Food Security in Peru: Issues of Chronic Hunger and Malnutrition

Introduction

Food security is having access to nutrition and affordable food and water. Peru has struggled with issues of chronic hunger and malnutrition for years. High rates of poverty, gender inequality, and lack of access to education have contributed to hunger-related issues throughout the country. Poverty and hunger are more common in the rural, indigenous populations. chronic hunger and malnutrition are because of a lack of access to fresh water and formal education. Environmental issues in Peru are water pollution, soil erosion, pollution, and deforestation. Peru has received aid from many organizations domestic and foreign governmental and non-governmental agencies have helped Peru, the Hunger Project (THP) is one of these global non-profit organizations. For the management strategies I chose pollution I think Peru needs proper pollution treatment. Proper pollution treatment will limit the number of toxic substances that normally end up in water systems such as lakes, rivers, and oceans the gasses that end up floating around in the atmosphere. The second is deforestation and the management I have chosen is Community forestry. community forestry is when local communities come together with the local schools, corporate, and universities and plant trees to regrow the forest.

Geographical context

Peru is located in the western and central part of South America. it covers an area of 496,224 square miles. the longitude and latitude of Peru are 9.1900° S, 75.0152° W . with a population of 31 million. the Nazca lines are a natural search that I have always found interesting it has existed for over 1,500 years. With the drawings covering nearly 518 square kilometers. Rainbow Mountain is a colored mountain in Peru. the mountain's colors were formed by sedimentary mineral layers in the mountain that have been exposed by erosion. Laguna 69 is a small lake near of the city of Huaraz in Peru it is a World Heritage Site. Peru is divided into three contrasting topographical regions: the coast (costa), the highlands (sierra), and the eastern rainforests (selva). Peru's main Biomes are :

• Desert (hot; dry year-round)
• Tundra( Long winters, short summers)
• Tropical rain-forest (sunlight, hot, and a good amount of precipitation)

Peru's main source of agriculture is : asparagus, potatoes, maize, rice, and coffee.

Peru is responsible for half of the world's supply of quinoa and they use synthetic fertilizers rather than the still-abundant guano due to infrastructure issues. Peru has a lot of natural resources they can rely on and the tropical biome is good for drowning food.

Biomes

Desert biomes have very dry, arid climates and are usually characterized as receiving less than 250 mm of rainfall per year. the soil/sand is poorly developed, very shallow, and infertile. because of temperatures and the lack of water, it is difficult if not impossible to grow or keep crops alive. Tundra biomes are the other biomes in Peru along with tropical biomes, tundra biomes are also hard to grow crops or other plants because living things need sun and with the short summer there is not must sun for the place to grow and stay alive. lucky most of Peru is made up of tropical biomes, not just desert and Tundra biomes

Climate change

Because of late change, Sea Level Rise which is a catastrophe to some countries' environments increases the risk of flooding. Storm surges rise to higher levels during coastal storms, which causes beach erosion, This also harms people and property along the coast. for Peru, this means beaches along the Lima Coastal Zone being submerged. In 2012 the Peruvian Navy’s department of oceanography warned that “rising sea levels as a result of climate change could make some popular areas on Peru’s coast uninhabitable in 80 years”. another effect of climate change for Peru is glacial melt, Glaciers are huge sheets of ice and snow that normally don’t melt Peru has tropical glaciers ( nearly 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers) this would affect Lake Palcacocha with would then result in one less water source for the people of Peru. If ice caps are melting and sea levels are rising because of late mate change all the crops will die because of the saltwater coming and killing all of the crops or more common flash floods and other natural deserted that will get worse the more the climate changes.

Management

Community forestry.

In Peru, more than 80 percent is classified as primary forest the FAO estimate that somewhere between 224,000 and 300,000 hectares of forest area per year which is an annual deforestation rate of 0.35-0.5 %. The Tropical rainforest part of Peru is the best part to grow crops because it has sunlight and a good amount of precipitation. Community forestry is when local communities come together with the local schools, corporate, and universities and plant trees to regrow the forest. This would be good because not just done it get the community together it is rebuilding the forest

Pollution

Peru's capital Lima has the worst air pollution of all Latin American cities according to a 2014 study by the World Health Organization there is anymore it is considered harmful to health. The World Health Organization (WHO), report in 1,600 cities in 91 countries, found that only 12 percent of the world’s urban population breathes clean air. it is caused by industrial activity and vehicle emissions, Poor fuel, old buses, and cars. The number of annual deaths caused by pollution around the world is now greater than malaria and HIV combined according to a recent study, with scientists warning that fatalities could reach 6 million a year by 2050. In lia there are people going in a tub to breathe in the fresh air. Nearly 80% of the estimated 5,000 deaths a year from pollution may be caused by the city’s fleet of old minivans and buses. Most poor areas are the most polluted and are often sited close to open waste dumps and other sources of pollution. According to watering out of the 31 million people living in Peru four million don't have access to safe water and five million don't have access to improved sanitation. The water pollution is causing a water shortage witch means that the crop in Peru is failing. Because the main course of air pollution is vehicle emissions and old buses the simple management would be to stay away from fossil fuels and replace them with solar and wind energy.

Conclusion

Food security is having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. in the past couple of years thank to many organization Peru has been doing better with having enough safe food to go around. now only 22% of people live in poverty, with little access to nutritious food and 13.1% of children under 5 are chronically malnourished will this is still not great it is a drastic improvement from 5 years ago. Climate change is a big issue facing the whole world and inter climate change will have drastic changes on its environment such as glacial melt and rising sea levels other issues are deforestation with is when the trees in the forest get cut down or are down from nature accord and need to be replanted. Proper sewage treatment sour is put in place in all countries.