Genetically Modified Food - Essay Example

People in Africa can be fed genetically modified food because it is inexpensive and it does not take much effort to produce it. This paper will shed more light upon how genetically modified food can save countless lives not only in Africa but also all across the globe. There is very wrong perception of the rich people that there is no food shortage in the world and this is because they have all the luxuries in the world, but they have just noticed the sharp increase in food price. However, food is becoming a scarce resource and this increase in prices is a result of food crisis which is one of the most important global issues.

According to The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (OXFAM), there are 967 billion people who do not have enough amount of food to eat (2008). It is found that the global food crisis exists because of several causes. Oil crisis is one of the main factors which have a direct impact on the food crisis, the prices of food transportation and agricultural fertilizers have increased because of the oil crisis and the same directly affects the food crisis. Population growth is another cause especially in middle class countries such as India the same has led to an increase in the demand of meat that apply more grain in order to be produced than other commodities.

Climate change has also affected food production where drought covered several parts of the world such as south Asia. Trade is another cause of food crisis because imported goods might be cheaper than goods produced in the country, so poor farmers are forced to reduce the price of their products. Finally, Bio fuel production is considered as one of the biggest causes of food crisis since the price of food has increased at the same time as bio fuel production has increased. The food crisis not only affects the developing countries but it has also started taking a toll on the developed countries.

This essay considers the responses to food crisis in Zimbabwe which is a developing country in South Africa. To understand this issue, we fist need to explain the reasons for food crisis in Zimbabwe. Then, we will discuss and evaluate the current responses to this problem there. Finally, other appropriate responses to solve the food crisis in Zimbabwe will be presented. As a poor developing country in South Africa, Zimbabwe has been suffering from economical Decline since its independence from the British in the year 1980, and this is exactly the main factor for food crisis.

Weak economical situation in Zimbabwe brings about less than 30 per cent of employment as a result of which, hunger expands in the country and more people live in extreme poverty (IRIN, 2008). 5.5 billion dollars as dept on the Zimbabwean government to be paid to other countries, this goes to show how fragile the Zimbabwean government is. According to the same source, irregular and delays in dept payment led some countries to stop trade with the Zimbabwean government. The Need of the Hour It is clear that aid in the form of fertilizers and seed is a long term solution because with this kind of response farmers produce more food and reduce the amount of imported food as a result.

Moreover, by improving the agricultural part, food shortage will decrease and the country could export food instead of importing. However, the amount of