UN Report: World Food Gap Up to 70% by 2050

2013-12-04 Developments

comprehensive report on the through train for agriculture, rural areas and farmers: according to the news on the United Nations website on December 4, a research report released by the United Nations Environment Programme and other institutions shows that the world population will reach 9.6 billion by 2050, and the food demand at that time will be 70% more than it is now. The report notes that it is possible to fill this gap, but not solely by increasing the production of food crops.

The World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future, authored by the World Resources Institute, UNEP, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, shows that increasing the productivity of crops and livestock on existing agricultural land is essential to save forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but increasing production alone is not enough to fill the food gap. The report found that in order to avoid clearing more land for agricultural use, crop yields would need to be increased by 40 per cent over the next 40 years compared to the previous 40 years.

Statistics show that the world loses about 1.3 billion tons of food every year, equivalent to 1 trillion US dollars, which not only causes serious economic losses, but also puts pressure on natural resources. According to the report, reducing food loss and waste by half by 2050 could fill 20% of the food gap.

Statistics also show that between 2006 and 2050, human beef consumption will increase by 80%. Reducing the excessive demand for animal products would prevent tens of millions of hectares of forest from being converted to pasture, the report said.

It is estimated that between 2006 and 2050, the population of sub-Saharan African countries will surge, and it is necessary to triple the current food production to meet the per capita food demand. The report suggests that helping to reduce the birth rate by improving health care and education could fill 25 percent of the region's food gap.

The report devotes a great deal of space to making recommendations on how to increase food production.

The Third Global Conference on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security and Climate Change is currently being held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The report was published at the time of the meeting. The report published on the 3rd is only an interim report of the report, and the full report will be completed in mid -2014.

http://www.gdcct.gov.cn/politics/headline/201312/t20131204_806345.html