How to improve global food security?
In this article, we will find out how to improve global food security. Moreover, we will find ways to build a sustainable food system.
Almost 820 million people around the world are suffering from hunger. Until now, we have produced enough food for the whole planet, so this should not be a problem. But the truth is that some factors such as inefficient use of water, fertilizers, and crop rotations may cause problems.
As a result, Paul C. West and a team of researchers started developing some ways to improve global food security.
Co-director of the Global Landscapes Initiative at the University of Minnesota, Paul C. West, stated that they wanted to highlight that the chances and challenges of creating a sustainable food system are concentrated in a small set of places and crops. These places can have local, regional and global impacts.
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Now let’s find out how to improve global food security:
Closing the yield gap
According to the estimation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, developing countries will have converted 120 million hectares of natural habitats to farming by the end of 2050. Current agricultural land in many parts of the world cannot reach its potential. They are producing 50 percent less than what they can produce. If the gap between what could be produced and what is being produced get closed, the need to clear land for agriculture will be reduced and 850 million people can be fed.
Using fertilizer more efficiently
We don’t support synthetic fertilizers, but we cannot ignore the fact they are being used all around the world in large quantities. But the good news is that according to the researches of Paul C. West and his team, we can reduce the use of fertilizers with phosphorus and nitrogen on rice, wheat, and maize crops by 13-29 percent to have a sustainable food system. By adjusting time, place, and type of fertilizer, we can gain further efficiency.
Raising low water productivity
One of the major issues in creating a sustainable food system is water. One of the effective ways is to improve irrigation systems and plant crops that use less water. Rice and sugar cane are some types of crops that need a lot of water. The fact is that farmers decide to grow particular types of crops according to market values, so changing the types of crops would not be easy.
Targeting food for direct consumption
When we convert crops for animal feed or other non-food uses, they lose a lot of caloric efficiency. West and his team estimated that enough calories for 4 billion people can be provided with the corps that are directly produced to feed people. Sometimes it means that farmers should grow different crops, but as we said earlier, changing crops is not easy.
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According to the director of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Carol Barford, people want to change their diet. People in wealthy countries have shown interest in taking significant measures for reducing food waste. However, Paul C. West said that diets cannot be changed quickly.
Reducing food waste
As a result of different factors such as inefficient preparation or inadequate storage facilities, a third of all food is wasted or lost. One of the biggest culprits for this is the United States. The United States requires 7 to 8 times larger agricultural land base than a land base in India to compensate for this waste. Based on West’s research, if the United States, India, and China reduce their food waste, we can feed 413 million people per year.
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