Factors affecting food securitySpec 4.7.5.1
In short
Food security is having enough food to feed a population. Biological factors threatening it include the increasing birth rate, changing diets in developed countries, new pests and pathogens, environmental changes such as rains failing, the cost of agricultural inputs, and conflicts that affect the availability of water or food. Sustainable methods must be found to feed all people on Earth.
- Food security
- Having enough food to feed a population.
Biological factors which are threatening food security include:
- the increasing birth rate has threatened food security in some countries
- changing diets in developed countries means scarce food resources are transported around the world
- new pests and pathogens that affect farming
- environmental changes that affect food production, such as widespread famine occurring in some countries if rains fail
- the cost of agricultural inputs
- conflicts that have arisen in some parts of the world which affect the availability of water or food.
Sustainable methods must be found to feed all people on Earth.
You may be given population and food production statistics to evaluate food security. Compare how fast the population and the food supply are each increasing.
Written and checked against the AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification · Updated October 2026