by boqueronman » Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:54 pm
"population grows faster than the food supply..."
From Douglas Southgate at the Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development:
"During the second half of the twentieth century, human numbers and food demand grew at an unprecedented pace, yet food supplies increased even faster. Demographic expansion is now slackening, due to dramatic reductions in human fertility in Asia, Latin America, and other parts of the world. However, demand for edible goods will continue to go up, mainly because improved living standards are causing per-capita consumption to rise. To avoid mounting food scarcity, the geographic expansion of agriculture at the expense of forests and other habitats, or both, effective investment in research and development, especially in agricultural biotechnology, is needed so that per-hectare yields can continue increasing."
"[C]ommodity prices have recently been rising again – and this may continue for some time (though the very high prices of 2008 were probably driven in large part by the excessive supply of money and speculative purchases). One reason is that demand for food is continuing to grow, in large part because of improved living standards and diets. In light of demand growth, greater support for technological improvement, which has been the main reason why food supplies have increased faster than demand, is absolutely essential. Sadly, this support has been sorely lacking for many years. Barring a renewed commitment to technological improvement, including the widest possible use of agricultural biotechnology, there is little chance that food prices will return to the low levels which were taken for granted just a few years ago. As a result, food insecurity could well worsen south of the Sahara and in other impoverished settings."
Conclusions:
1. World fertility rates are falling, allowing agriculture yields to exceed world population growth;
2. Demand for edible foodstuffs will continue to rise, reflecting a shift from basic foodstuffs to animal protein as the world middle class grows;
3. There are existing means of forestalling any real world-wide food crisis - expansion of cultivated land and advancing bio-technology.
4. As I have said before every single regional/national famine in the post WWII world (see particularly Mao's China, Ethiopia, and Mozambique) has been caused by governmental interference in markets.
Now since it's clear that any implication that the world's population is growing faster than the food supply has been falsified, what are the real problems facing world food production. Beyond question to ensure that the positive world food trend continues, the scientists, politicians, and the general public must reverse the influence of the radical environmental community on government and international institution agricultural policies. The radical environmentalists have demonstrated repeatedly that they can create "threatened species" and stop agricultural production. Furthermore, they have succeeded in blocking implementation of Norman Borlaug's "Green Revolution" in Africa that moved India from the world's largest food aid recipient in the 1950s to stable and self-sufficient agriculture now. Along these same lines, they have blocked access to European import markets for GMA food products produced in Africa and the rest of the developing world by such Luddite techniques as labeling them "Frankenfoods."
The task at hand is clear. The radical environmentalists, who are already responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans resulting from their successful campaign, with no scientific justification, to ban DDT, must be shown for what they are, dedicated to the reduction of the world's human population be whatever means necessary.
"population grows faster than the food supply..."
From Douglas Southgate at the Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development:
"During the second half of the twentieth century, human numbers and food demand grew at an unprecedented pace, yet food supplies increased even faster. Demographic expansion is now slackening, due to dramatic reductions in human fertility in Asia, Latin America, and other parts of the world. However, demand for edible goods will continue to go up, mainly because improved living standards are causing per-capita consumption to rise. To avoid mounting food scarcity, the geographic expansion of agriculture at the expense of forests and other habitats, or both, effective investment in research and development, especially in agricultural biotechnology, is needed so that per-hectare yields can continue increasing."
"[C]ommodity prices have recently been rising again – and this may continue for some time (though the very high prices of 2008 were probably driven in large part by the excessive supply of money and speculative purchases). One reason is that demand for food is continuing to grow, in large part because of improved living standards and diets. In light of demand growth, greater support for technological improvement, which has been the main reason why food supplies have increased faster than demand, is absolutely essential. Sadly, this support has been sorely lacking for many years. Barring a renewed commitment to technological improvement, including the widest possible use of agricultural biotechnology, there is little chance that food prices will return to the low levels which were taken for granted just a few years ago. As a result, food insecurity could well worsen south of the Sahara and in other impoverished settings."
Conclusions:
1. World fertility rates are falling, allowing agriculture yields to exceed world population growth;
2. Demand for edible foodstuffs will continue to rise, reflecting a shift from basic foodstuffs to animal protein as the world middle class grows;
3. There are existing means of forestalling any real world-wide food crisis - expansion of cultivated land and advancing bio-technology.
4. As I have said before every single regional/national famine in the post WWII world (see particularly Mao's China, Ethiopia, and Mozambique) has been caused by governmental interference in markets.
Now since it's clear that any implication that the world's population is growing faster than the food supply has been falsified, what are the real problems facing world food production. Beyond question to ensure that the positive world food trend continues, the scientists, politicians, and the general public must reverse the influence of the radical environmental community on government and international institution agricultural policies. The radical environmentalists have demonstrated repeatedly that they can create "threatened species" and stop agricultural production. Furthermore, they have succeeded in blocking implementation of Norman Borlaug's "Green Revolution" in Africa that moved India from the world's largest food aid recipient in the 1950s to stable and self-sufficient agriculture now. Along these same lines, they have blocked access to European import markets for GMA food products produced in Africa and the rest of the developing world by such Luddite techniques as labeling them "Frankenfoods."
The task at hand is clear. The radical environmentalists, who are already responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans resulting from their successful campaign, with no scientific justification, to ban DDT, must be shown for what they are, dedicated to the reduction of the world's human population be whatever means necessary.