Factors affecting human food security, and possible solutions
I can describe factors affecting food security, and explain how biotechnological and agricultural solutions can help to ensure food security.
Factors affecting human food security, and possible solutions
I can describe factors affecting food security, and explain how biotechnological and agricultural solutions can help to ensure food security.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Factors affecting food security, e.g. human population size, changing diets in wealthier populations, sustainability.
- Factors affecting food security, e.g. cost of agricultural inputs, environmental change, new pests and pathogens.
- Biotechnology can be used to produce food, for example microorganisms can produce mycoprotein, a fungus.
- Genetically modified crops can be used to increase food yields or produce better quality food.
- Benefits must be weighed against risks, costs and ethical issues.
Common misconception
Pupils may have a belief that genetically engineered organisms are not safe. While there are risks with GM organisms, there are a wide range of benefits which can help humans.
The lesson highlights the benefits of genetically modifying crops to address food security challenges, especially in the context of a growing human population and other factors that threaten food availability.
Keywords
Food security - having enough food to feed the human population
Genetic engineering - modifying the genome of an organism by adding, removing or altering genes, to introduce a desirable characteristic (or remove an undesirable one)
Biotechnology - the alteration and use of organisms to produce products for human use
Ethics - whether an action taken is right or wrong
Equipment
None required.
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Video
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