and children displaced from Mali shelter under a tent.

Burkina Faso: Source: The Guardian.

Mali Internal Conflict- Background

In January 2012, armed conflict broke out in Mali when Tuareg separatists and an Islamic

militant group linked to Al Qaeda took control of large areas of northern Mali. As of early 2014,

nearly 450,000 Malians were still displaced, with roughly 50,000 living as refugees in Burkina

Faso. Since 2012, Malian refugees have been granted prima facie refugee status by the

Government. Some 60 per cent of them live in three consolidated refugee camps, namely Sag-

Nioniogo, Goudoubo and Mentao. Nearly 20 per cent of the refugees reside in host villages in

the Sahel region, 13 per cent are hosted in five spontaneous sites, Dibissi, Deou, Gorom-Gorom,

Ouyigouya and Tin Hedja, and the remaining stay in Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

Page 11: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Malian refugees live in a challenging environment, affected by successive famine and droughts,

extreme heat, violent winds and rain.

Refugee site Population in Burkino Faso- Total Refugee Population-49,975 (13,577 Household)

Camp Sites Out of camp

refugees

Mentao Camp Goudoubo

camp

Urban

refugees

Sag-

nioniogo

No.of

refugees

17,077 16,546 10,363 3,159 2,830

Source: UNHCR

Thousands in Burkina Faso are currently suffering from the food crisis affecting the broader

Sahel region, and this has been exacerbated by the influx of refugees from neighbouring

Mali.The acute malnutrition rate in Burkina Faso is already above 10% and is expected to rise up

to 19% due to the Sahel food crisis. In northern Burkina Faso, there is a 90% cereal  deficit and

the acute severe malnutrition rate is predicted to go up to 5% by September, according to the

country’s Minister of Health. “We have now 257,000 refugees from Mali who are going through

an enormous level of suffering and deprivation,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,

António Guterres, during a visit to the Damba camp, which is home to some 1,200 Malian

refugees, in northern Burkina Faso.

Chad

Influx of refugees (over 467 000 people from the Sudan’s Darfur region, the Central African

Republic and northern Nigeria) and the return of an estimated 350 000 Chadians have put

additional pressure on the local food supply affecting food security.

Sudan’s Darfur Inter Ethinic War-Background

Page 12: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

First, between 2003 and 2005, most of the violence in Darfur involved attacks by largely Arab,

government-sponsored militias against non-Arab groups that were systematically regarded as

supporters of the rebellion. The militias were largely recruited from the abbala (camel-herding)

groups of North Darfur and were pejoratively nicknamed ‘janjaweed’.7

Second, after the signing of the DPA in 2006, Arab groups turned increasingly against the

government, and even more so against each other. Between 2008 and 2010, most of Darfur’s

violence appears to have been generated notably between abbala and baggara (cattle herders) of

South Darfur.

A third phase has emerged as Arab groups have become more reluctant tofight on behalf of the

government, notably due to the violence they themselves suffered in 2008–10. As a result, the

government has shifted to forming and backing non-Arab militias for its counter-insurgency strategy.

This approach, which exploits the existing grievances of eastern Darfur’s non-Arab tribes (such as

the Bergid, Berti, Mima, and Tunjur) against the Zaghawa—who are systematically labelled ‘rebels’

by local and national authorities—created unsustainable tensions and finally ignited an extended

cycle of violence that began in late 2010.5

Food crisis in Chad refugee camps.

The International Federation estimates that more than a third of local people are undernourished.

That is a higher ratio than in the camps. In fact, during a distribution of a calorie-rich supplement

to more than 3,500 children, and pregnant or breastfeeding women in six villages around the

camps in May, two severely malnourished children were discovered.There is a competition of

limited resources between locals and refugees.

5 Gramizzi and Tubiana.(2010) Forgotten Darfur: Old Tactics and New Players: Published in Switzerland by the Small Arms Survey

Page 13: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Yemen

The number of refugees in Yemen currently makes up around 8% of the country’s entire

population of about 25 Million.The severely food-insecure population in need of emergency

food assistance is estimated at 4.5 million people, 18 percent of the population, as a result of high

levels of prolonged conflict, poverty, and high food and fuel prices. There are close to 2 million

foreign refugees living in Yemen, according to statements made by Yemeni President Abed

Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Most of them come from Somalia and Ethiopia and only 250,000 of them

are officially registered as refugees. In 2012, about 107,000 refugees flowed into Yemen, while

from January to May 2013, 29,000 arrived, according to the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR) in Yemen. In addition to non-Yemeni refugees, there have been waves

of displaced Yemenis beginning in 2004 because of the Saada war in the north. [These waves]

then intensified in Abyan in the south starting in 2011, following the outbreak of the state’s war

against al-Qaeda.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The number of people in need of food assistance was estimated in December 2013 at about 6.7

million, with 5 percent increase compared to June 2013. The areas most affected by severe food

insecurity (IPC phase 4: Humanitarian Emergency) are the conflict affected Maniema, Oriental

and Katanga provinces. As of late December 2013, the total number of IDPs6 was estimated at

more than 2.9 million, with a 12 percent increase compared to June 2013. In addition, since early

2013, the DRC has received about 53 000 refugees from the CAR (Centrel African republic), and

about 120 000 returnees who were expelled from Angola. Due mainly to the ongoing instability

6 Internally Displaced People.

Page 14: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

in the eastern part of the country, about 450,000 refugees from the DRC remain in neighbouring

countries, particularly Burundi, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. By

contrast, in 2012 and 2013, over 100,000 refugees were assisted to return from the Republic of

the Congo (Congo). In 2014, UNHCR anticipates facilitating the voluntary return of 36,000

refugees to the DRC, again from the Congo.7

Liberia

Liberia’s 14-year civil war produced several waves of refugees who at one point numbered over

700,000. Liberians who fled their home lost their refugee status last year. The UN has helped

repatriate 155,000 people since 2004 .Slow recovery from war related damages, inadequate

social services and infrastructure, poor market access and presence of some 58,000 Ivorian

refugees in the country (as of January 2014) result in the need for continued international

support.Registered refugee population in liberia is 37,929 from which household are 12,181.

