Is the world headed toward a major food crisis ? After several decades of seeming indifference, public opinion is slowly awakening to the fact that a daunting task lies ahead. If a global population of 9 billion by 2050 is to be fed adequately, more food must be produced, and this in keeping with increasingly stringent standards of quality and with respect for the environment. Not to mention the land that must be set aside for the production of energy resources, industrial goods, carbon storage and the protection of biodiversity.
To meet this challenge, societies must innovate, keep losses and waste in check, and reverse the current trend of excessive and imbalanced calorie intake. At the same time, the world must put an end to hunger and with it, the suffering of some one billion people. Researchers the world over have dedicated their life's work to finding viable solutions to these key issues on a global scale. In this work, the heads of two leading French agricultural research organisations, INRA and CIRAD, shed light on the issue in terms that are clear and accessible to the public at large.
The reader will find a wealth of information, thoughtprovoking insight and some surprising solutions. The world can aven a crisis, provided it makes a firm commitment to profound change, notably in the consumption and production habits of today's western societies.