“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Albert Einstein
A footage video depicts a food crisis in Palestine. Palestinians, young and adults, desperately scrambled for food. They wait for a long time to attain a piece of bread and find it hard to escape from famine at the moment. So, this situation elucidates how war drives catastrophic human issues, especially food issues in this era.
On the other world spectrum, after winning an election, Vladimir Putin, in his speech, warned of a full-scale World War 3 if there is a confrontation between Russia and NATO. Obviously, this is not only an alert lamp for opponents but also for the global society. As we saw the previous year, the food trade has been in trouble since the Ukraine-Russia conflict, especially for wheat commodities. Additionally, the more and more countries engage in the war, particularly from the western states, the more crop products will suffer in international shipping and trading. To some extent, Russia’s position as the most fertilizer producer cannot be neglected. By distracting fertilization product transactions will play a crucial role in spiking food costs. Consequently, the global food crisis would appear unavoidable if the conflict escalated into a world war.
Not only stop there, but the crisis relating to dietary may also be worsened because of environmental issues. As Lester Brown explanation, First and foremost is global warming. Many agriculture failures happen, and crop uncertainties threaten farmers everywhere. The direct impact of it could be the uncontrollable price in the market. Thus, an unstable food supply is waiting to be involved in the calamity. Secondly, land degradation seems to be extremely affecting the agricultural sector, as is deforestation. This action reduces green areas and biodiversity and increases the greenhouse effect. It also eliminates the land for natural crops. Thirdly, misconduct in land management should be considered, particularly when utilizing inorganic fertilizer. Scientific investigations explained chemical fertilizers can produce nutrient imbalances, raise pest resistance, and cause groundwater contamination. Subsequently, the harvest results may significantly decrease. So, it should be borne in mind that the food crisis cannot be separated from the environmental problem.
Further, the other factors might contribute to strengthening the food crisis. In terms of policy, Derril D Watson suggests inappropriate agricultural mechanisms perhaps weaken food security. For example, the case of Indonesia’s failure in the food estate program was unable to boost the diet shortage. Yet, proposes a more devastating crisis for local inhabitants. From the dependency perspective, Bayu Mitra Adhyatma Kusuma and Theresua Octastefani argue that a policy on expanding imported products also takes a vital role in erecting an ineffective agenda to face the food crisis. This strategy may only benefit several communities that engage in trade, but not for most people, particularly farmer prosperity. Moreover, this way is probably effective in coping with short-term solutions but not for long-term projects. Henceforth, the authority’s unsuccessful initiative may make food predicaments more unsatisfactory.
For those reasons, it may be fair-minded for Einstein to state that in the future, probably the weapons are sticks and stones. It would be sensible since the people may scramble for food with neighbors, not state-to-state war anymore.
However, some strategies can be implemented to minimize the nourishment setback. Firstly, by strengthening local diet habits. As we know, every nation has its staple foods, such as Asian with rice and Western with bread. For a state that has a diverse culture might have many varieties of diets like sago, potato, corn, or cassava. The government should support the indigenous society to consume it rather than force them to eat other substances such as rice. Notably, the locals definitely understand how to plant, manage, and cook their native food. Thus, this indigenous value can be a crucial capital for food security.
Secondly, the public may need intensive education to produce, manage, and store ingredients. This is a strategic way to minimize the effect of uncertainty in the food supply due to climate change or world tragedies like war or pandemics. A good example is Koreans, who are able to manage and store their traditional food like kimchi or soy paste for a long period. In addition, the authority can develop collaboration and support the filmmaker or content creator to produce slow-living content that illustrates planting, cooking, and storing food effectively. Some channels that show this technique are A Nation of Kimchi and Kampung Halaman Official. Consequently, this method could save society from suffering in critical times.
Thirdly, in terms of personal aspects, it may be crucial to introduce a frugal living habit to prevent food waste. This behavior style might inspire individuals to eat as they need, not as they want. This perspective could also reduce the global wasted food statistic, which reaches around 40% or 2.5 billion tons annually. Hopefully, promoting such a good habit can help us escape food suffering in the future.
Fourthly, strengthening strategic cooperation with other countries. This kind of joint action would be advantageous for the members to look for a collective solution to the food crisis. For instance, Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and Australia (MIKTA) can work together to mitigate diet problems by holding a food security panel and discussing gastronomy program. By doing this partnership, collaborative action can be defined together to solve future food uncertainty and positioning to implement gastro diplomacy or gastro-politics in multilateral cooperation.
Fifthly, it should be crucial to note women’s and young people’s contribution to the food security issue. Women can play an important role in managing their family’s diet concerns and teach a traditional way to manage their food. Derica A. Kotze also proposes an argument that women’s contribution to food production and food security should be recognized in policy to promote agricultural development. Following this, Dario Piselli argues that youth skills are required to increase food sustainability opportunity development through technology or other innovations. The young generation should also learn about the food ingredient varieties and how to cook and plant them, especially the endemic food materials like vegetables and fruits surrounding them. It also can be beneficial to minimize instant or junk food consumption that harms health. So, everyone and the next generation will have enough knowledge of food security.
In conclusion, food security is a vital issue for humankind. It does not discuss state interest but has been essential for human sustainability. Hence, preparing and creating a holistic strategic plan to reduce its detrimental effects is crucial.
Written by Ramita Paraswati
