What shapes global food production, what causes food insecurity, and how can food security be improved?
The environmental and human controls on food production; agricultural systems; the concept and components of food security; the causes and consequences of food insecurity and famine; and strategies to increase food security.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Geography 3.2.4 content on food production and security, covering the environmental and human controls on food production, agricultural systems, the concept and components of food security, the causes and consequences of food insecurity and famine, and strategies to increase food security.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
AQA section 3.2.4 wants you to explain the environmental and human controls on food production, the main agricultural systems, the concept and components of food security, the causes and consequences of food insecurity and famine, and the strategies to increase food security. The recurring exam point is that food security is about access, not just total production.
The controls on food production
This is why the same environment can be highly productive with investment and technology, or unproductive without them.
Agricultural systems
The environmental characteristics of a system reflect the climate and soils it operates in: intensive commercial arable on fertile temperate plains, extensive pastoral grazing on marginal land, subsistence farming where capital is scarce.
Food security and its components
The key insight is that food insecurity is often a problem of access and distribution, not just total production: the world produces enough food, yet hundreds of millions go hungry because they cannot afford or reach it.
Food insecurity, famine and strategies
Causes of food insecurity and famine combine physical factors (drought, flood, pests, climate change) and human factors (poverty, conflict, poor governance, market failure, land degradation). Consequences are social (malnutrition, mortality), economic (lost productivity), environmental (over-exploitation of marginal land) and political (instability, migration).
Strategies to increase food security operate at different scales:
- Technological: the Green Revolution (high-yield varieties, irrigation, fertiliser), biotechnology/GM, mechanisation, raising yields but sometimes damaging the environment and favouring wealthier farmers.
- Aid and trade: relieving shortage, though risking dependency or undercutting local producers.
- Land reform: redistributing land to improve access and equity.
- Sustainable practices: agroecology, soil and water conservation and reducing food waste, improving long-term resilience.
The most effective approach combines sustainable production gains with improvements in access and stability.
Try this
Q1. State the four components of food security. [4 marks]
- Cue. Availability, access, utilisation and stability.
Q2. Explain why climate is the main environmental control on food production. [3 marks]
- Cue. Temperature and growing-season length set what can be grown, and rainfall determines water availability, defining productive belts.
Q3. Outline one technological and one social strategy to increase food security. [4 marks]
- Cue. Technological: the Green Revolution or biotechnology raising yields. Social: land reform improving access and equity (or aid/trade).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 2019 (style)6 marksExplain how environmental factors influence global patterns of food production.Show worked answer →
A 6 mark "explain" question (AO1). Climate is the dominant control: temperature and the length of the growing season set what can be grown, and rainfall determines water availability, so productive arable belts lie in temperate and tropical zones with adequate, reliable rainfall, while deserts and high latitudes are unproductive.
Soils matter: deep, fertile soils (such as chernozems) support high yields, while thin, infertile or saline soils limit production. Relief and drainage affect mechanisation and waterlogging.
Markers reward linking climate (temperature, growing season, rainfall), soils and relief to where and what food is produced. Top answers note that human factors (technology, investment, policy) interact with these environmental controls.
AQA 2021 (style)9 marksAssess the effectiveness of strategies used to increase food security.Show worked answer →
A 9 mark "assess" question (AO1 plus AO2): reach a judgement. Technological strategies (the Green Revolution, high-yield varieties, irrigation, fertiliser, biotechnology/GM) have raised yields dramatically but can be environmentally damaging (salinisation, water depletion) and favour wealthier farmers. Aid and trade can relieve shortage but may create dependency or undercut local producers. Land reform and sustainable practices (agroecology) improve access and resilience but are slower and politically difficult.
The judgement: no single strategy is sufficient; the most effective approach combines raising production sustainably with improving access and stability, tailored to context. Technology boosts availability but security also needs equitable access. Reward a calibrated conclusion weighing the strategies with examples (Green Revolution).
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Geography (7037) specification — AQA (2016)