"There are 854 million hungry people in the world and 4 million more join their ranks every year. We are facing the tightest food supplies in recent history. For the world’s most vulnerable, food is simply being priced out of their reach" says The UN’s World Food Programme Director.
Team Challenge
As a team, your task is to create a 4 page e-update* for The Path is Green website. The main aim of the e-update is to inform the general public of the plight of those people who are facing starvation because food is priced out of their reach. Another important aspect of the e-update is to highlight the job opportunities that can arise from these challenges for individuals. As is often the case, from adversity come opportunities and none more so for people who want to make a difference to their environment and improve the wellbeing of others. For example, individuals can develop their interest in the environment while still enjoying all the benefits of diverse and interesting careers, including:
- Interesting and challenging work with excellent training
- Long-term careers that make a difference to the environment
- Careers offering good salaries and good progression opportunities
- The opportunity to travel as more countries seek the expertise being developed in Scotland
*See e-update guidelines below for further information.
Background Information
- There is an increasing world population leading to more demand for food.
- Changing weather patterns resulting in poor crop production.
- More of the land which had been used to grow wheat and maize is now used to grow bio-fuel instead of food.
- Demand is increasing from far eastern economies due to higher standards of living.
Here are a few of the current headlines and reports.
- "Wheat has doubled in price, maize is nearly 50% higher than a year ago and rice is 20% more expensive" says the UN. One in six countries in the world face food shortages this year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change UN scientists have warned. 34 countries are now experiencing droughts and food shortages and many more could join them.
There has never been a more exciting time to be deciding what path your career will take. The Scottish Government has set a target to meet 50% of electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020. This is just part of the reason why in the next 10-15 years Scotland will see the creation of up to 50,000 Green Jobs – giving you an incredible range of choice for the type of career your would like to pursue. At present, there are around 80,000 Green Jobs in Scotland. Find out more from WWF welcomes Scotland's Green Jobs consultation. - Scotland’s natural resources, including water, farmland, lochs and woodlands, are already worth £17 billion per annum to the economy.
- There is competition for grain between the world’s 800 million motorists, who want to keep their vehicles going and 2 billion people across the world who are just trying to survive. New Scientist Environment.
- According to the London-based International Grains Council, global wheat supplies in the year ending June 2008 will drop to their lowest levels in more than a quarter of a century which has sent prices soaring.
E-update guidelines
The e-update must contain the following:
- Features/articles on the impact of high food prices for the most vulnerable people on our planet. (maximum one page)
- Public advice on how to address these problems. (maximum one page)
- Advertisement/features on new products currently on the market that would help to alleviate these problems. (maximum one page)
- Features/articles on green job companies currently operating within Scotland (find out if there are any operating in your area) producing goods/services that would help to address some of the issues associated with high food prices. Also create adverts for green jobs that may be available now and in the future in this area of work (there is scope to use your imagination!). The green job adverts must include details such as: job title, skills and qualities, qualifications, salary and career opportunities available. (maximum one page)
For further guidance please refer to Tips for Teachers.