A new report has presented solutions to meet the world’s growing food needs put at 70 per cent, while advancing economic development and environmental sustainability, according to a statement.
This is contained in a joint statement issued by the World Resources Institute (WRI), UNDP, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) online in Abuja on Tuesday.
The statement said that the report found that the world would need 70 per cent more food supply in order to feed a global population of 9.6 billion people in 2050.
It stated that it was possible to close the food gap, while creating a more productive and healthy environment through improvements in the way people produced and consumed food.
The statement said the findings were being unveiled in the new interim report entitled: World Resources Report: Creating a sustainable Food Future at the ongoing 3rd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security and Climate Change, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The statement quoted Dr Andrew Steer, the President of WRI as saying that over the next several decades, the world faced a grand challenge and opportunity at the intersection of food security, development and the environment.
”To meet human needs, we must close the 70 per cent gap between the food we will need and the food available today.
”But, we must do so in a way that creates opportunities for the rural poor, limits clearing of forests, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.”
According to the statement, the report established that boosting crop and livestock productivity on existing agricultural land is critical to saving forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It noted that the world is unlikely to close the food gap through yield increases alone.
The new report found that crop yields would need to increase by 32 per cent more over the next four decades than they did in the previous four decades, to avoid more land clearing.
It also quoted Ms Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP, as saying: ”As agriculture is a major economic sector in many developing countries, supporting farmers to close the identified gap between existing and potential yields represented a huge opportunity to advance inclusive and sustainable development.
”A ‘leave no farmer behind’ approach is needed. As women produce between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of food crops in developing countries, such an approach should begin with efforts to close the gender gap in agriculture, which is perpetuating cycles of poverty and hunger.”
In addition, the statement said that the final version of the World Resources Report 2013-2014 : Creating a Sustainable Food Future would be released in the middle of 2014.
It stated that the report would further quantify the contribution of each ”menu item” toward closing the food gap, while paying particular attention to the policies, practices, and incentives needed to effectively bring change to scale. (NAN)
