World food supply: problems and prospects.

Abstract The current world population of 7.6 billion is projected to reach 9.9 billion by 2050. The UN projects that agricultural output will need to increase by 70% simply to maintain current dietary standards, which does not include improving the diets of approximately 800 million malnourished people. Agricultural production increased at a rate insufficient to reach the goal set by the 2009 World Summit on Food Security to reduce by one half the number of malnourished people in the world by 2015. In spite of declining poverty rates, achieving this reduction in the number of malnourished people will be very difficult, as it is likely that the projected 2.3 billion additional people will be among the poorest of the poor. Food imports are expected to increase despite projected increased production, with many poor countries unable to afford those imports. Agriculture can improve sustainable world food production on the land currently under production and by doing so protect our fragile environment as much as possible.