Year 9 · Geography · Geographical knowledge and understanding
Food security
Learners define food security, examine threats to food production and evaluate strategies to feed a growing world population sustainably.
Awaiting educator review. This material was drafted by our content team with AI assistance and is waiting for review by a qualified educator. Please check it suits your child before using it. Created 10 October 2026.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Define food security and its key dimensions.
- Explain environmental and human threats to food security.
- Evaluate strategies to improve food security.
Success looks like
- I can explain food security using the ideas of availability, access, use and stability.
- I can describe at least three threats to food production.
- I can evaluate a strategy, giving advantages and disadvantages.
The big idea
Food security exists when all people, at all times, can obtain enough safe and nutritious food for a healthy life. It is often described with four dimensions: availability (enough food produced), access (people can afford and reach it), utilisation (people can use it for good nutrition, with clean water and sanitation) and stability (supply is reliable over time).
The world produces enough food overall, but hundreds of millions of people still experience hunger, often because of poverty, conflict and unequal access rather than a lack of production.
Threats to food production include climate change (heat, drought, floods), land degradation, water scarcity, loss of farmland to cities, pests and diseases, and conflict.
Australia produces far more food than it consumes and exports a large share. Yet some Australians experience food insecurity, including people on low incomes and people in remote communities, where fresh food can be expensive and hard to obtain.
Strategies to improve food security include more efficient irrigation, drought-resistant crops, reducing food waste, protecting farmland, supporting small farmers, improving storage and transport, and fairer trade. Each has costs and benefits.
First Nations peoples have long and sustainable food systems based on deep knowledge of native plants and animals. Interest in native foods is growing, and First Nations-led businesses and organisations advocate for communities to benefit from and control this knowledge.
Worked examples
Applying the dimensions
A supermarket in a remote town is well stocked, but prices are much higher than in cities. Which dimension of food security is most affected?
- Food is available on the shelves: availability is met.
- High prices limit what people can buy.
- That is a problem of access.
Answer: Access.
Evaluating a strategy
Evaluate drip irrigation as a strategy for food security in dry regions.
- Advantage: delivers water directly to roots, using much less water.
- Advantage: can increase yields in dry areas.
- Disadvantage: high initial cost, which poorer farmers may not afford.
- Judgement: effective where water is scarce, if costs can be supported.
Answer: A useful water-saving strategy, but cost can limit adoption.
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which best defines food security?
All people at all times can obtain enough safe, nutritious food — Food security is about reliable access to enough nutritious food.
Which is a main cause of hunger in the world today?
Unequal access caused by poverty and conflict — Hunger is mostly about access, not total production.
Which is a threat to food production?
Land degradation — Degraded land produces less food.
What does 'stability' mean as a dimension of food security?
Food supply and access are reliable over time — Stability means reliability over time.
Which is a strategy to improve food security?
Reducing food waste — Less waste means more food reaches people.
The distance food travels from farm to plate is called food ____.
miles — Food miles measure transport distance.
Which dimension of food security is about whether enough food is produced?
availability — Availability concerns the supply of food.
A family buys 10 kg of food and throws away 1.5 kg. What percentage was wasted?
15 — 1.5 ÷ 10 = 0.15 = 15%.
Watch out for
- Many assume hunger is caused by a global shortage of food. The bigger problems are access, poverty, conflict and waste.
- Some think food insecurity does not exist in Australia. It affects some households in cities, regions and remote areas.
Tips for parents
- Track your household's food waste for a week and discuss ways to reduce it.
- Discuss food insecurity sensitively; some families experience it themselves.
- Learn about native foods from First Nations-owned businesses and organisations, which can explain how knowledge is shared and protected.
Go further
- Calculate the food miles of a family meal using ingredient origins.
- Grow a small herb or vegetable garden and record yields.
- Research a technology or program improving food security in one country.