Biodiversity, biotechnology and agriculture
One of the biggest challenges facing mankind in the coming century is how to feed the world’s burgeoning population. Despite the enormous successes of agriculture, over the next 30 years food production must increase dramatically as the population jumps from 5.8 billion this year to just under 9 billion by 2030. The effect of this simple numerical increase will be compounded by the changing diets of large sections of the populations of countries with improving economic circumstances. Increases in meat consumption indicates an even greater growth in the demand for cereals for animal feeds than cereals for direct food use. In Asia, grain production will need to double and Latin America faces a major challenge. In Africa, yields are currently well below the genetic potential of the crops that are grown, so efficiencies are imperative but much food will still need to be produced elsewhere. These interactions mean that the demand for food will increase by close to 100% in the first quarter of the 21st century.