Agriculture output must grow 70 percent to meet world demand, UN Says

Global agriculture production needs to increase 70 percent to meet food demand by the middle of the century as more people move to cities, the United Nations said. Growers will have to increase yields on existing farms as the amount of land available for agriculture is shrinking, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said in a book on farming, “Save and Farm.” About 70 percent of people will live in urban areas by 2050, up from 50 percent today, the FAO said.

“We have no option but to further intensify crop production,” the FAO said. Demand for food such as wheat and rice will rise along with the global population, which is expected to jump 33 percent to 9.2 billion by 2050, according to the FAO. Between 2015 and 2030, “an estimated 80 percent of the required food production increases will have to come from intensification in the form of yield increases and higher cropping intensities.” Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers