Sustainable livelihoods

 

Sustainable livelihoods are a means of making a living. It encompasses people's capabilities, assets, income and activities required to secure the necessities of life.

A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from the stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base (Chambers & Conway 2016).

A livelihood is deemed sustainable when it can cope with and recover from known or expected stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities, assets and activities for current and future generations without compromising the natural resource base.

Agricultural productivity

Agricultural production means the production of any growing grass or crop attached to the surface of the land, whether or not the grass or crop is to be sold commercially, and the production of any farm animals, including farmed elk, whether or not the animals are to be sold commercially.

Food security.

Food security, as defined by the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

The FAO provides this well-accepted definition of a state of food security: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

Availability of food. Availability is one of the four components of food security and it addresses the supply side. The phrase refers to the physical inflow and presence of safe and nutritious food at a given time and in a given place (e.g. at a local market or in a country).

Access to food. Access, one of the four components of food security, concerns itself with whether or not an individual or household is able to gain access to (and therefore eat) available food. It addresses the ability to purchase or exchange goods for foods, as well as foods that are given and other social mechanisms that affect access (e.g. unequal distribution of food among the members of a household).

Utilization of food. Utilization is one of the four components of food security. It addresses the body’s ability to make the most out of the nutrients in food that is consumed. Utilization of food can be affected by factors such as poor storage, spoilage, cooking practices, food safety, and diseases (such as worms, or HIV/Aids) that might affect sufficient consumption and digestion of food.

Stability. Stability is one of the four components of food security. It cuts across and affects all the other components. Food may be available and accessible to people who are able to utilize it effectively, but this state of affairs needs to be enduring and so stable over time, rather than being a temporary state that is subject to fluctuations.

Malnutrition. Malnutrition undermines a person’s ability to lead a healthy life and occurs when a person is not able to obtain the right variety of nutrients in the right amounts from their diet. It is an umbrella term that includes over nutrition (an excess of food energy), under nutrition (a lack of food energy and macronutrients such as protein), and micronutrient deficiencies (insufficient micronutrients such as iron, vitamin A or iodine).

Examples of food security include.

Places like soup kitchens, food banks, school lunch programs, and other programs that give food to people in need without requiring any type of commitment in return.

 Livelihood assets into six (6) types and these include; natural assets, physical assets, financial assets, human assets, social assets, and cultural assets. All these build up a stable food security environment in a society or country.

Food security in Uganda.

Eighty nine percent   (89%) of the population in Uganda is food secure. This population still has normal access to food from own production and in the market following average harvests from first season 2014. Food prices in the market are affordable.  12 percent of the total population in the country is chronically food insecure.

Pillars of food security.

The four pillars of food security are availability, access, utilization and stability of food to the society or country.

Genetically modified organisms.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

Crop plants, farm animals, and soil bacteria are some of the more prominent examples of organisms that have been subject to genetic engineering.

Advantages of genetically modified Organisms.

They offer more useful knowledge for genetics.

The mapping of Genetically Modified Organisms genetic material has increased knowledge about genetic alterations and paved the way for the enhancement of genes in crops to make them more beneficial in terms of production and human consumption. For instance, crops can be engineered to resist unfavorable temperatures or produce higher yields, thus providing a greater level of genetic diversity in regions where climate hinders productivity.

They allow for more profit.

Genetically Modified Organisms have become a very efficient means for farmers to make larger profits, as it allows them to spend less time on resources. It is also economically efficient in a way that these organisms are designed to be pest-resistant, eliminating the need to use pesticides, which means more savings.

They add more value to crops.

Another great reason to grow Genetically Modified Organisms crops is that these plants will get added nutritional value, especially among those that previously lack the necessary vitamins and minerals. As there are regions around the world that heavily rely on rice or corn, plant genes can be added to such crops to boost their nutritional value, which is particularly helpful in malnourished populations. And because Genetically Modified Organisms are able to resist pests and other plant diseases, crop yields will be increased without the farmers having to use pesticides.

 They are known to decrease the prices of food.

Advanced crops and higher yields certainly mean lower costs, which are a benefit that can be passed to the consumers in the form of cheaper food products. This will be very helpful to families who cannot afford to buy supplies for everyday consumption. This also means that starvation will be prevented

They yield products that are found to be safe.

After precise testing and evaluation of Genetically Modified Organisms and other related products, they are found to be safe for human consumption. In fact, study shows that they are even safer compared to traditional crops.

Disadvantages of Genetically modified organisms.

