Editing Food distribution (section)

== Risk factors affecting food distribution and examples of failed policy ==
Prominent risk factors that can affect the food distribution within a society include war, [[Economics|economic failure]], [[Politics|political instability]], and weather conditions. Each of these factors affects individual groups of people differently, but all share the common attribute of being detrimental to local food distribution and [[food systems]].<ref name=":0" /> Two prominent examples of risk factors' negative effect on a society's food distribution system are the situation in Japan during World War II and Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" />

=== Japan ===
Japanese food distribution drastically decreased from the effects of World War Two and the country's economic shortcomings. The need for food during the 1920s and 1930s rose drastically as Japan's population and average lifestyle increased. Japan was importing large amounts of rice, sugar, soybeans, and wheat from its [[Colony|colonies]] by 1935, and had a dependence on colonial possessions to distribute food to her people. 95% of Japanese rice between 1936 and 1938, just a few years before major conflict arose with the United States, was imported from its colonies in [[Korea]] and [[Taiwan|Formosa]]. Only 2% of Japan's rice came from foreign countries.<ref name=":3" />

As war engulfed Japan after 1941, food distribution efforts began to suffer. Japan lost a tremendous amount of [[cargo ship]]s and was surrounded by an effective US [[blockade]] for most of the war. [[Import]]s were down, which cut off Japan from its primary source of food. [[Rationing]] programs, ran by Japan's Central Foodstuff Corporation and Local Foodstuff Corporations, were an attempt to distribute food equally among the general population. Changes in tax collection and [[Price controls|price control]] were also created to feed [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], but these measures ultimately did not supply the Japanese people with enough food for survival. The average ration allowance consisted of a flour mixture which was often unhealthy and barely edible. Normal consumers age 16 to 60 received an average 330 g of ration per day in May 1943, and the situation only became more desperate as the war progressed. [[Rationing|Rationing programs]] were reduced even further in July 1945, just before the war's end.<ref name=":3" />

=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
In [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], the food distribution crisis of the 1970s and 1980s was a result of a multitude of food distribution risk factors including [[Politics|political problems]], [[Economics|economic failures]], and [[Weather|weather conditions]]. The heart of the [[Politics|political problems]] and [[Economics|economic failures]] affecting food distribution included poor [[Agricultural policy|agricultural pricing]] and a lack of state involvement with rural development. Some of the [[Politics|political problems]] can be traced back to the [[Colonisation of Africa|colonial period]]. Colonial policy supported the exportation of goods, even if it meant decreasing the amount of food for the local economy. Components of these colonial policies continued to be used after [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa|African countries]] gained their freedom from European nations. The usage of these failed policies caused malignant consequences on the economic situation of the [[peasant]] class, including the exploitation of peasant agriculture and in removal of peasants from their land. The weather and environmental issues regarding the Sub-Saharan African food distribution crisis also have roots in failed colonial policy. Labor migration cycles used during colonial times were ecologically damaging to the local environment and failed to create new areas for growing crops. As a result, [[desertification]] and a loss of [[soil fertility]] hurt the local [[Agriculture|agricultural sector]], which then in turn negatively affected food distribution.<ref name=":4" />

The world’s farmers produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, but the inequal food distribution leaves hundreds of millions hungry.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Has 7.5 Billion People And Produces Food For 12 Billion, But Still Millions Go Hungry! |url=https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/world-has-7-5-billion-people-and-produces-food-for-12-billion-but-still-millions-go-hungry-274297.html |work=India Times |date=27 March 2017}}</ref>