ISBN 1842902415
On Measuring Global Food Crisis-A Multivariate Modelling Approach by
Dr Parvesh K. Chopra discusses the food model inputs, processing and
outputs within an overall mathematical and multivariate statistical superstructure.
The outputs of the model are critical food crisis factors, multiple causal pathways,
the contribution of global agriculture and food systems, food demand side forces,
food supply side forces, food supply side factors, global agricultural market failures
and public sector interventions.
Dr. Chopra discusses the difficulties inherent in keeping pace with the increasing
global demand for food. Global agricultural markets suboptimize or fail according to
the author for a variety of reasons. For instance, the existing food production tends
to be an oligopolistic structure constrained by multi-national agribusiness, food
retail giants, a lack of transparency in food markets, unfair competition and
distortion in the trading of food. Similar observations are made in Food First
by Lappe'.
Dr. Chopra discusses the need to change diets to correct obesity trends.
One of the necessary changes is eating less beef in favor of more fruits
and vegetables which require fewer resources to grow and the use of
less grain. A modified Mediterranean Diet is closer to the ideal with
an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, water and small
portions of lean beef.
Dr. Chopra discusses a trend toward urbanization; wherein, large masses
of people must be fed within a predefined land mass. Historicallly, this
problem was dealt with by increasing the supply of organic food through
"Victory Gardens" under President Truman. Today, neighborhoods
throughout NYC are experimenting with "Roof Farming" in order to
bring cheaper organic foods into the inner cities.
Dr. Chopra discusses increased mortality rates for children under 5 years of age
who are undernourished and underweight in South Asia and the Sub-Sahara Africa.
The author doesn't say so; however, technologies; such as, water desalination
may be utilized along the water boundaries in areas of Africa which abut the Atlantic
Ocean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Water desalination is closer
to commercial feasibility with the advent of solar energy to fuel the desalination plants.
Another challenge is to build enough pipeline infrastructure to transport the water on the
African continent.
On Measuring Global Food Crisis-A Multivariate Modelling Approach by
Dr Parvesh K. Chopra is an important work on the economics of dealing with
food scarcity issues globally. The author discusses important negations which
restrict global advancement due to the oligopolistic structure of the global food
producers. Historically, there have been solutions directed toward communities
growing their own food to deal with scarcity and high pricing. In addition, the
wealthier countries could help move this process forward by contributing
more expertise, food and tax revenues to deal forthrightly with world hunger issues.
Food production has practical implementation issues in advanced countries like
China. Historically, earthquakes and flooding have been complicating factors for
local industry in China. In addition, there has been difficulty in migrating the knowhow
from the coastal areas into the rural areas and yurts in the inner parts of China.
Clearly, Dr. Chopra's analysis must be customized to take into consideration
non-standardized approaches toward food production in countries having
constraining factors which limit or make more difficult the production of food
for the masses. Another important source of food comes from the oceans.
Seafood is a huge potential supply area-particularly for South Asia and the
boundary areas of Africa. To fully exploit this option, ocean dumping must
be well controlled in order to protect the integrity of the oceans for food
production.
Credits: First Published On Blogcritics
