Intm 460 - Global Food Production

Milton Giles

INTM 460

March 26, 2015

Global Food Production

        The world population is expected to continue increasing. Some projections put the growth at nine billion by 2040 and as high as 11billion by 2050. The major questions are is food production keeping up with current growth, and anticipated future growth.  It will be necessary to increase current levels of food production more than the proportional amount of projected amount of population growth, because many people, especially in developing countries, don’t have adequate diets.

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        It depends on the school of thought one follows what the current levels of production to population are. Many people base their theories on Thomas Malthus who in 1798 predicted that population growth would out pace food supply. None of his predictions have come true. It predicted because of the earths limited food carrying supply eventually you would run out of productive land. This is far from the truth because now more food is produced per acre than ever before.

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        The chart above can be somewhat misleading, that is because the land usage can be for livestock or human product. In the Corn Belt a high percentage of grain production is used for livestock. The majority of people in this country are not vegetarians, and rely on livestock for protein.

        Arable land is crucial for food, and how this small percentage of land is used is critical for future food production. According to the Global Land Assessment of Degradation published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly two billion hectares worldwide has been degraded since the 1950’s. The two billion hectares represent 22 percent of the world’s cropland, pastures, forest, and woodlands. In particular, Africa and Latin America Have the highest proportion of degraded agricultural land. Asia has the highest proportion of degraded forest land.