食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく)

Compound of 食糧(しょくりょう) ('food supplies; provisions') and 不足(ぶそく) ('shortage; insufficiency'). Distinguished from 食料(しょくりょう), which refers to food generally; 食糧(しょくりょう) specifically evokes staple food supplies for a group or population.

Usage

Primarily used in news, policy, and humanitarian contexts. Rarely used for an individual's daily situation — for 'I ran out of food at home,' speakers say 食(た)べ物(もの)がない or 食料(しょくりょう)が足(た)りない. For systemic shortages affecting many people, 食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく) is the standard term.

Common collocations

• 深刻(しんこく)な食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく): serious food shortage
• 食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく)に陥(おちい)る: to fall into a food shortage
• 食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく)に直面(ちょくめん)する: to face a food shortage
• 食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく)を解消(かいしょう)する: to resolve a food shortage
• 慢性的(まんせいてき)な食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく): chronic food shortage
• 世界的(せかいてき)な食糧不足(しょくりょうぶそく): global food shortage

Similar words

• 食料不足(しょくりょうぶそく): same pronunciation, slightly broader — 'food shortage' using 食料(しょくりょう) (food in general)
• 飢饉(ききん): famine — a more severe, sustained shortage, often with deaths
• 飢(う)え: hunger; starvation — focuses on the suffering of individuals
• 欠乏(けつぼう): deficiency; lack — a more general and formal word (栄養欠乏(えいようけつぼう) = 'nutrient deficiency')