Famine, under-nourishment and the role smallholder farmers play in feeding our growing population – tackle all these issues using our collection of lesson resources about World Food Day.
While the world has never produced so much food, 842 million people are estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger and under-nourishment.
Food production and nourishment relates to a range of topics including human rights, climate change, politics and health and is a problem that can be explored through many areas of the curriculum, from geography and citizenship to economics and science.
So this week, to mark World Food Day on Thursday 16 October 2014, we have a generous helping of ideas and resources about food security and the challenges of feeding an ever-growing population.
The focus of World Food Day 2014 is on the significant role that smallholder farmers play in feeding the world. In the poorest parts of Africa and Asia, around 500 million small family farms are responsible for 80% of all food production. This game from Oxfam will help pupils learn more about the global food system and the impact it has on family farmers. There is an accompanying video and PowerPoint here.
This Flying the Kite for Food activity is also handy for introducing younger students to the idea of food injustice. Let pupils explore the reasons why some people in the world are hungry before making a kite to which they attach their wishes for a world without hunger. Follow-up activities could include: organising a food collection as part of a harvest assembly; interviewing school catering staff to find out how much food is not eaten at lunchtime and what happens to it; and investigating food composting.
Primary pupils can also have fun testing their knowledge of different fruits and vegetables with this activity sheet this activity sheet by Teaching Ideas. There are more harvest-themed ideas here including a thanksgiving song, poem and nursery rhyme.
Explore the themes of World Food Day 2014 further with this toolkit from the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation. There is a family-friendly leaflet, poster and Powerpoint presentation that can be used inside and outside the classroom. You could ask students to take notes during the presentation then have a World Food Day quiz, or hold a competition to design a World Food Day poster. As a written exercise, can pupils explain why family farmers are described as "an important part of the solution for a world free from poverty and hunger"?
Another great resource is the Global Food Security website. It has lots of useful facts and figures about food production in the UK that students could use to create a range of infographics. It also has a section of activities for use at home and at school. These include investigating some of the diseases that can destroy crops and examining the use of crop genetics to help boost food production. There's also a food security debate kit that asks students to discuss whether food in schools should only be produced in the UK. With debate characters and a ready-made lesson plan this is an easy one to slot into your planner.
Feast and Famine: Life on the Margins is a series of nine PowerPoint presentations addressing themes of food security including hunger, malnutrition, inequality, urbanisation and desertification. Aimed at A-level geography students, the resources were developed by Médecins Sans Frontières in partnership with the Geographical Association and an advisory group of teachers. They include a wide range of up-to-date case studies, research, opinions, maps, graphs and data to assist with teaching, learning and exam preparation. This presentation on food aid and assistance, for example, examines the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the challenges facing those who are attempting to "feed the world".
Explore the MDGs further with this fact sheet – third in the list – by Cafod, the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Target 1.C of the MDGs is to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, between 1990 and 2015. Working in groups, ask pupils to research a project that is helping progress towards this goal. Pupils could also design symbols for each of the MDGs.
Encourage your students to challenge mistaken views of Africa as permanently stricken by famine and dependent on overseas aid with this photo and video-based resource from the British Red Cross. Secondary students are encouraged to explore the complex causes of food insecurity, looking particularly at the effects of conflict. As a follow-up activity, ask students to create their own video or series of still images on the theme of "Food in Africa". Vox-pop-style interviews could be a good way of exploring attitudes and understanding of the topic. You'll find more information on the causes of food insecurity here. Questions to consider could include: how does armed conflict prevent people from sowing, tending and harvesting crops? How might it stop people buying or selling food? Are pupils surprised that at least two million people in the UK are affected by malnutrition? Who do they think this group consists of?
And finally, you can follow all the Twitter action using #WFD2014