Section III

Conclusion

Social unrest not only threatens political, but also economic stability. Especially prolonged

episodes of social unrest be it in the form of strikes and protests or, civil war, often

compromise economic activity. Moreover, deteriorating business environments deter

investors, while riots and wars can also cause physical damage to production plants. Finally,

international sanctions, as a result of unrest, can further add to economic costs. Of course, there

7 2014 UNHCR country operations profile - Democratic Republic of the Congo

Page 15: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

are also the more accepted economic effects of protests which come in the form of direct

economic costs, also more peaceful protests could prove expensive, if they succeed in delaying

or even discontinuing the various, much-needed1 austerity measures. It is increasingly clear

that the institutions of yesterday are inadequate for the challenges of tomorrow.  Multinational

corporations bent toward the myopia of quarterly returns are ill-fit for extended periods of

volatility and turbulence.  Centralized governments, with an opacity built in to ensure secrecy,

cannot keep pace with the speed-of-light communications of 21st Century internet-based and

mobile technologies.  They must be opened up and redesigned with agility and integrity as

guiding principles.

What is needed now is nothing less than the wholesale redesign of civilization.  Our banking

institutions must be reconnected to the thriving of human communities.  Our schools and

universities must cultivate a creative resilience that enables massive-scale innovation.  Our

businesses must produce positive social impacts alongside healthy revenues.  And our

governments must successfully provide the supports through which well-being is sustained

and spread across the entirety of nations, cities, and villages.

This schematic captures the essence of what is needed:

Page 16: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

This concept of bridge-building across paradigms was developed by the Berkana Institute.8

On the left is the old paradigm with its food production, governance, commerce, and civic

capabilities.  As these old systems continue their decline it is absolutely essential that people

remain in them as Stabilizers of the Old.  Teachers must continue to educate our youth.

Farmers must continue to grow our food.  Utility companies must continue to protect us against

the elements.  And so on.

At the same time, there is a vital role for social innovators!  These Creators of New Systems will

design hybrid organizational forms that combine the economic strengths of for-profit

companies with the social values and integrity of non-profit missions.  They will decentralize

energy production and invent clean technologies.  And they will build the integrative

institutions of government, education, and civil society that are capable of evolving in the

complex ecosystems of our 21st Century planet.

8 Toward the Global Transition — 2012 and Beyond In Economic Patterns, Global Integration, Social Change on January 27, 2012 .

Page 17: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

Yet, another vital role is that of Bridge Builders for Transition.  Those who can translate the

new paradigm into the operational settings of legacy organizations will create new job

categories that enable the stabilizers to keep paying their mortgages and put their kids through

college while increasingly directing their productivity toward resilient design.

Are you a stabilizer who seeks stability and order for our chaotic world?  Or perhaps a social

innovator whose creativity the world so desperately needs?  Or is your place in the transitional

management of people who lack a bridge across the divide?

The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all

times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”

Food security is built on three pillars:

Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.

Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.

Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate

water and sanitation9.

Given the turbulence that we have seen in the past so many years in terms of protests ,I think

it’s a warning signals of the storms that have been brewing from ages now between haves and

haves not .Arab spring ,wall street protests are just a tip of the ice berg. Macroeconomic

indicators are just figures and they do not feed the hundreds of thousands of hungry people.

The basic problem of the above crisis and food shortage is limited resources available to large

section of the problem and few countries have abundant resources and do not have that much

mouth to feed. World can not and should not turn a blind eye towards these crisis as they have

9 http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/

Page 18: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

rebound effect.thus the questions that has to be asked are :

How can the overall economic gains from trade benefit those who are most likely to be

suffering from food insecurity?

Do gains “trickle down” to enhance economic access to food for the poor?

Most important question we need to ask is how and in what ways we can assure basic human

Dignity to a large world population reeling under abject poverty,depriviation ?

Page 19: Food Security for Humanity-full paper

References

Alkire ,Sabina(2003);’A conceptual framework for Human Security’Centre for research on

Inequality,Human security and ethnicity,CRISE,2003:University of oxford

Gramizzi and Tubiana.(2010) Forgotten Darfur: Old Tactics and New Players: Published in

Switzerland by the Small Arms Survey

King.Gary and Christopher Murray (2001) “Rethinking Human Security’political science

quarterly 116(4), 585-610.

Paris, Roland (2001)”Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?’International Security 26(2),

87-102.

Pearson, Craig: Professor and director of Melbourne sustainable society institue, university of

Melbourne Australia.

Toward the Global Transition — 2012 and Beyond In Economic Patterns, Global Integration,

Social Change on January 27, 2012

UNHCR(2014) country operations profile - Democratic Republic of the Congo

UNDER PRESSURE (july 2013)the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on host communities in

Lebanon; July 2013

World Vision Lebanon and WVUK RR-HA-02.

http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/

Page 20: Food Security for Humanity-full paper