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Edexcel Unit 4: Life on the Margins - The Food Supply Problem

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A more recent case study for anyone who wants it: Food Insecurity in Syria.
It fits the question because its a current issue and if you're lacking a casestudy for either rural or urban in an LEDC this is the one for you.
www.wfp.org/countries/syria/overview

Reply 21

ALevelsarehard

Original post by strange ghost

Hi! Thanks for the PM too :smile:

When I meant structure, I was sort of referring to the main body, but obviously this depends on the question.

I figured it's likely that rural vs urban will be part of the question (since it's in both the explore and research parts of the pre-release!) so I thought:

1. RURAL
1.1 Env issues
1.2 Socio-ec issues
1.3 political issues
1.4 sub-conc

2. URBAN
2.1 env issues
2.2
2.3
2.4 sub conclusion

3. Conclusion

well, obviously intro + methodology would be parts 1 + 2, so the numbers are a bit wrong, but I think you get the idea...

I'm just concerned that having two large sections will 4 sub-sections will look too chopped up? I'd usually have a thematic link going between sections but sometimes I write rubbish in the exam :s-smilie:

What do we think?

Oh, and I definitely think rural vs urban insecurity will be a hook in the question. Might be wrong, so no one take my word for it.

If it was rural vs urban insecurity where would you even start?

Reply 22

t_mafia

Does anyone have a good urban case studies your willing throw me?
My class has focused almost entirely on rural LEDC which the main bulk of my essay is going to be on but i literally have nothing when it comes to the the causes of food insecuirty in urban areas especially MEDC urban or in fact MEDC rural either...

Reply 23

OlaOlaOla

Dhaka, Bangladesh is my case study for socio-economic issues in urban LEDCs....there is a section in the small textbook about urban v rural bangladesh :smile:

I'm also mentioning obesity in the uk - usa is also a good one
and desertification in spain - australia also a good option
xx

Reply 24

Travellingstranger

1. Obesity in China, America – Urban, Socio-economic, NIC
China
Source : BBC 2010 September
- Explosion in obesity
- Linked to economic development over last 20 years
Source : USATODAY 2007 September
- 8% of 10-12-year olds in China's cities are considered obese and an additional 15% are overweight, according to Education Ministry data.
Source: WHO
- 5% overall in China, but reaches 20% in some cities
Mainly Urban problem – 75% Urban Samoa obese- Source: WHO
America
Source : Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
- ¾ of Americans will be obese or overweight by 2020
- Ranked No. 1 in world obesity rankings
Source: NaturalNews
- Meal portions in South America are a ¼ of the size of a typical North American meal
- Individual Choice
Source : FAO 2002
- Even sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the world's hungry live, is seeing an increase in obesity, especially among urban women
Source : WHO 2006
- 1 billion overweight compared to 800million malnourished

Reply 25

Travellingstranger

HIV/AIDS reduces agriculture production through a number of factors, creating both immediate and cumulative impacts. HIV/AIDS affects people in their prime working ages, 15 to 49; in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, more than 5 percent of the working-age population is infected. Furthermore, subsistence agriculture relies heavily on human labor, particularly women's labor. Therefore, in regions with high HIV/AIDS prevalence like southern Africa, where subsistence agriculture is the norm, HIV/AIDS-related illness and deaths reduce the agricultural labor force, resulting in less land being farmed, reduced yields, and less intensive crops being grown. In Kenya, a study found that the death of an adult female household member resulted in fewer grain crops grown, while the death of an adult male resulted in decreased production of cash crops such as sugar and coffee.26

HIV/AIDS may also exacerbate poverty. Household income may fall if the infected individual was a wage earner, and expenses may increase because of new health care costs. The redistribution of money for medicine and funeral expenses by afflicted households reduces the income available for food and investments to improve agricultural production. Food production is also threatened by the loss of agricultural knowledge when infected individuals die. The food crisis is also likely to exacerbate the impact of HIV/AIDS as infected individuals, who have heightened nutritional needs, find it more difficult to purchase foods.

Reply 26

strange ghost

Original post by ALevelsarehard

If it was rural vs urban insecurity where would you even start?

Rural:
desertifcation/land degradation
rural poverty (good one to go into because it links to degradation as well as big political issues)
inequalities (linked to poverty) and unequal distribution (Kalahandi syndrome is a good case study)
impact of climate change (increased natural disasters, rising sea levels causing salt water floods which damage crops, perhaps more erratic rainfall)
political issues like govt spending/assistance for agriculture

Urban:
urban poverty
rural-urban migration / rapid urban growth
obesity
impact of natural disasters (e.g. flooding in Dhaka)

Could say that generally rural insecurity is more a result of issues impacting food production (which can wipe out supply for subsistence farmers or put commercial farmers in poverty).

Could say urban insecurity is more to do with socio-economic issues of poverty and in HICs-NICs obesity.

Obviously that's a bit generalised but it's a small starting point.

I've actually decided it's easier to structure (no matter the question) by types of issue (Env, Socio-ec and Political) because you can easily discuss rural/urban comparison within this... rather than doing 1 section rural, 1 section urban like before, most of the 'comparing' between rural and urban will end up in the 2nd section and then conclusion. Not to mention I dislike my old idea of having those two giant sections haha... it's easier to tell imbalance that way.

Reply 27

strange ghost

Good luck everyone!!

I hope we all do well :biggrin:

Reply 28

APersonCalledClara

AHHHHH IT'S IN ABOUT 2 HOURS!!! Good Luck everyone!! :smile:

My plan is to do Socio-Economic, Political and Environmental with hopefully (I always run out of time) a urban and rural case study on each. Nightmare trying to remember my Bibliography!!!!

Reply 29

cheekymonkey_x

How did you find it?

I thought the question was good but worried I answered it wrong :frown:

timing was also awful, just about finished but definitely could've dine with an extra ten minutes!

Reply 30

OlaOlaOla

Original post by cheekymonkey_x

How did you find it?

I thought the question was good but worried I answered it wrong :frown:

timing was also awful, just about finished but definitely could've dine with an extra ten minutes!

Also worried I just changed 'causes and issues' for 'characterisitics' and DEFFO would have loved 10 more minutes :frown:

barely managed to reference my data as well :frown:

oh well, could have gone a lot worse haha!

Hope everyone has a great Summer x

Reply 31

cheekymonkey_x

Original post by OlaOlaOla

Also worried I just changed 'causes and issues' for 'characterisitics' and DEFFO would have loved 10 more minutes :frown:

barely managed to reference my data as well :frown:

oh well, could have gone a lot worse haha!

Hope everyone has a great Summer x

The word 'characteristics' actually confused me, like I was unsure whether it meant issues or?

I ended up just going through obesity, food miles, urbanisation and land grabbing with urban/rural examples so hopefully even if its wrong ill gain some marks!

Same! I started methodology but left the majority till the end because I couldn't think of what sources i was going to use and then ran out of time which is easy marks lost :frown:

I've heard grade boundaries are quite high which is also great! :mad:

You too and good luck with any other exams :smile:

Reply 32

DylanLJG

To what extent do the characteristics of food insecurity differ between rural and urban areas?

I hated that question! What has it got to do with the steer and what is even supposed to mean?

I most likely failed as I wrote an issues/causes report replacing the words with characteristics whenever possible. :frown:

Reply 33

tsc123

does anyone have an exemplar answer to this. sorry i know this was 2 years ago? any one have any notes :P