In this article we will discuss about the food scenario of the world.
Cereals are grown throughout the world to provide food for human consumption and feed and fodder for livestock. They are grown in 73 per cent of the world arable land and contribute 74 per cent of the global caloric production. Demand for food is growing with ever increasing population.
Compared with present production of about 2.0 billion tonnes, the demand for cereals is likely to go up to 2.5 billions with low income growth and to 2.8 billions with strong economic growth by the year 2020 AD (Table 1.4).
World population is expected to grow by over a third or 2.3 billion people, between 2009 and 2050 (FAO 2009).The projections show that feeding a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 would require raising overall food production by some 70 per cent between 2005/07 and 2050.
Production in the developing countries would need to almost double. This implies significant increases in the production of several key commodities. Annual cereal production, for instance, would have to grow by almost one billion tones, meat production by over 200 M t to a total of 470 M t in 2050, 72 per cent of which in the developing countries, up from the 58 per cent today. Feeding the world population adequately would also mean producing the kinds of foods that are lacking to ensure nutrition security.
The food and agricultural problems which will be met during the present country can be solved if there is political will to do so. However, future generations will also face the same problem of how to provide enough food for increasing population.
According to World Bank projections, the world population could reach a stationary level of just under 10 billion by around the end of 21st century, compared with 6.1 billions projected for 2000 AD. Significance of these projections is faster growth in population than in food requirements.
Almost all the population increase (95%) takes place in the present day developing countries, which have low per capita consumption levels. Assuming that the developed countries increase per capita consumption of food by another 20 per cent and the developing countries by another 60 per cent over the period 2000-2005 AD, total demand rates can be computed as shown in Table 1.5.
Simple lesson from projection is that world demand could increase by 50 per cent in the next 20 years, would more than double again in the first half of the present century.
Doubling the world’s food and agricultural production between 2000 and 2055 AD sounds daunting. To meet satisfactorily the food and agricultural demands of about 10 billion people, taking into account the nonagricultural use of the land and seas, will require atleast indicative global resource use planning.
It is clear that sustained rapid increase in crop and livestock yields must be the main stay of future output growth. A continuation to the middle of the 21st century of the expansion of arable land for the next 20 years would mean that virtually all of the potential arable land would be cultivated. The back-up of agricultural research and extension must be more oriented to the problems of developing country agriculture.
The pointers are all in the same direction. The 21st century must inherit a food and agricultural system in the developing countries which is much more productive and equitable than 20th century. Agricultural production technologies in all countries must be reasonably advanced and capable of continuously absorbing further innovations.
The foundations for enormous increase in output needed in the first part of the 21st century must, therefore, be laid in what is left of in 20th century. Attaining the targets proposed for this later period is a pre-requisite for improving the lives not only of those now living but also of further generations.