Population Growth and the Food Crisis
Every year, the world’s population grows by 80 million individuals and millions of new consumers are becoming wealthy enough to switch, not just from rice to meat based diets, but also to diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables. As developing countries continue to experience growth of their middle class population, more and more pressure will be placed on world agriculture to produce plentiful, nutritious food supplies on limited arable land resources.
“Hungry people are angry people,” warned U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a three-day emergency food summit in June 2008. “Hunger breeds social disintegration, ill health and economic decline.”
Political instability sparked by hunger and food shortages grasped headlines in 2008 with the issue of escalating food prices emerging as a serious global threat with social, political and economic implications. The factors that have created the food crisis are multiple and complex, including
- higher global prices for energy;
- a drought of underinvestment in agriculture;
- and more importantly the first ever demand-driven food cycle in modern times.
Food demand has outstripped the world’s ability to increase food supplies resulting in a rapid rise in food prices and local food shortages. Today, the world’s grain stocks to use ratio is nearly at its lowest level in 35 years. We are simply not growing enough food to keep up with world demand.
For example, if the world’s farmers stopped growing food today, we would only have enough grains in the world’s storage bins to feed the world’s population for 66 days.
With the increased world population, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the total world demand for agricultural products will be 60 percent higher in 2030 than it is today. FAO projects that more than 85 percent of this additional demand will come from developing countries.
While the increase in population is challenging the world’s resources, the good news is that countries are increasing their gross domestic product and people are now living longer lives, enriching their diets, and improving their family income. We need record global crop production every year in order to keep up with food demand and while the factors that have created the food crisis are multiple and complex, one of the necessary components of the solution is the use of fertilizers to further increase the efficient and environmentally sensitive and responsible production of food for the world.
|