The primary challenges facing global agriculture over the next few decades are increasing production and fighting hunger and poverty, and Brazil, due to its soil and weather conditions, is one of a few agricultural nations in the world that are able to rapidly increase their agricultural output in order to meet the rising demand for food worldwide.
As the economic crisis nears its end in most of the world, and taking into consideration the steady growth of the economies of China, India and the Arab countries, for instance, food consumption in those markets should rise by an annual average of between 10% and 12%, starting in 2010.
Aside from the natural demand of consumer markets, the Brazilian plan also takes into account long-term projections regarding food consumption, according to a technician with the National Food Supply Company (Conab).
A recent survey conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reveals that by 2050, farmers will need to increase food production by 70%, as the world population will grow by 2.3 billion inhabitants.
The FAO expects the food demand to accompany the rising population and family income. This means that by 2050, world food production will need to increase from the current 2.1 billion tons to 3 billion tons.
The beef supply, in turn, will have to rise from 200 million tons to 470 million tons.
UN projections show that the world population will grow from 6.8 billion people to 9.1 billion by 2050. In order to be able to feed its population within four decades, the world needs to overcome large obstacles.
According to the FAO, as the world population expands, there must increased investment in agriculture and in the sustainable use of non-renewable resources, as a means of fighting hunger and poverty in the world.
According to FAO estimates, the population growth should occur mostly in developing countries and in urban areas, where the food demand calls for the expansion of arable land, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
The FAO survey also states that poverty and hunger alleviation requires research and the development of efficient systems of irrigation, transportation and storage.
Virtually all of the demographic expansion will take place in developing countries. The fastest population growth will happen in Sub-Saharan Africa (108%, or an additional 910 million people). The slowest growth rate, in turn, should be recorded in East and Southeast Asia (11%, 228 million more people).
Thus, agricultural nations must increase their food production, and wealthy countries must speed up their programs for fighting poverty around the world. As late Brazilian sociologist Herbert José de Souza, a.k.a. Betinho, used to say: "Those who are hungry are in a hurry."
Anba