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World resources report: Creating a sustainable food future

As the world’s population is expected to grow tremendously by 2050, research shows a possible solution to the food crisis that won’t do damage to the planet.

With the world’s population expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, a major new report shows the global food system must undergo urgent change to ensure there is adequate food for everyone without destroying the planet.

The World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future reveals that meeting this challenge will require closing three gaps: a 56 percent “food gap” between what was produced in 2010 and food that will be needed in 2050; a nearly 600 million–hectare “land gap” (an area nearly twice the size of India) between global agricultural land area in 2010 and expected agricultural expansion by 2050; and an 11–gigaton “greenhouse gas mitigation gap” between expected emissions from agriculture in 2050 and the level needed to meet the Paris Agreement.

To close the gaps, the report urges significant adjustments in the production of food as well as changes in people’s consumption. From wild fisheries management to how much beef to eat, the report gives policymakers, businesses and researchers a comprehensive roadmap for how to create a sustainable food system from farm to plate.

“Millions of farmers, companies, consumers and every government on the planet will have to make changes to meet the global food challenge. At every level, the food system must be linked to climate strategies as well as ecosystem protections and economic prosperity,” said Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the World Resources Institute. “While the scale of the challenge is bigger than is often thought, the solutions we’ve identified have greater potential than many realize. There’s reason to be hopeful we can achieve a sustainable food future.”

Read the full story at Relief Web.

Photo: Dan Gold, Unsplash

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