The challenge of global food sustainability

摘要

The demand for food is forecast to grow by at least 50% over the next four decades, driven by population growth and rising affluence in many of the same regions whose populations are growing the most. With the continued competition for land, this means that the productivity per unit of land area similarly needs to grow to ensure adequate food supplies, but this needs to be achieved against a background of climate change, and the realisation that food production is itself a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and the loss of biodiversity. Even today there is a significant proportion of the world’s people who are malnourished or even starving, and as the demand for food increases, there is a risk that food distribution could become even more unequal.