GEOG382 Human Geography

Human Geography

Qn. 1

Food security can be defined as defined by the United Nations Committee is defined as the ability for all individuals to gain social, physical, and economic access to nutritious food that meets their food and dietary needs to lead an active and healthy life. The rapid changes experienced in climate condition alongside the ever-growing global population have adverse impacts on food security that requires individuals to new policies and strategies that provide adequate water allocation and sustainable land use patterns to enhance food security (Mbow et al., 2020). Food security can only be achieved when the poor and vulnerable populations which include women, children, and individuals living in marginal regions can attain secure access to the food that they have. Food security is the most essential requirement for human survival as food is required for individuals to lead a healthy life (Mwaniki, 2006). There are three dimensions in achieving food security and they include the necessity for the government to ensure that they adopt a safe and secure food supply at the national and household level and the food must obtain adequate nutrients. A level of stability in the annual supply of food can help in attaining food security and this requires all households to attain the ability and knowledge required in producing the food needed to meet their daily nutritional requirements.

Food security can be attained by supplying vulnerable member households with secure access to food. Individuals and household needs must be the initial factors to be addressed in matters that concern food security. Household food insecurity affected a large population in African nations across the entire population in both urban and rural regions. The most affected socio-economic groups that face the adverse impacts of food insecurity include women, children, and individuals who live in marginalized communities such as farmers. Food security can be attained at the household level when individuals are provided with adequate food to meet their annual demands. Households need to learn food production techniques so that they can take part in food production to enhance food security (Waha et al., 2018). There is an overwhelming need for maintaining peace and stability in Africa to attain food security because the constant wars contribute greatly to famine as a result of destroyed resources. The region should focus on economic growth to generate secure livelihood and a stable national economy that can enhance employment and improved living standards for all to attain food security. The agricultural sector in the region must aspire to implement labor-intensive strategies that emphasize job creation and improved levels of income to cater to the population’s food demand needs. Farmers should balance between cash crops and food production meant for domestic consumption to cater to food demand in the growing populations (Oyo et al., 2016). Moreover, the vulnerable groups should increase food production and income generation to attain long-term solutions to food insecurity. Food security should be among the most essential objectives in healthcare development policies to ensure adequate food supply to the most vulnerable populations. An increase in the production and income levels of the most vulnerable groups can be attained through the implementation of different policies that address the need for food security. Such policies must address and provide a solution to the region’s food security problems.

Qn. 3.

Africa experiences a poor state in healthcare because the region's public sector is not sufficient enough to provide affordable healthcare services. The region requires improved healthcare systems as it is vulnerable to diseases that cause high mortality rates among women and children. Over one million infants in Africa are estimated to die roughly four weeks after birth and most of the mortalities occur from home due to inaccessible healthcare facilities (Habtom, 2017). Child mortality rates can be reduced through facilitating community members with adequate healthcare resources. Apart from infant mortality, Africa continues to face high rates of maternal deaths that result from the lack of access to adequate healthcare services by pregnant women. Most of the expectant mothers deliver at home without the help of a healthcare provider which is a gender inequality issue that is against women's reproduction rights. Adequate healthcare facilities are the only way to prevent maternal deaths as all women will have access to antenatal care during pregnancy and access skilled care during childbirth (Filipp et al., 2016). Women in Africa remote regions have to travel a long distance before they access a healthcare organization and poverty is among the contributing factors to the high maternal deaths among African women. Moreover, Africa is a disease-infested region as pregnant women are vulnerable to communicable diseases such as malaria and the lack of healthcare facilities in rural areas leads to the death of many pregnant women.

The possible way forward to improve access to quality healthcare in Africa is by improving maternal and child health by providing adequate healthcare facilities mostly in the rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa. There is a need to expand access to healthcare services in Africa through government initiatives such as the current Novartis Malaria initiative that helps in improving access to medical programs in the healthcare industry. The low doctor-patient ratio in African countries contributes to that lack of access to healthcare services by many individuals and there is a need for expansion in training more medical personnel to cater to the growing populations (Amzat, 2015). Africa should implement better medical education to produce medical expertise that provides lasting solutions to the disease-infested regions. Research indicates that better education can be provided in the region to identify the right talents attached to the medical department for better healthcare outcomes. Rural healthcare is a sector that should be improved in Africa to solve the healthcare crisis as most individuals who live in remote regions lack access to quality healthcare services due to the poor distribution of healthcare personnel in the rural areas. Public fund allocation should be provided to healthcare facilities so that the general healthcare services can be improved. There is a need for an increase in healthcare funding to enable healthcare organizations to purchase the resources that are essential in providing competent healthcare services. The high infant and maternity death rated can only be solved by the government investing more in the healthcare sector to ensure adequate access to quality healthcare services, especially in the rural regions (Heft-Neal et al., 2018).

References

Amzat, J. (2015). The question of autonomy in maternal health in Africa: a rights-based consideration. Journal of bioethical inquiry, 12(2), 283-293.

Habtom, G. K. (2017). Designing innovative pro-poor healthcare financing system in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Eritrea. Journal of Public Administration and Policy Research, 9(4), 51-67.

Heft-Neal, S., Burney, J., Bendavid, E., & Burke, M. (2018). Robust relationship between air quality and infant mortality in Africa. Nature, 559(7713), 254-258.

Filippi, V., Chou, D., Ronsmans, C., Graham, W., & Say, L. (2016). Levels and causes of maternal mortality and morbidity.

Mbow, C., Rosenzweig, C. E., Barioni, L. G., Benton, T. G., Herrero, M., Krishnapillai, M., ... & Diouf, A. A. (2020). Food security.

Mwaniki, A. (2006). Achieving food security in Africa: Challenges and issues. UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (OSAA).

Oyo, B., & Kalema, B. M. (2016). A System Dynamics Model for Subsistence Farmers' Food Security Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of System Dynamics Applications (IJSDA), 5(1), 17-30.

Waha, K., Van Wijk, M. T., Fritz, S., See, L., Thornton, P. K., Wichern, J., & Herrero, M. (2018). Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa. Global change biology, 24(8), 3390-3400.

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