One specific concern is the possibility for Genetically Modified Organisms to negatively affect human health. This could result from differences in nutritional content, allergic response, or undesired side effects such as toxicity, organ damage, or gene transfer.

 

 

They would make plants that leave unwanted residual effects to remain in the soil for a long period of time.

The process of growing Genetically Modified Organisms includes the addition of new genetic material into a crops genome, and similar to bacterial genetic engineering in agricultural ecology, this means the introduction of new genes in crops, like corn. Experimental cultivation of these crops started in the US and Canada in the 1980s and became large scale and commercial in the mid-1990s. Now, research on the effects of large-scale growing of Genetically Modified Organisms has revealed various concerns on ecosystems with Genetically Modified Organism strains, which are believed to have the potential to alter agriculture. Particularly, genetically modified plants had left unwanted or residual effects remaining in the soil for extended periods of time after they were removed, alerting agricultural regulators. Data shows that despite the absence of the genetically modified plants, their strain persisted for up to six years.

They can pose a threat to the insects that are important to the ecosystem.

Genetically Modified crops are said to be dangerous to some insects, as their genes could be deadly to them. This is definitely a serious issue when it comes to certain insects that are useful to the ecosystem, such as butterflies, and are not actually dangerous to crops.

They can produce more weeds and can threaten the lives of animals.

Engineered plants are found to function as mediators to the transfer of genes to wild plants and the creation of weeds. To keep them under control, scientists are inventing new herbicides that were not necessary for non-Genetically Modified Organisms weeds and are toxic to various animals that feed on GMO crops, such as cows. Tests have shown the uptake of these herbicides having toxic consequences on certain organisms and the ecosystem in general.

They threaten crop diversity.

Those who oppose the creation of Genetically Modified Organisms push their argument with regards to the effect of these products on genetic diversity. They say that genes from Genetically Modified crops can spread to organic farm crops, threatening diversity in agriculture. If it does happen that crop diversity decreases, this will have a serious impact on the population dynamics of other organisms and the entire ecosystem. While the chance that the strain of one genetically modified crop could pollinate an already existing non-Genetically Modified crop is unpredictable and unlikely, as there are certain conditions to be met for cross pollination to occur, a large-scale plantation has the ability to release a Genetically Modified  strain during pollination, thus increasing the risk. As a result of the cross pollination to non-Genetically Modified plants, hybrid strains are created, which means there is a greater chance of ecological novelty to occur. New artificial strains will be introduced into the ecosystem that can potentially decrease the level of biodiversity through competition

They are believed to change the field of agriculture in a negative way.

Research on the effects of growing genetically modified crops on a large scale has sparked various concerns, specifically those regarding ecosystems with Genetically Modified Organism strains. According to scientists, these strains have the potential to change agriculture in a negative way.

Although current research suggests that Genetically Modified Organism foods are safe, there is some concern around their long-term safety and environmental impact

Here are some of the key concerns around Genetically Modified Organisms consumption

Allergies

There is some concern that Genetically Modified Organisms foods may trigger an allergic reaction.

This is because Genetically Modified Organism foods contain foreign genes, so some people worry that they harbor genes from foods that may prompt an allergic reaction.

Cancers

Similarly, there’s a common concern that Genetically Modified Organism foods may aid the progression of cancers.

Because cancers are caused by deoxyribonucleic acid mutations, some people fear that eating foods with added genes may affect your deoxyribonucleic acid.

 Other environmental and health concerns

Although Genetical Modified Organisms crops are convenient for farmers, there are environmental concerns.

Most Genetically Modified Organism crops are resistant to herbicides, such as Roundup. This means that farmers can use Roundup without fear of it harming their own crops.

However, a growing number of weeds have developed resistance to this herbicide over time. This has led to even more Roundup being sprayed on crops to kill the resistant weeds because they can affect the crop harvest

As a student of sustainable livelihood in my view genetically modified organism s are undeniably an excellent means when we want to save on the budget for our everyday food. But before we apply this agriculture technology and method, it is highly important to look deeply into its advantages and disadvantages first. By doing so, we can determine if these products are the most appropriate option for us to get the right profit. Based on the facts listed in this article, what would be your stand on this subject?

In conclusion. Not only have genetically modified organism crops not improved yields, they have vastly increased the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. The explosion in glyphosate use is not only bad for farmers' health, it's also bad for the environment, especially for certain birds, insects and other wildlife.

compiled by;

kwikiriza tony