The worry about feeding the world as population grows
Global agriculture and food security
The number of hungry people in the world rose to 1.02 billion this year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, despite a 12-year concentrated effort to cut the number.
The global financial recession added at least 100 million people by depriving them of the means to buy enough food.
“The way we manage the global agriculture and food security system doesn’t work,” said Kostas G Stamoulis, a senior economist at FAO. “There is this paradox of increasing global food production, even in developing countries, yet there is hunger.” Agronomists and development experts who gathered in Rome generally agreed that the resources and technical knowledge are available to increase food production by 50 per cent in 2030 and by 70 per cent in 2050 — the amounts needed to feed a population expected to grow to 9.1 billion residents in 40 years.
A straw poll underscored the uncertainty surrounding the question whether the food can be grown in the developing world where the hungry can actually get it, at prices they can afford.
The effect climate change will have on weather and crops remains an open question. but the environmental cost of chemical fertilisers and heavy irrigation has spurred a bitter divide over the right ingredients for a second one.
The demand for biofuels may use up crop land. And as scores of food riots in 2008 showed, oil prices and other income shocks can quickly drive millions more into hunger.
A summit meeting of world leaders in Rome is expected to address the future food demands. Since July, the richest countries have ostensibly committed more than $22 billion to the effort over the next three years.
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Comments
By J K Nigam on January 20th, 2010 at 2:00 am
I agree, the situation is going to worst if the govts did’t support strongly to the farmers and subsidearies entreprneurs like seed companies, copoperatives, renewable energy itc. The Gangetic palins of India have potential to increase 5-10fold food production if do the right management/ agronomical practices. Still the Post harvest losses is around 30% to be minimized. Farming according to Agronomical zone, saving cultivated land from urbanization,Increase farmers share in consumer price, easy crop insurance against natural adverse effect and direct input/output subsidy to the farmer community are easist way to produce surplace food items. A strong will power needed to implement it at reginol and international level.
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