Optimizing Food and Environmental Sustainability
The global population is currently rising by 75 million people per year and will grow 35%by 2050.
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While the challenges associated with population growth are complex, onechallenge to those in agriculture is clear: More people mean more families to feed andfewer acres per capita from which to grow the food. Agricultural technologies are criticalto producing more food with less resources to meet the global demands of the future.
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The current estimate of the global human population is 6.6 billion and by 2050 it isexpected to reach 8.9 billion people and peak at 9.1 billion by 2100.
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Estimated population of theUnited States is today 304million people and expectedto rise to 409 million by 2050,a 35% increase.
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The world population has grownby about four billion since thebeginningoftheGreenRevolutionin the 1940s, and most believethat, without the Revolution,there would be greater famine,malnutrition and starvation.
Affluence and Consumption
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Asdevelopingsocietiesgainwealththeircitizensdemandhigherproteinfoods.
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Forexample, in South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) by 2050 consumption of milkand vegetables is projected to increase by 70%, and meat, eggs and fish by 100%.
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“The cost of food rose almost 40% globally, according to UN Food and AgricultureOrganization and has continued to rise this year – is structural, meaning that prices willnot retreat to former levels. This is because newly wealthy consumers in countries suchas China and India, who can increasingly afford to improve their diets…”
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Convergence on Food Production
According to the UN’s food and agriculture program, 854 million people do not have sufficientfood for an active and healthy life.
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With the global population slated to increase by 35% by2050, the needs for enhanced food production capabilities will be challenged and impossible without agricultural technologies.
MitigatingEffectsofGlobalPopulationGrowththroughAgriculturalTechnologies
American Farmers For The Advancement And Conservation Of Technology
A Safe, Affordable and Sustainable Food Supply Requires Technology.
www.itisafact.org
World Population
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