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SingaporeGeographySyllabus dot point

What threatens the world's food supply and people's ability to get enough food?

Explain the natural and human threats to food security, including climate change, population growth, poverty and conflict

A clear, scaffolded answer to the N(A)-Level Geography outcome on threats to food security. Climate change and extreme weather, population growth, poverty and rising prices, conflict, pests, and loss of farmland.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.88 min answer

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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  1. What this dot point is asking
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  3. Examples in context
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What this dot point is asking

This outcome asks you to explain the threats to food security, covering both natural threats (such as climate change) and human threats (such as population growth, poverty and conflict). The central idea is that food security can be undermined from many directions at once, some reducing the food available and others reducing people's access to it.

The answer

Climate change and extreme weather

A warming climate is a major threat. Droughts, floods and storms damage or destroy crops, and changing rainfall makes harvests less reliable. Rising temperatures and water shortages reduce yields in many regions, lowering the food available. This links food security closely to climate change.

Population growth

The world's population is rising, so more food is needed. This puts pressure on food supply and on the land and water used to grow it. If food production does not keep up with population, food security falls, especially in fast-growing, poorer regions.

Poverty and rising prices

Even where food is available, poverty stops people getting it. Poor people cannot afford enough food, and when food prices rise (because of poor harvests, higher costs or demand), more people are pushed into hunger. This is a threat to access rather than availability.

Conflict

War and conflict disrupt farming: they destroy crops, land and stores, force farmers to flee, and block the transport and trade that move food to people. Conflict can quickly turn a food-secure area into a hungry one by harming both supply and access.

Pests, disease and loss of farmland

Other threats include:

  • Pests and crop diseases that damage harvests.
  • Loss of farmland as land is taken for cities, roads and industry, or is degraded by soil erosion and overuse, leaving less good land to grow food.

Examples in context

Example 1. Drought reducing harvests. In regions hit by prolonged drought, crops fail and harvests shrink, reducing the food available and pushing prices up. As climate change makes droughts more frequent and severe in some areas, this threat to food security is expected to grow, linking weather extremes directly to hunger.

Example 2. Loss of farmland to growing cities. As cities expand, farmland on their edges is built over for housing, roads and industry. With less land to grow food, local production falls, and the area must rely more on imports. This steady loss of farmland is a quiet but serious long-term threat to food security.

Try this

Q1. State two threats to food security. [2 marks]

  • Cue. Climate change and extreme weather (droughts, floods); population growth (also poverty and rising prices, conflict, loss of farmland).

Q2. Explain how poverty threatens food security. [2 marks]

  • Cue. Poor people cannot afford enough food, especially when prices rise, so even where food is available they lack access to it.

Q3. Explain how conflict can reduce food security. [2 marks]

  • Cue. War disrupts farming, destroys crops and stores, forces farmers to flee, and blocks the transport and trade that move food to people.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of SEAB exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

Original6 marksExplain three threats to food security in the world today.
Show worked answer →

Threat one: climate change and extreme weather. Droughts, floods and storms damage or destroy crops and make harvests less reliable, reducing the food available.

Threat two: population growth. As the world's population rises, more food is needed, putting pressure on supply and on the land and water used to grow it.

Threat three: poverty and rising prices. Poor people cannot afford enough food, especially when prices rise, so even where food is available they lack access to it.

What markers reward: three distinct threats (climate change or extreme weather, population growth, poverty and prices, conflict, pests, loss of farmland) each explained with how it reduces food security.

Original5 marksExplain how conflict and the loss of farmland can threaten food security.
Show worked answer →

Conflict (war) threatens food security because it disrupts farming, destroys crops, land and stores, forces farmers to flee, and blocks the transport and trade that move food to people. This reduces both the food available and people's access to it.

Loss of farmland threatens food security because land is taken for cities, roads and industry, or is degraded by erosion and overuse, so there is less good land to grow food on. With less farmland, less food can be produced.

What markers reward: conflict disrupting farming and food transport, and loss of farmland (to building or degradation) reducing the land available to grow food, both lowering food security.

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