Promoting Production of Livestock which is Optimal for Food Security

By: Aisha Iskandar (Deputy Chair)Committee: Special Conference on Food Security

What does it mean?

This relates to the kinds of animals raised on farms that are used for human food.

Some animals eat a little grain to become ready for market, but other animals eat a

lot. This topic tries to make recommendations about which animals would be most efficient to produce for

human food.

What does it mean to ‘promote the production of livestock’? What is optimal food security?

Key Terms and Definition

Production: The act of producing; creation; manufacture.

Livestock: Animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch.

Food Security: The availability of food and one’s accessibility to it.

Famine: E xtreme shortage of food.

Key Terms and Definition (continued)

Starvation: A state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period.

Malnourishment: Not having enough food to develop or function normally.A six year

old malnourished child

Topic Summary Food security is a major global issue Food shortages due to economic crisis. 1 billion

people suffer from starvation, malnourishment, and not enough nourishment.

Encouraging the production of livestock to feed growing populations (studies show 3 billion more people to feed by 2050)

Food shortage in Africa and Asia (very important) Major events in countries (natural events, wars,

etc.) that may affect food supply: -Haiti food shortage after Hurricane Sandy

-war in Syria-overpopulation in certain countries

Cost of livestock productionIt takes about 2 pounds of grain to produce one pound of chicken meat, about 4 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of pork, and about 8 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef.

Looks like chicken is the more sustainable livestock to raise

Cost of livestock production For every pound / kg of grain consumed by livestock there

is that much grain NOT available for human consumption. For every pound / kg of grain grown there is a

corresponding amount of land and water resources used to grow it

Livestock that eats more grain COSTS more land to be cleared and used, and takes more grain away from direct human consumption

Livestock that eats less grain COSTS less land to be cleared for use, and leaves more grain for human consumption

Beef takes up most grain, most land to produce the grain, and most land for it to live / graze on

U.N Involvement

The United Nations has launched many projects all over the world to deal with food shortage and food security throughout the years through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The Committee of World Food Security (CFS) has also been taking action in dealing with food security, but mainly focuses on short-term food crises

The FAO has established a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to half poverty and hunger by 2015

Timeline of Events

1943 – Forty-four governments came together to create a permanent organization for food and agriculture (not fully established yet)

1960 – Freedom from Hunger food campaign began to gain non-governmental support

1962 - The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission created to set international food standards becomes operational.

1981 – The first World Food Day takes place on 16th of October by 150 countries

Timeline of Events (continued)

1986 – The world’s most broad source of agricultural information (FAOSTAT) becomes operational

1994 – FAO starts the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), which targets low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs)

1996 – FAO calls upon186 Heads of State or Government and other high officials at World Food Summit (in November) to discuss and combat world hunger.

Timeline of Events (continued)

1997 – FAO begins the campaign against hunger initiative, called TeleFood. In 1997, TeleFood reaches a global audience of 500 million (more on TeleFood: http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/action/facts_tf_silos.htm)

2000 – FAO creates a strategy for concerted government and UN agency action to combat chronic hunger in the Horn of Africa (at the request of the United Nations Secretary-General)

Timeline of Events (continued)

2002 – World Food Summit: five years later, reaffirms the international community's commitment to reduce hunger by half by 2015 (MDGs)

2008 – FAO holds a high-level conference on the impact of climate change and bio-fuel boom on food security and food prices. The conference adopted a resolution to increase assistance and investment in developing world agriculture

Timeline of Events (continued)

2010 – Worst floods ever to hit Pakistan; FAO helped by distributing wheat seed to half a million farming families in time for the planting season. An additional 235,000 families received feed, medicine, and shelter for their animals

2011 – FAO declared a state of famine in two regions of Somalia and appealed for US$120 million for response to the drought across the Horn of Africa

Possible Solutions

Promoting the production of sustainable livestock to have more supply of food

Invest in agriculture and job growth More developed countries (MDCs) cooperate

with less developed countries (LDCs) to create free trade agreements (FTAs)

Save land to make more farms (certain countries have started growing farms on tall buildings in order to maximize the use of land)

Enforce human rights (allowing people their rights to have clean water and food)

Possible Solutions

Beef is the least helpful livestock in terms of efficient use of the entire food supply chain

Chicken is the most sustainable livestock on land

Fish is the most efficient use of space when farm-raised, high in food value to humans, also low on feed consumption

Indoor fish farm

Statistics for Undernourishment due to food shortage

Link to Hunger Map: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/food_security.shtml

Useful/Relevant Websites

http://www.fao.org/about/en/

http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/

http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2373e/i2373e00.htm

http://www.sdc-drr.net/and_fs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/

14/un-global-food-crisis-warning

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/03/food-sh

ortage-reach-critical-phase-asia-africa.html\

http://www.bigpictureagriculture.com/latest-ag-news

Useful/Relevant Websites (continued)

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/04.09/sh

ortages.html

http://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/in

dex.php/component/content/article/158-cop18-

day-4-food/1165-livestock-and-climate-change-i

ntensification-is-not-the-answer

http://www.un-foodsecurity.org/

http://www.climate.org/publications/Climate%2

0Alerts/2012-winter/sustainable-agriculture-foo

d-security.html

(May be useful)

http://www.realfooduniversity.com/paleoprimal-l

ifestyle-sustainable-meat-production

/

Bibliography

 "FAO's Mandate." FAO: About FAO. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.fao.org/about/en/>.

"Food Security | Disaster Risk Reduction Platform." Disaster Risk Reduction Platform. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013. <http://www.sdc-drr.net/and_fs>.

"Food Shortage to Reach Critical Phase in Asia, Africa." The Jakarta Post. The Jakarta Post, 3 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/03/food-shortage-reach-critical-phase-asia-africa.html>.

"Global Food Security | The Secretary-General's High-Level Task Force." Global Food Security. United Nations, n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. <http://www.un-foodsecurity.org/>.

Vidal, John. "UN Warns of Looming Worldwide Food Crisis in 2013." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 9 Jan. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/oct/14/un-global-food-crisis-warning>.

Images http://www.sustainablesushi.net/the-fish/sake/ http://

arizonafitnessbootcampblog.blogspot.sg/2012/05/wild-vs-farmed-fish.html

http://emahlou.blogspot.sg/2010/10/shooting-bull.html http://www.edupics.com/image-pig-i16127.html http://creativewealthintl.org/cwi-blog/get-your-own-chicken

/ http://www.healthcastle.com/whole_grain_faceoff.shtml