The Sydney Morning Herald has an excellent article discussing how the impact of climate change, overpopulation and the increased use of agriculture to develop biofuels will dramatically alter the world's food prices and production.
A revolution in world food prices driven by population growth, economic development, climate change and biofuels is set to make life even worse for the world's poorest people.
For decades food production has outstripped population growth and real food prices have declined, but the world appears to be swinging back into an era where demand will be greater than supply for years to come.
A report on the food predicament says the world's undernourished will still number 772 million in 2020 and higher food prices will cause the poor to shift to even less-balanced diets, with adverse impacts on health in the short and long run. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of undernourished is expected to rise from 273 million in 2020 to 410 million by 2080.
A global temperature increase of more than 3 degrees could increase food prices by 40 per cent.
As they have become increasingly wealthy, people in developing nations such as China have already helped drive the price of food commodities such as wheat to record levels as they have diversified their diet and started eating more grain-hungry meat and dairy products.
Since 2000 dairy prices have tripled and beef prices have almost doubled, says The World Food Situation: New Driving Forces And Required Actions, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington.
I urge you to read the whole article. It is truly an eye-opening look at the world's food production process and where it stands today.
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