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How has television influenced public
response to famine and world hunger issues?
In 1984 on TV we saw images of a famine in
Ethiopia. This was not the first famine, nor
the worst that ever occurred, but for the first
time that a famine had been brought “live”
into the living rooms of Europe and North
America.
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Bob Geldof, an Irish rock star, created a song
to raise funds for this famine. It became a
best-selling record. It was called…
“Do they know it’s Christmas”
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He then created the first ever Live Aid concert
(global rock concert/telethon). The concerts
aired on TV where viewers phoned in
donations – it raised $150 million.
Ironically, at the same time, many farmers
were producing too much grain, oil seeds,
livestock & other foodstuff, that prices were
so low; they were not making enough money
to cover their costs.
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Famine is a temporary situation in which a
country or region does not have enough
available food to feed its population. This is
caused b/c not enough food can be grown, or
food distribution is unequal. This leads to
death from starvation or diseases. Famines
are caused by natural causes (drought) or
human (civil wars).
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Starvation is an extreme form of hunger in
which people suffer from a serious or total
lack of energy and essential vitamins and
minerals. The body wastes away as tissue is
consumer to provide protein and energy.
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Malnutrition is a condition in which health is
damaged by an unbalanced diet. The
imbalance may result from a diet that
includes either too much or too little of one
or more essential nutrients over an extended
period of time.
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Undernourishment is when diet lack one or
more vital nutrients in the quantity that is
needed for the body to develop and function
properly.
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Developed countries (MDC) often send food
aid to developing countries (LDC)
◦ Give two different reasons why a MDC such as
Canada might choose to do this?
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Answer:
Canadian government gives out of a desire to
help people who are hungry.
Also, Canadian farmers, sell grain and other
foodstuffs to the country receiving aid.
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◦ How might food aid disrupt a LDC’s local
economy?
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Answer:
The arrival of “free” food can seriously disrupt
the local agricultural markets b/c local
farmers are not able to earn as much $ since
food is dumped on the market.
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How could donor countries avoid disrupting a
LDC’s economy while still providing aid?
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Answer
They could buy the food that will be
disturbed in the region where it will be
consumed. This provides enhanced incomes
for farmers in that area.
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Why does this not happen very often?
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Answer
Within Canada this doesn’t occur because
government politics in farming areas would
have difficulty justifying the purchase of
agricultural products in a foreign country at a
time when Canadian farmers are suffering
from low incomes.
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Looking on page 262 – 264 – create a
timeline.
Be creative & use colour… 
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In Canada we are use to having a reliable &
inexpensive supply of food.
But very few people are linked to the farming
community – only 4% of the population is
farmers.
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Agriculture depends on the interactions of a
number of natural systems…
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Climate
Soil
Topography
Biology
Climate Systems
Insufficient solar input
can limit what is grown
Too little moisture –
insufficient humus
develops
Soil Systems
Too much moisture –
nutrients are lost to
leaching
Insufficient precipitation
can limit what is grown
Agricultural
Success
Helpful organisms
improve farming
Land that is too hilly will
suffer from serious
erosions
Topographic
System
Land that is level with a
high water table can
become waterlogged
Destructive organisms
damage farming
Biological
Systems
Subsistence farming: grow crops and raise
livestock to meet the immediate food needs
of their family.
 Produce many agricultural products often on
small farms
 Dominate form of farming in developing
countries
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Cash-crop farming: specialize in producing
only a few products, even on large farms.
The products produced are not used by the
farmer.
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Intensive agriculture: is farming on a small
amount of land in a concentrated fashion
with the use of large amounts of labour and
capital.
Labour & capital are needed for the
application of chemicals, & to plant &
maintain the products.
Producing a higher crop yield per unit of land
then extensive.
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Extensive Agriculture: uses large amounts of
land with limited amounts of labour and
capital. Crop yields depend primarily on
natural soil fertility, terrain, climate and
availability of water.
Producing a lower crop yield per unit of land
then intensive.
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Every type of agriculture in the world can be
found somewhere on this plane…
Intensive
Cash-crop farming
Subsistence Farming
Extensive
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GMO – or a genetically modified organism or
transgenic organism
When biotechnologist move desirable genes
from one organism to another
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More nutrients can be added to a staple like
rice
Tolerance for certain herbicides (chemicals to
kill weeds)
Resistant to insects &
Limit use of insecticides to reduce amount of
pollution
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Transgenic Agriculture:
In 2003, 6 countries cultivated 99% of the
total global transgenic crop area of 67.7
million hectares.
The US cultivated 63% & Canada 6%.
From 1996 to 2003 – the area of transgenic
crops grew from 1.7 to 67.7 million hectares.
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New strains of animals that carry new
genetic info, such as:
◦ Animals that are genetically modified to grow
faster and resist to disease
◦ Transgenic cows produce more milk on less feed
◦ Transgenic pigs are more feed-efficient &
produce leaner meat
◦ Sheep & pigs can even be modified to produce
human proteins, such as insulin in their milk
◦ Used for research into diseases such as cancer &
muscular dystrophy
 Know as “Frankenfoods”
 Issues surround the topic of ethics & are more
controversial in Europe than NA
 Major fear – transgenic crops that kill specific
types of insects may cause the creation of
“superbugs” that are resistant to the effects of
pesticides (& superweeds)
 Who owns the technology? The companies who
conduct the research do – therefore research is
guided by profit, not solving issues like world
hunger
 Terminator seeds – is when the plant cannot
seed, results in farmers buying seeds annually
= greater profit
 Disruption of natural environment – if seeds
mix with natural environment they can take
over the natural order
 Not enough research is yet known if transgenic
crops are safe
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In groups you will be looking at an assigned issue
and you will be presenting that issue to the class
with the following information:
Title
What is the issue?
How did this issue come to be?
What are the pros and/or cons surrounding the issue?
Is there anything being done to solve/better the issue?
Come up with some solutions that can help remedy the
problem.
◦ Your group’s position on the issue and an explanation
why? (If there are more than one positions on the issue
present both with their reasoning)
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World Agricultural Patterns:
Assignment – page 275-277 Q 1-6
page 280 1-2