According to latest UN Report, theworld will need 70 per cent more food, as measured by calories, to feed a global population of 9.6 billion in 2050, and must achieve thisthrough improvements in the way people produce and consume. *.The report, entitled“World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future,” finds that boosting crop and livestock productivity on existing agricultural land is critical to saving forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. *.“Over the next several decades, the world faces a grand challenge – and opportunity – at the intersection of food security, development and the environment,” saidAndrew Steer, President of the World Resources Institute(WRI), which produced the report along with UN agencies and theWorld Bank. *.It cautions, however, that theworld is unlikely to close the food gapthrough yield increases alone, which would have to greatly outpace previous advances to keep up. For that reason,it recommends; *.reducing food loss and waste, *.reducing excessive demand for animal products and *.following other “climate-smart” guidelines. *.Applying the principles of climate smart agriculture across landscapes – that means crops, livestock, forests and fisheries – has the potential to sustainably increase food security, enhance resilience and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint. Pursuing this approach is not a luxury, it’s an imperative. *.The report alsorecommends achieving replacement-level fertility, a rate it says most of the world is nearing by educating girls, reducing child mortality and providing access to reproductive health services. *.Given currently-projected growth, however,sub-Saharan Africa will need to more than triple its crop production by 2050to provide adequate food per capita. *.The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) also contributed to the report, the final version of which will be released in mid-2014. THREE THINGS NOTED IN REPORT: *.First,the world needs to close the gapbetween the amount of food available today and the amount required in 2050. *.According to new WRI analysis, we’ll need about60 percent more food calories in 2050than in 2006 if global demand continues on its current trajectory. This gap is in part a function of increasing population and wealth. *.The United Nations projects that the global population will likelygrow from 7 billion in 2012 to 9.3 billion by 2050. *.At least 3 billion more people are likely to enter the global middle class by 2030, and they will almost certainly demand more resource-intensive foods like meat and vegetable oils. *.At the same time, approximately870 million of the world’s poorest peopleremain undernourished even today. *.Second,the world needs agriculture to contribute to inclusive economic and social development. Agriculture employs more than 2 billion people around the world—more than 28 percent of the global population. *.And according to the World Bank, growth in theagricultural sector can reduce poverty more effectivelythan growth arising from other economic sectors. *.We need a strong agricultural sector if the world is to develop in a way that reduces poverty, alleviates hunger, generates revenue and jobs, and benefits women. *.Third, the world needs to reduce agriculture’s impact on the environment. For instance, agriculture was responsible for approximately 24 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 and therefore contributes to climate change. *.Agriculture is the dominant driver of tropical deforestation. Furthermore, agriculture accounts for about 70 percentof all the freshwater withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and aquifers.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:33:55 +0000
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