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Globally, over 1,000 (87%) of a total of 1,226 threatened
bird species are impacted by agriculture.
More than 70 species are affected by agricultural
pollution, 27 of them seriously. Europe’s [..]
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The use of fertilizers accounts for approximately 50% of
the yield increase, and greater irrigation for another substantial
part (FAO, 2003). Current FAO projections in
food demand suggest that [..]
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Figure 8: Global trends (1960–2005) in cereal and meat production, use of fertilizer, irrigation and pesticides.
(Source: Tilman, 2002; FAO, 2003; International Fertilizer Association, 2008; FAOSTAT, [..]
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The world regions are sharply divided in terms of their capacity
to use science in promoting agricultural productivity in order
to achieve food security and reduce poverty and hunger. For every [..]
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Biofuels have grown quickly in demand and production (Figure
14), fuelled by high oil prices and the initial perception of their
role in reducing CO2 emissions (FAO, 2008). Biofuels, including [..]
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Production of crops for biofuels also competes with food production
(Banse et al., 2008). Indeed, the corn equivalent of the
energy used on a few minutes drive could feed a person for a
day, while [..]
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There are huge regional differences in the above trends. Globally, poverty
rates have fallen from 52% in 1981 to 42% in 1990 and to 26%
in 2005. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, the poverty rate [..]
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Conflicts increase the risk of food supply instability tremendously
(Figure 31). Countries in conflict and post-conflict
situations tend to be food insecure, with more than
20% of the population, [..]
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As nearly half of the world’s cereal production is used to produce
animal feed, the dietary proportion of meat has a major influence on
global food demand (Keyzer et al., 2005). With meat [..]
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Although production has generally increased, the rising prices
coincided with extreme weather events in several major cereal
producing countries, which resulted in a depletion of cereal
stocks. The [..]
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The current world food crisis is the result of the combined effects of competition for cropland
from the growth in biofuels, low cereal stocks, high oil prices, speculation in food
markets and [..]
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Increase in crop production has mainly been a function of increases in yield due to increased irrigation
and fertilizer use. However, this may change in the future towards more reliance on cropland [..]
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Food losses in the field (between planting and harvesting) could
be as high as 20–40% of the potential harvest in developing
countries due to pests and pathogens (Kader, 2005). Postharvest
losses [..]
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i.e., before
conversion of food to feed. After discounting the losses, conversions
and wastage at the various stages, roughly 2,800 kcal are
available for supply (mixture of animal and vegetal [..]
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Except for the fact that glaciers are melting rapidly in many places, we do not have adequate data to more accurately project when and where water scarcity will affect irrigation schemes in full. [..]
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Accessibility to food is also determined by the long-term trend
in food prices (which is a different issue from price volatility).
The rising trend in global food prices is likely to persist in
the [..]
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Figure 24: Possible individual ranges of yield and cropland area losses by 2050 with climate change (A2 scenario),
non-food crops incl. biofuels (six OECD scenarios), land degradation (on yield and [..]
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Current projections suggest that an additional 120 million ha
– an area twice the size of France or one-third that of India – will
be needed to support the traditional growth in food production
by [..]
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With our climate changes, we have to adapt our ways to a new environment – in most cases warmer and possibly wetter and drier. Projections on the climate in the future provide some guidance for us, [..]
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Water is essential not only to survival but is also equally or even
more important than nutrients in food production. Agriculture accounts
for nearly 70% of the water consumption, with some [..]
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Global climate change may impact food production across a
range of pathways (Figure 17): 1) By changing overall growing
conditions (general rainfall distribution, temperature regime
and carbon); 2) [..]
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A central component in preventing loss of biodiversity and
ecosystem services, such as provisioning of water, from
expanding agricultural production is to limit the trade-off
between economic [..]
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Water scarcity in terms of drought or depleted groundwater
could therefore have great impacts on livestock and rangelands.
These interactions are also complex. While drought can
directly threaten [..]
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Large urban markets create the scope for the establishment of big
supermarket chains, with implications for the entire food supply
chain. In 2002, the share of supermarkets in the processed/packaged [..]
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The impacts of reduced food availability, higher food prices
and thus lower access to food by many people have
been dramatic. It is estimated that in 2008 at least 110
million people have been [..]
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FAO Food Price Index
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Food losses in the field (between planting and harvesting) could
be as high as 20–40% of the potential harvest in developing
countries due to pests and pathogens (Kader, 2005). Postharvest
losses [..]
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Each day 200,000 more people are added to the world food demand.
The world’s human population has increased near fourfold in the
past 100 years (UN population Division, 2007); it is projected to [..]
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Unsustainable practices in irrigation and production may lead
to increased salinization of soil, nutrient depletion and erosion.
An estimated 950 million ha of salt-affected lands occur
in arid and [..]
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According to the latest UN estimates, almost all of the
world’s population growth between 2000 and 2030 will be
concentrated in urban areas in developing countries (Figure
32). By 2030, almost 60% [..]
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The availability of food within a specific country can be guaranteed
in two ways: Either by food production in the country itself
or by trade. The first option has been discussed extensively
in the [..]
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The requirements for water in agriculture will need to increase in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal 1, target 2 'Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from [..]
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Current projections for aquaculture suggest that
previous growth is unlikely to be sustained in
the future as a result of limits to the availability
of wild marine fish for aquaculture feed (FAO, [..]
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