1) Pests, livestock diseases. Add to it the extreme weather events, many failed harvests in African and other Third World countries were also caused by pests such as desert locusts. Cattle diseases and other agricultural problems such as erosion, soil infertility, etc. also play a role in food insecurity.

Climate change. Some experts suggest, that drought and extreme weather in regions affected by food crises in the recent decades could be a result of climate change, especially in the West and East Africa which have problems with recurrent extreme droughts.

Military conflicts. Wars and military conflicts worsen food insecurity in African and other Third World countries. They may be indirectly at fault for food crises they inflate the scarcity of food and often prevent the aid workers from reaching the most affected people.

Lack of emergency plans. History of the severest food crises shows that many countries were completely unprepared for a crisis and unable to resolve the situation without international aid. 

(2)Cash crops dependence. Many African and Third World governments encourage production of the so-called cash crops, the income from which is used to import food. As a result, countries which depend on cash crops are at high risk of food crisis because they do not produce enough food to feed the population.

(3)AIDS. The disease which is a serious public health concern in the sub-Saharan Africa worsens food insecurity in two ways. Firstly, it reduces the available workforce in agriculture and secondly, it puts an additional burden on poor households.

(4)Rapid population growth. Poor African and Third World countries have the highest growth rate in the world which puts them at increased risk of food crises. For example, the population of Niger increased from 2.5 million to 15 million from 1950 to 2010. According to some estimations, Africa will produce enough food for only about a quarter population by 2025 if the current growth rate will continue.

In short, this is a global challenge because it’s not just about food and feeding people but also about practically all aspects of an economy and society. The reason is :
1. Population growth – this varies considerably across countries. Africa is expected to double its population from 1 to 2 billion by 2050. Populations in the developing world are also becoming increasingly urbanized, with 2.5 billion additional urban residents projected in Africa and Asia.
2. Changing tastes – not only is the population growing, but its diet is changing too. As people become more affluent they start eating food that is richer in processed foods, meat and dairy. But to produce more meat means growing more grain.
3. Climate change – currently, 40% of the world’s landmass is arid, and rising temperatures will turn yet more of it into desert. At current rates, the amount of food we’re growing today will feed only half of the population by 2050.
4. Water scarcity – this is another impending crisis: 28% of agriculture lies in water-stressed regions. It takes roughly 1,500 litres of water to produce a kilogram of wheat, and about 16,000 litres to produce a kilogram of beef. In 2050, we’ll need twice as much water.

Food security is whereby the country does have adequate policies and strategies to ensure that there is sufficient food for all people to avoid instances of starving due to lack of food. It is mainly caused by poor policies and cultural practices. The reasons for food security have been discussed below; 

1.) Cultural beliefs can influence dietary practices making people still feel food insecure even if some food which are less valued in the community are in plenty for instance  a certain community may have plenty of livestock animals for meat but they are still food insecure for example the Muslim community. Some communities may also have plenty of vegetables within the community but the vegetables are not considered as food for them. This practice can be addressed through promotion of desirable food behavior and nutritional practices by providing information on the nutritional value of foods 

2.) Farming practices and poor rain patterns can also lead to food insecurity in a community, for example cash crop farming in a community may lead to scarcity of food crop in the region due to production of cash crops which cannot be consumed as food by the community, for example a community which produces coffee will suffer food scarcity on maize, potatoes, beans etc. poor rain patterns is also a major factor to food production due to insufficient water for cop production. These can be addressed through educating the locals and community policy makers on the importance of food crop to cash crop in addressing food insecurity in a community. Poor rain patterns can be addressed by introducing irrigation farming 

3.) Poor infrastructure in the community can also affect food insecurity. That is poor roads in the community which hinders the accessibility to food sources like major food markets in the area. Food producers also find it difficult to access the community to sell their produce. This factor to food insecurity can be addressed by construction of roads in the community. 

4.) Poor farming and storage methods are also major factors in food insecurity within the Kenyan community. Old farming methods like monocropping, relying in rain for farming, old food storage methods can contribute to poor food production and storage of surplus food. Relying on one type of food group within a community can also affect food availability, for example the masaai community source their food from animal products which may lead to food insecurity during the drought season. Animals die from the drought hence no food for human consumption. This can be addressed by introducing diversity in food consumption through educating the members on substitute food with the same nutritional value as animal products. 

 

Drought and other extreme weather events.The comparison of the severest food crises in the later history reveals that all were preceded by drought or other extreme weather events. They resulted in poor or failed harvests which in turn resulted food scarcity and high prices of the available food.

Pests, livestock diseases and other agricultural problems. In addition to extreme weather events, many failed harvests in African and other Third World countries were also caused by pests such as desert locusts. Cattle diseases and other agricultural problems such as erosion, soil infertility, etc. also play a role in food insecurity.

Climate change. Some experts suggest, that drought and extreme weather in regions affected by food crises in the recent decades could be a result of climate change, especially in the West and East Africa which have problems with recurrent extreme droughts.

