WORLD FOOD SECURITY

Scientist Julian Cribb made a very thought provoking presentation at ALFA’s BeefEx conference recently. Although the issue of 'feeding a growing population' is constantly in the headlines Julians speech really focused on directly what this is going to mean for farmers and it certainly left everyone thinking about the challenges that lie ahead for agriculture.

Some of the key points from Julians speech included the fact there will be 9.2 billion people in the world by 2050, requiring food production to more than double by this time. However at the same time the primary resources required to produce food are becoming increasingly scarce. Considering we have already hit peak oil, peak water, peak arable land and peak phosphorous doubling food production is going to be more than just a challenge. Basically farmers will be expected to double the global food supply using half the water, on far less land and with increasingly depleted soils, without fossil fuels, with scarce and costly fertiliser and chemicals, under the hammer of climate change and reduced R&D spending.

No wonder everyone left scratching their heads!

ALFA Newsletter, Oct, 2010