Population

From IssuesBriefs

Overview

With the global population expected to grow by over 3 billion people to 9.5 billion in less than 50 years, the question has been raised: how will we feed everybody? There are 854 million people worldwide who currently do not have sufficient food to lead a healthy and active life. An increase of population without a similar increase in food production will surely amplify this problem. Furthermore, with the ongoing aim to reduce worldwide hunger an immense problem is created. With an increase of population and income in several highly populated emerging economies, higher pressure is also being placed on more production intensive food. Packaged food is more highly demanded when income reaches $5 a day and is more energy intensive, where similarly, as incomes’ rise there is an increased shift in demand for foods such as beef which are more input intensive. These problems exacerbate issues of fuel and energy demand which also leads to the problem of biofuels crops replacing food crops. Realistically there are many simultaneous shortages which need to be addressed particularly in light of the growing population. These must be addressed innovatively as current technologies and resources do not have the capabilities to solve the multitude of problems.

Contributors

• Paula Matthewson - CEO of CropLife Australia

Articles

• Paula Matthewson: 'Supplying sustainability' [1]