Analysis: How Farming Innovations Can Feed the World and Protect the Planet
Of all the challenges facing modern society, it’s crucial we ensure our growing global population has enough to eat.
According to the UN, more than 3 billion people around the world – 40% of the global population – cannot afford a healthy diet. By 2050 the global population is expected to grow by an additional 2 billion, so unless we make changes that’s a grim prospect.
With more people to feed, we want to avoid converting more land for farming. Climate change and creeping desertification mean that the world has already lost more than one-third of its arable land in the last 40 years. And we want to stop deforestation and return more land to nature.
How can we feed an expanding world population?
It’s a daunting challenge, particularly given the threat climate change poses to agriculture production using existing or even less farmland. Also, we know that agriculture contributes 12% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it critical that we address this as part of the solution to climate change.
Photo courtesy of CDG.
Source: World Economic Forum (link opens in a new window)
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