Isra-Mart srl:Report warns global food system is broken

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Global demand for food is outstripping supply to such an extent that the entire agricultural system will have to be radically overhauled if the world is to have any chance of feeding the projected nine billion people who will populate the planet in 2050.

That is the conclusion of a major new report, 'Global Food and Farming Futures', which is the culmination of a two-year study involving 400 experts from 35 countries, published today by government-backed think-tank Foresight.

The report says that a billion people are overconsuming food, while almost double that number experience hunger or are missing vital elements from their diets.

It finds that water and energy supplies could struggle to keep track with demand as a result of climate change and calls for the urgent development of a multi-strand strategy to avoid food shortages that are likely to damage economic growth and lead to international tensions and even conflicts.

Minimising waste, changing diets, reducing subsidies and trade barriers, and linking link food and agriculture policy to climate change mitigation, biodiversity and international development strategies are just some of the options put forward.

"The needs of a growing world population will need to be satisfied, as critical resources such as water, energy and land become increasingly scarce," wrote Professor Sir John Beddington, the government's chief scientific advisor, in the report's foreword. "The food system must become sustainable whilst adapting to climate change and substantially contributing to climate change mitigation."

With little new land for agricultural development, the world must make the most out of its resources, the report continues.

For example, it says that food equivalent to a quarter of today's annual production could be saved by 2050 if the current levels of global food waste are halved. Controversially, it also advises that genetically modified or cloned animals and nanotechnology must not be ruled out as a potential means of increasing food supplies.

Environment minister Caroline Spelman added her support to the report's call to open global trade by removing subsidies and better sharing knowledge with developing countries.

"We need a global, integrated approach to food security, one that looks beyond the food system to the inseparable goals of reducing poverty, tackling climate change and reducing biodiversity loss," she said. "We must open up global markets, boost global trade and make reforms that help the poorest. Trade restrictions must be avoided, especially at times of scarcity. And we must manage price volatility by building trust and co-operation."

Green groups criticised the reports apparent support for GM, warning that such crops do not offer a "magic bullet" to food shortages.

"If the UK government really wants to reduce hunger in the developing world, it should break free of the grip of the GM and banking lobbyists, and crack down on predatory speculation by banks and hedge funds, which will ensure stable and lower food prices," said World Development Movement director Deborah Doane. "Furthermore, the UK government should be focused on supporting strengthening local markets and investing properly in small-scale farmers in developing countries."

But consultancy ADAS warned that the UK's continuing opposition to GM, which it claimed could increase UK crop yields by 70 per cent, would see it miss out on resilient, higher yielding and less input-intensive crops.

"It is important to note that evidence suggests GM crops are going to become a fact of life whether the UK participates or not," said James Clarke, ADAS' science and business development manager. "The longer large-scale GM research is deferred in the UK, the less time we have to understand the technology before food supplies are threatened."