Food shortages in the world today
The land required to grow the crops to feed the current world population of 7.2 billion is equal to the size of South America. Many places such as India, China, Central Africa and other South Asian countries currently suffer from food shortages. Economic crises are causing staple foods like rice, wheat and corn to become much more expensive. So what used to take a day's wage to buy will now cost up to a three weeks wages. There are also natural disasters such as flooding and droughts, which are causing areas to be unable to produce food. Civil unrest and governmental issues are another factor which have led to food shortages since it is hard to produce food in areas where there is civil unrest. The water supply may also be destroyed in these cases making it hard to produce crops, as you need clean water sources to do so. Farming all the food (including crops/plants and meat) required for the world's population takes up 40% of the Earth's land.
The land required to grow the crops to feed the current world population of 7.2 billion is equal to the size of South America. Many places such as India, China, Central Africa and other South Asian countries currently suffer from food shortages. Economic crises are causing staple foods like rice, wheat and corn to become much more expensive. So what used to take a day's wage to buy will now cost up to a three weeks wages. There are also natural disasters such as flooding and droughts, which are causing areas to be unable to produce food. Civil unrest and governmental issues are another factor which have led to food shortages since it is hard to produce food in areas where there is civil unrest. The water supply may also be destroyed in these cases making it hard to produce crops, as you need clean water sources to do so. Farming all the food (including crops/plants and meat) required for the world's population takes up 40% of the Earth's land.
Image showing a person facing food problems.
Food shortages in the future
In the next 5-10 years food shortages are predicted to become even more common globally. By 2050 the world population is predicted to increase to 9 billion. As the population is increasing there will be less land available to grow food. By 2050 the world may not have enough food to feed everyone on the Earth if we continue growing food the way we currently do, using traditional farming methods. The urban to rural ratio is also expected to increase to 75:25 by 2050, leaving less land for farming as more is required for urbanisation.
In the next 5-10 years food shortages are predicted to become even more common globally. By 2050 the world population is predicted to increase to 9 billion. As the population is increasing there will be less land available to grow food. By 2050 the world may not have enough food to feed everyone on the Earth if we continue growing food the way we currently do, using traditional farming methods. The urban to rural ratio is also expected to increase to 75:25 by 2050, leaving less land for farming as more is required for urbanisation.
Graph showing growing change in population compared to the arable and cultivated land.