Food for all in 2020: can the world be fed without damaging the environment?

Abstract

SummaryApproximately 780 million people world-wide arc chronically undernourished, and past gains in food production have been associated with environmental problems, yet global demand for cereals is projected to increase by 56% and for meat by 74% between 1990 and 2020.The International Food Policy Research Institute has developed the view that every person in the world can have access to sufficient food to sustain a healthy and productive life, that malnutrition can be abolished, and that food can originate from efficient, effective, and low-cost food systems that are compatible with sustainable use of natural resources. Moreover, IFPRI has concluded that these conditions can be achieved by the year 2020, if the world commits itself to specified changes in behaviour, priorities, and policies. In order for these changes to occur, sustained action is needed in six areas: (1) strengthening the capacity of developing-country governments; (2) investing more in poor people; (3) accelerating agricultural productivity; (4) assuring sound management of natural resources; (5) developing competitive markets; and (6) expanding and realigning international development assistance. We have the knowledge and the capacity to meet the food needs of every person without damaging the environment. What is needed is political will and commitment on the part of all members of society to take the required action.

Small-scale Irrigation: The Driver for Promoting Agricultural Production and Food Security (The Case of Tigray Regional State, Northern Ethiopia)

“…The average utilization of inputs is 77.72 kg with standard deviation of 70.12 and its average cost is Birr 1056.00 with standard deviation of 1036. When we look up on the strength of the linear association between the fertilizer used and agricultural production through Pearson correlation, it is strong and positive with Source: survey result, 2015 p-value of 0.000 (significant at 0.01 level, 2-tailed) which is in line with the previous research result of intensive high-yield agriculture is dependent on addition of fertilizers [27] (Figure 2).…”

Food Security: A Global Perspective

“…The action programme outlined earlier will require all relevant partiesindividuals, households, farmers, local communities, the private sector, civil society, national governments and the international community -to work together in new or strengthened partnerships; it will require a change in behaviour, priorities and policies; and it will require strengthened cooperation between developing and industrialized countries and among developing countries. The world's natural resources are capable of supporting sustainable food security for all people, if current rates of degradation are reduced and replaced by appropriate technological change and sustainable use of natural resources (Pinstrup-Andersen and Pandya-Lorch, 1996a).…”

Mathematical Modelling in Agricultural Systems in Indonesia: A Case Study of Modelling in Predicting Production and Consumption Corn to Reach Corn Self-Sufficiency

“…Food self-sufficiency can be achieved if food needs can be met by domestic production (Ewing-Chow & Vilarasau Slade, 2012;Pinstrup-Andersen & Pandya-Lorch, 1996;Syemin, 2010). When referring to this definition, it can be concluded that in the period 2018-2022 Indonesia can achieve corn selfsufficiency.…”