Military conflicts. Wars and military conflicts worsen food insecurity in African and other Third World countries. They may not be directly responsible for food crises but they exacerbate scarcity of food and often prevent the aid workers from reaching the most affected people.

2) Corruption and political instability. In spite of criticism lately, the international community has always send help in the form of food supplies and other means which saved millions of lives in the affected regions. However, the international aid often did not reach the most vulnerable populations due to a high level of corruption and political instability in many Third World countries.

3) Cash crops dependence. Many African and Third World governments encourage production of the so-called cash crops, the income from which is used to import food. As a result, countries which depend on cash crops are at high risk of food crisis because they do not produce enough food to feed the population.

4) AIDS. The disease which is a serious public health concern in the sub-Saharan Africa worsens food insecurity in two ways. Firstly, it reduces the available workforce in agriculture and secondly, it puts an additional burden on poor households.

Food security issues is a country's ability to provide food or feed the population. Achieving food security in its totality continues to be a challenge to the whole world.   

Factors such as underdevelope
d agricultural sector, barriers to market access, infections and diseases, globalization have the ability contribute to either insufficient national food availability or insufficient access to food by households and individuals. Food insecurity has the potential to influence food intake and ultimately the health and nutritional status of households.

Underdeveloped agricultural sector:
 Access to fertilizer use is constrained by market liberalization and trade policies that increase fertilizer prices relative to commodity prices,  limited access to markets and infrastructure,  limited development of output, input and credit markets,  poverty and cash constraints that limit farmer’s ability to purchase fertilizer and other inputs. This factor will reduce the availability of national food as a whole when the local resources of food is not able to be consumed.

Barriers to market access:
 This is because of poor infrastructure and  barriers in penetrating the market caused by their limited resource base, lack of information, lack of or inadequate support institutions and poor policies in place among other factors. Poor infrastructure limits the markets to which farmers can  profitably take their production where they  increase the cost of transportation, and hence also acts as a barrier to market penetration.

Infections and diseases: 
 Diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS not only reduce the man-hours available to agriculture and household food acquisition, but also increase the burden of household in acquiring food. Lack of resources will  make things more difficult for HIV-affected households to supplement their diet through the purchase of more nutritious and varied foods. The effect of malnutrition on food security is further exacerbated by the fact that individuals affected by disease and infection, have greater nutritional requirements.   

Globalization:
 Globalization is a concept that allows countries to benefit from capital flows, technology transfer, cheaper imports and larger export markets in the long  term. However, 
 from globalization, comes liberalization of markets. The food security threat caused by liberalization is due to dumping of heavily subsidized produce in developing countries and premature exposure of upcoming industries to genuine competition from producers in developing and developed countries. In addition, most profits are repatriated by transnational companies7  reducing the potential for poverty reduction to direct employment alone. In most cases, the pay is low because the national policies do not protect the labourer. Having low income will reduce the whole nation's pruchasing power thus will slowdown the economic growth of a country. When there is an economic slowdown, the availability of food will be scarce as the demand for nutritious food is low as they are more expensive.

In the US, the term “food desert” is often used to describe a location that has limited access to healthful, nutritious food, especially in low-income neighborhoods.  ^FFor example, individuals in some neighborhoods may have easier access to fast food and junk food than to fruits and vegetables.  ^FHowever, there is some disagreement on what constitutes a food desert (i.e., what is an acceptable distance from a source of healthful food, such as a supermarket), and it is unclear whether true food deserts are as common as postulated by policymakers.  ^{F F}  Others see the term as being not inclusive of other issues related to health and obesity, including: poverty and other socio-demographic factors; ease of access to healthful food, rather than lack of access; increased access tounhealthful food choices; exercise/physical activity; and unhealthful food choices related to cultural or economic factors.  ^{F F F}

Food distribution is the process in which a general population is supplied with food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) considers food distribution as a subset of the food system. Historically, famines and widespread hunger have been caused by problems of food distribution (political or logistical) rather than by insufficient food production. Although the global population is expected to rise in the next several decades, global hunger is predicted to decline

     Political Agriculture Practice

Various political-agricultural practices contribute to food insecurity worldwide. These include substituting commodity crops for food crops (e.g., growing corn instead of vegetables) and heavy exportation of food crops at the expense of food security of the exporting country.  F F In addition, the recent demand for biofuels, currently produced primarily from corn and soy, has further decreased the amount of viable arable land being used for food production

    Environmental Factors

Globally, natural disasters, such as drought, have been frequently implicated in food insecurity; however, natural disaster-related food insecurity and famines are exacerbated by food distribution problems (see above) and lack of food surpluses due to exportation or other political factors.  FIt is predicted that climate change may negatively affect food supply and food access due to loss of farmland, fluctuating food prices, increases in foodborne illnesses, and other food utilization issues

     Other Economic And Political Reasons

The global rise in food prices in the last several years has been precipitated by a number of factors, including natural disasters such as drought; increased demand for biofuels; the US dollar’s decline; and an increase in the middle and upper class in countries like China (this has created increased demand for meat and dairy, and thus increased demand for grain).