ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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RODRIGUES, Adevanio Penote [1]

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RODRIGUES, Adevanio Penote. The importance of agribusiness in the United States in promoting food security. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year. 08, Ed. 01, Vol. 03, pp. 53-75. January 2023. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/agronomy-en/importance-of-agribusiness, DOI: 10.32749/nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/agronomy-en/importance-of-agribusiness

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ABSTRACT

The expression “food security” appears at the end of the 2nd. World War, before the misery installed in different countries. In opposition to food security that guarantees a dignified survival, there is food insecurity, represented by the lack of basic inputs for a diet that guarantees energy and vitality to individuals. Food insecurity around the world is on a vertiginous scale, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Global hunger is caused by different factors: population growth; social differences; more or less extreme weather events; constant rises in food prices; insufficient demand and distribution to the most needy regions; among other structural and conjunctural deficiencies. To combat this humanitarian tragedy, the forms of cultivation and production in agriculture evolved to version 5.0, bringing new practices and cutting-edge equipment to the field. This article was developed, according to the methodology of bibliographical research, aiming to answer the question: how does the modernization of North American agribusiness collaborate with the fight against food insecurity? The objective is to present the modernization of existing planting techniques and possible improvements, based on Agriculture 5.0. As a result of the analysis and interpretation of the selected literature, it was found that the adoption of new technologies arising from Agriculture 5.0 optimize all planting and food cultivation practices, from the collection of information in real time through drones, and interpretation of the data received in computers that make possible the purchase, use and control of inputs, pest control, optimization of the harvest and its greater use.

Keywords: Food Crisis, Food (In)Security, Decarbonization, Agricultural Management, Agriculture 5.0.

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Hunger is linked to food insecurity that permeates people’s lives. According to Gaspari (2001, p. 7), “global hunger, also called energy or caloric hunger, is understood as the inability of the daily food ration ingested by a person to provide calories equivalent to the energy spent by the body in the work carried out”.

The expression “food security” appears at the end of the 2nd. World War, becoming a military term linked to national security, until the 1970s (OXFAM BRASIL, 2021). At that time, it was found that, far beyond the war arsenal that different nations could accumulate, to lead the world, it is necessary for a country to be able to develop its capacity to produce and supply the food necessary for the survival of a given population, or that can be provided to other locations that need them (FUNDAÇÃO CARGILL, 2022).

There are several problems that enhance global food insecurity, given the “contradictions between socioeconomic conditions and production policies, given their historical evolution”, affecting the production and distribution of food. Evgenievich (2020), describes, as consequences, the situations: destruction of the environment; increase in social inequalities; unequal distribution and consumption of food in different regions and countries; demographic, environmental, energy and raw material issues.

In turn, there are data tabulated by different international organizations involved with the guarantees of life and survival of individuals, which show that, in 2013, “food insecurity affected 925 million people around the world, of which 800 million they were in the field”, which, in itself, is already a great paradox (BELIK and

CAPACLE CORREA, 2013, p. 1).

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In this regard, the same authors defend the existence of different factors that contribute to this situation, including population growth, weather events, the constant rise in food prices, insufficient demand and distribution to the most needy regions, inequalities social – which prevent millions of needy people from accessing employment and, therefore, healthy eating -, among other structural and conjunctural deficiencies (BELIK and CAPACLE CORREA, 2013, p. 1).

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In turn, Marini (2022), reports the report issued by the United Nations (UNICEF, 2022), where it was shown that, in 2021, there were 2.3 billion people in moderate or severe food insecurity.

In this way, food production emerges as a basic pillar for the entire earthly sphere, with regard to both the guarantee of local production and supply, as well as localities located in different regions of the world. In this perspective, agriculture 5.0 and new cutting-edge technologies are inserted for the necessary improvements in the production of healthy foods, optimizing planting and harvesting practices, with greater agility, precision and economy.

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This scientific article was developed from a survey of the specialized literature on the subject in question, constituting a bibliographical research, which aims to answer the question: how does the modernization of North American agribusiness collaborate with the fight against food insecurity? The objective of this study is to present the modernization of existing planting techniques and possible improvements, based on Agriculture 5.0.

 

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A bibliographic review was carried out from the research of national and international journals, using articles published in Portuguese and English. The articles selected to compose this research were obtained from the Google Scholar database. The descriptors used for electronic searches were: agriculture, planting techniques, agribusiness and food security.

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3. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

3.1 FOOD SAFETY AND INSECURITY

According to the definition given by the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security, food is “a right of all individuals to have regular and permanent access to quality food and in sufficient quantity, without compromising other essential needs for their survival”, and which are based on good dietary practices (FUNDAÇÃO CARGILL, 2022).

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Hunger is “the situation in which a person is, for a prolonged period, in need of food that provides the calories (energy) and nutritional elements necessary for the life and health of his organism” (GASPARI, 2001, p. 7 ). With this definition, the author explains that human beings need to have food at hand that contains “nutritive elements such as proteins, vitamins and mineral salts, which will fulfill their proper functions in terms of restoring cells, tissues and organs throughout the body” .

In this perspective, to define Food Security it is necessary to refer to the importance of fundamental actions, which are inherent to all world leaders, in the sense of permanently guaranteeing the production and supply of food in quantity and nutritional quality, which it must be admittedly proven by Organs regulatory bodies, as well as by the legal and supervisory rules in health and hygiene (FUNDAÇÃO CARGILL, 2022).

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FULL ARTICLE ON LINK BELOW:

https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/agronomy-en/importance-of-agribusiness