Can Food Supply Meet Doubled Demand?

Global demand for food is expected to double by 2050, which will put more pressure on the world’s farmers to increase production. But these efforts could also increase carbon dioxide in the air and nitrogen in the soil and contribute to species extinction, warns a team of researchers in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Agricultural intensification on existing farmland through improved practices and technology transfer—rather than clearing more land—offers the most sustainable approach to increasing food supply and minimizing risks to human and environmental health, the researchers believe. They call on wealthier countries to develop these methods and then transfer the best practices to poorer nations.

“Our analyses show that we can save most of the Earth’s remaining ecosystems by helping the poorer nations of the world feed themselves,” says study leader David Tilman, resident fellow of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.

Source: “Global Food Demand and the Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture” by David Tilman et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (online edition, November 21, 2011), www.pnas.org.