An opportunity to reinvent our food system and unlock human capital too
Authors: ROBERT JONES I PAWAN PATIL
What if we had the chance to reinvent the world’s food system and make local, more sustainable, nourishing and diverse food the new norm rather than the exception?
It might seem far-fetched, but with 9 billion people expected on our planet by 2050, and one out of three children in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa stunted from poor nutrition, it's a necessity. Today, one in ten fellow citizens suffer from hunger and global food waste is at an all-time high.
Experts agree that world food production will need a boost by 2050 (and we'll need to waste less) to feed our growing planet. Some estimates suggest we only have 60 years of food production left in our soils if we continue with current unsustainable agricultural practices, including misplaced subsidies. Moreover, arable land and freshwater are in limited supply.
Against this backdrop, aquaculture—the practice of growing food in the water, is one food production sector growing rapidly. In fact, in the two poorest regions of the world, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa aquaculture (mostly fish) growth rates are no less than ten percent per annum over the past ten years.
With our global ocean covering over 70 percent of earth's surface, nearly every ocean-facing country has significant potential to farm its oceans. As nations look seaward, sea ranching and growing food in pens in open water is poised to grow, offering new climate-smart sources of protein inherently scalable given the vastness of the sea. Foods grown range from micronutrient-rich seaweeds and marine algae to fish (even Tuna, once thought imaginable) and shellfish.
Read the full blog at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/opportunity-reinvent-our-food-system-and-unlock-human-capital-too
Blog » An opportunity to reinvent our food system and unlock human capital too
An opportunity to reinvent our food system and unlock human capital too
Authors: ROBERT JONES I PAWAN PATIL
What if we had the chance to reinvent the world’s food system and make local, more sustainable, nourishing and diverse food the new norm rather than the exception?
It might seem far-fetched, but with 9 billion people expected on our planet by 2050, and one out of three children in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa stunted from poor nutrition, it's a necessity. Today, one in ten fellow citizens suffer from hunger and global food waste is at an all-time high.
Experts agree that world food production will need a boost by 2050 (and we'll need to waste less) to feed our growing planet. Some estimates suggest we only have 60 years of food production left in our soils if we continue with current unsustainable agricultural practices, including misplaced subsidies. Moreover, arable land and freshwater are in limited supply.
Against this backdrop, aquaculture—the practice of growing food in the water, is one food production sector growing rapidly. In fact, in the two poorest regions of the world, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa aquaculture (mostly fish) growth rates are no less than ten percent per annum over the past ten years.
With our global ocean covering over 70 percent of earth's surface, nearly every ocean-facing country has significant potential to farm its oceans. As nations look seaward, sea ranching and growing food in pens in open water is poised to grow, offering new climate-smart sources of protein inherently scalable given the vastness of the sea. Foods grown range from micronutrient-rich seaweeds and marine algae to fish (even Tuna, once thought imaginable) and shellfish.
Read the full blog at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/opportunity-reinvent-our-food-system-and-unlock-human-capital-too