Examples of countries which have experinced low agriculture productivity because of political instability
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Answer:
North Korea and Food Security
North Korea is undergoing an unprecedented famine. The presenter on North Korea stated that North Korea has experienced food shortages since 1995 and harvest yields have declined steadily throughout the 1990s. In 1998, domestic production is estimated to have left a shortfall of between 1.3 million to 2 million tons. As a result of the production shortfalls, relief operations and foreign governments have contributed hundreds of thousands of tons of food to the DPRK. Western governments have pressed for economic liberalization and reform, but Pyongyang has offered little response.
Indonesia’s Looming Food Security Crisis
The expert on Indonesia noted that Indonesia is undergoing an unprecedented political and economic collapse that has undermined the country’s food security. Half of Indonesia’s population of more than 200 million people are living below the poverty line due to the effects of an economic crisis that has spread throughout Southeast and East Asia since July 1997. By the middle of 1998, over 1.5 million Indonesian families were facing acute food shortages and malnutrition.22
China and Food Security
Although China is not currently experiencing a major food crisis, it was included in this study because of its famine experience during the late 1950s. Additionally, much recent international attention has focused on questions of China’s food security and its potential need to rely on grain imports in the future.
The expert on China noted that the 1950s era famine occurred for two basic reasons: ideology and the rush toward collectivization. Moreover, the government stymied various famine coping mechanisms, such as internal migration. The presenter noted that since the army had taken over the train system, people were restricted from migrating to more prosperous or food-rich areas. Today, in contrast, internal migration in China is much more common and increasingly the government is reluctantly accepting it within certain limits.
The expert also noted that in order for China to ensure its food security in the future, it should introduce land use rights. This does not have to be total privatization, however. The government also needs to focus on confidence-building because Chinese farmers fundamentally do not trust their government. The presenter also noted that food security is related to unemployment. If unemployment surges in China—as has been predicted by a number of experts, both within and outside China—then food security could be undermined as the unemployed population’s purchasing power declines. China, moreover, has a very limited social safety net; in more than 90 of China’s cities, there is no formal social welfare system for unemployment compensation.23