What will we be eating 30 years from now?
By 2050 the world’s population is predicted to total 9.2 billion people and will require two Earths worth of resources to sustain it. WHAT!
Every second there are approximately 4 babies born and 2 deaths.
At this rate, the existing agricultural systems and processes that we have in place to feed a population that is increasing at approximately 75 million each year (and counting) is not sustainable.
According to World Bank data, in 1960, 66% of the world’s 3.3 billion population lived in rural areas. Today that percentage has dramatically dropped to 46% of a population of over 7.5 billion – more than double its size in just 57 years.
Photographs by JIM RICHARDSON for National Geographic
As the population continues to climb and water becomes sparser across the globe, advances in both conventional and organic farming can in truth work much harder to give us greater product from more efficient water + nutrient supplies. The concern for population vs food reserves of the future is grave, but there are methods and mind-sets that we can adopt which have the potential to diminish the consequences of a thirsty and hungry world.
How can the world increase its food supply whilst simultaneously reducing the harmful environmental impact of agriculture?
One possible solution is to freeze the continued expansion of farmland and more effectively utilise what we currently have. In 2017 we have now farmed 60% of the Earth’s potential supply. Yet only around 17% of these farms are irrigated. This means that 83% of our farming industry is operating under an extreme lack of resource… Water. This is the key to farming the future.
95% of the world’s 1.1 billion farmers live in developing countries and 70% of the starving world come from poor farm families who neither have the resources to produce the food they need, or the income required to buy it. For these people, availability of irrigated water – or the ability to use the water that they do have more efficiently – is fundamental to improving the quality and quantity of their production for the rest of the world, can bring up to 20 times the revenue, and alleviate the stress of their household food supply.
Ironically, Drip Irrigation – a traditionally costly method that had been utilised by larger, wealthier farmers – may be the answer to significantly improving food production globally for suffering farmers.
Drip Irrigation works to precisely deliver water directly to the roots of plants in controlled, consistent allocations. By doing so this method can result in water efficiencies of up to 95% (compared to 50% for traditional irrigation technology), earlier maturation of crops, reduced weed growth, ideal soil conditions, significantly less spreading of disease across crops, reduced wastage and can have a massive increase of up to 150% crop yield. This is very suitable for dry arid lands and for areas where there is a large shortage of water where the land is unsustainable for agriculture, and traditional irrigation processes are costly.
GLOBAL EASY WATER PRODUCTS (GEWP) are a social enterprise that distribute low-cost drip irrigation products designed specifically for smallholder farmers in India. GEWP has a goal of reaching 300,000 families + small scale farmers with its drip irrigation system by 2018. In order to bridge the gaps in ag-tech for India’s rural farmers, the company's strategy is to allow greater access to cost effective irrigation. GEWP's focus is to provide solutions to water scarcity as a way of assisting farmers with their yield turnover.
Chapin Living Waters is another NGO based out of NYC delivering thousands of drip irrigation bucket kits across the globe.
$10.00 will help provide a bucket kit container shipment or help a family start a small garden!
$100.00 will help families start a small garden and supply food for themselves with extra to sell.
$150.00 will help set up a demo plot or garden in conjunction with a medical clinic, mission or church.
If you wish to make a contribution, visit Chapin Living Waters and donate.
What could all of this mean for our future food supply and the world’s farming industry?
We all have a practical and a moral reason to aid change. Practically, if 95% of our agricultural supply comes from developing counties, when they fail we inevitably will feel the effects. Morally, with 790 million hungry people in 2017 we can invest in immediate solutions that will begin to change patterns that may eliminate catastrophes of the future if we were to continue to do things the same way. The FAO claims: “The world has the resources and technology to eradicate hunger and ensure long-term food security for all, in spite of many challenges and risks. It needs to mobilise political will and build the necessary institutions to ensure that key decisions on investment and policies to eradicate hunger are taken and implemented effectively. The time to act is now.”
To make a donation, click here.
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