乐施会告急：世界粮食危机

choi

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VOA Chinese, June 4, 2011.
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110604-oxfam-food-crisis-123165298.html

Note:
(a) Oxfam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam
(founded in Oxford in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief by a group of Quakers, social activists, and Oxford academics)
(b) Press release: Broken food system and environmental crises spell hunger for millions. Oxfam launches global GROW campaign. Oxfam, May 31, 2011.
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2011-05-31/broken-food-system-environmental-crises-spell-hunger-millions
(c) The full report:

Growint a Better Future; Food justice in a resource-constrained world. Oxfam, May 31, 2011
http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/growing-a-better-future-010611-en.pdf

* Figure 3: The ecological footprint of food
(1 Kg ..........Water foodprint (litres) ..........Land use (m2)
BEEF .........15,500 .................................7.9
CHICKEN.....3,900 ..................................6.4
EGGS .........3,333 ..................................6.7
MILK ...........1,000 ..................................9.8
WHEAT .......1,300 .................................19.8 (Based on production in England and Wales)
RICE ............3,400 .................................[NA]
)

* Figure 15a: The food system is riddled with inequity: emissions and food supply
(Food supply (kcal/capita/day) in 2007: Australia 3227, Botswana 2264, Brazil 3113, Ethiopia 1980, India 2352, Indonesia 2538, Japan 2812, Niger 2376, Russia 3376, S Africa 2999, UK 3458, US 3748 [US recommends 2,000 kcal/capita/day for sedentary workers])

* "Box 7: A tale of two BRICS

They may both be members of the BRICS group of emerging economies, yet on the question of hunger, Brazil and India are poles apart. Despite more than doubling the size of its economy between 1990 and 2005, India failed to make even a tiny dent in the number of hungry people. In fact, it increased by 65 million – more than the population of France. Today, about one in four of the world’s hungry people lives in India.

In Brazil, however, where economic growth has been slower, hunger has been rolled back at an incredible pace – the proportion of people living in hunger almost halved between 1992 and 2007.


* Figure 21: Who are the food superpowers?  
(21a: Direct transfer food aid [US is head and shouolders above the rest];
21b: Agriculture, value added [China> EC> US > Japan> Brazil> France> Italy> Rep of Korea> Canada> Australia];
21c: Agricultural exports [US> France> Brazil> Italy> Canada> > China> Australia];  
21d: Cereal production: China> US (the two ae head and shoulders abvoe the rest.
21e: Producer support estimate [namely subsidies; EU> Japan> US> Rep of Korea > Australia
)

* Figure 24: Governments are good at investing in public bads
(Contribution to WFP $3.5bn, ODA for Agriculture $9.8bn, Biofuels subsidies $20bn, Worldwide subsidies for renewableenergy $57bn, Industrialized countries' agricultural support $252bn, Worldwide subsidies for fossil fuels (consumption only))

ODA stands for "official development assistance."

WFP: United Nations World Food Programme
www.wfp.org


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choi

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Justin Gillis, A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself. New York Times, June 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/science/earth/05harvest.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gillis%20dun&st=cse
(Paragraph 5 from the bottom: In Africa, largely bypassed by the Green Revolution but with enormous potential")

My comment: There is no need to read this front-page report. But takle a look at the graphic.

First and foremost, the graphic in the print edition has a better resolution than that online.

(a) The first key is "WHERE THE GRAINS ARE GROWN; Percentage of land harvested for corn, rice, wheat and other cereals  Note: Harvested areas [none in China, not even in Hainan province, according to this graphic] may exceed 100% where cereals are harvested more than once a year. "

Soybean is not considered a cereal.

The graphic in print shows:
(i) Taiwan has few green dots--with low intensity (suggesting even if grains are grown there, low percentage of land use is for agriculture). Well, I guess this key will depend on the size of land in survey. The larger it is, the more likely the land will be mixed-use.
(ii) Taiwna has a relatively large grain import, judging by the size of circle on top of Taiwan--several times larger than that of China, despite recent attention to China's food import. Besides soybean, Taiwan imports all sorts of cereals, including rice (WTO makes me do it).

It is worth noting that this key is about percentage of land use in growing cereals. This key does not say if the land is fertilized or abused.

(b) Then there is a scond key ("IRRIGATION USE") for two panels (West Africa and South Asia)--but not for China.

In the graphic, the white river in deep blue backgraopund is Indus River (already in Pakistan), having originated from Tibet and passed through India (not discernible in this graphic).


【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: VOA Chinese, June 4, 2011.
: http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110604-oxfam-food-crisis-123165298.html
: Note:
: (a) Oxfam
: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam
: (founded in Oxford in 1942 as the Oxford Committee
: (以下引言省略...)

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