More than 150 recipients of the Nobel and World Food prizes released an open letter yesterday calling for a dramatic increase in research and a commitment to new food distribution efforts with a goal of producing more crops and avoiding a global hunger crisis in coming decades.
The letter notes that an estimated 700 million people now are “ food insecure and desperately poor.”
“As difficult and as uncomfortable as it might be to imagine, humanity is headed towards an even more food insecure, unstable world by mid-century than exists today, worsened by a vicious cycle of conflict and food insecurity,” states the letter, signed by 153 recipients of the two prizes. “Climate change is projected to decrease the productivity of most major staples when substantial increases are needed to feed a world which will add another 1.5 billion people to its population by 2050.”
Corn production in Africa is expected to decline and much of the world could see more soil degradation and water shortages, the letter says.
“We are not on track to meet future food needs. Not even close,” it adds.
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