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Over the last century, the global population has quadrupled, from 1.8 billion people in 1915 to 7.3 billion today – and it’s still growing. This growth has caused an increase in demand for food, which is expected to grow 70 percent by 2050. Farmers worldwide will need to increase crop production to feed this growing population. For some countries, this will be easier than for others.
Finding farmland
China’s growing population, combined with the rise of middle class consumers demanding more vegetables, pork, beef, and milk, is creating a food crisis. China eats about 20 percent of the world’s food, but has only nine percent of the world’s farmland. Much of China’s land is not suitable for farming, either consumed by factories or polluted by chemicals and waste. In 2013, China combatted this problem with the largest land lease ever, leasing 3 million hectares (11,500 square miles) of Ukrainian land – roughly 5 percent of Ukraine.
Leasing farmland from Ukraine may help China in the near term, but global food demand will continue to rise. Asia, Africa, and South America are forecasted to add another 2 billion people in the next generation and the amount of arable land is decreasing courtesy of shifting climates and industrialization. We need to find a way to feed over 9 billion people with ever decreasing farmland.
Technology is the answer
Farmers need to get more food out of every acre of available land. Luckily, the technology now exists to significantly increase farming efficiency.
The global food crisis is not going away. Farmers that invest in new technology can increase production and help alleviate the pressure.
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author.
Zurab Ashvil Founder & CEO at T3RRA Ltd
09 June
Bekhzod Botirov Сo-owner and member of Supervisory Board at PayWay
06 June
Priyanka Rao Content Strategist at Jupiter Money
John Bertrand MD at Tec 8 Limited
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