F1012 Global Food Security. Food , Agriculture and Rural Development

This class is offered to understand the factors affecting the global food demand and supply conditions and to find potential solutions to the global food security problems. In history, we find some incidences which food shortages induced even the situations of wars. Food supply from domestic production, carry-over from the previous year and the import sources need to meet the food demand by the inhabitants of the country if the country would like to sustain the sound food economy. Naturally, globally securing food for the population has been a common concern for all the governments and international organizations. Temporal food shortages can be created by weather related supply problems such as severe droughts. Long-term food deficiencies can be produced by slow growth in technical change in the supply-side and rapidly growing population in the demand-side as typically observed in developing countries. Distributional inefficiencies within countries and between countries add extra constraints to the global food security.
Understanding the linkage among food, agriculture and rural development is critical for solving the global food security problems. Food is a necessary good for our every day life. Food originates from the agricultural sector. Input providers, processors, distribution and retail businesses are involved in the whole supply chain of food. Agricultural production activities are mainly done in rural areas. We need to understand how these activities are related.
The factors determining the supply and demand conditions of food are explained in detail in relation to the linkage among food, agriculture and rural development, first. The successful experience of Japan as a developing country for securing food in the early stage of economic development and policy failures for food security experienced by Japan as a developed country in the recent decades are shown as examples.
Next, the issues related with the global food security problems are discussed. The conflict between food security and energy security objectives is considered in this course. The promotional policies of the production of biofuel and biodiesel have been introduced in recent years in order to increase the production of energy using renewable resources of plants. We discuss the effectiveness of crop-based energy production and potential conflicts with food production. Climate change issues are also discussed in relation to global food security. Lastly, the ways to solve the global food security problems are argued in this one semester undergraduate class.
No knowledge in economics is required before taking this course. Discussions in class are very important for the better understanding of the issues and the analytical tools used for this course. Students are expected to go through the reading materials and actively participate in the class discussions.