Ten Hot SD Issues for the Millennium:
Food Systems
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Ten Hot SD Issues for the Millennium: Food Systems |
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In most parts of the world, grain harvests are declining because of salinization, erosion and urban sprawl. Twelve of the world's 14 major fisheries are threatened. Over 800 million people are chronically undernourished and global demand for food is expected to rise up to 50 percent over the next 15 to 25 years. Sub-Saharan Africa will need to feed three times its current population by 2050. The Panos Institute stated in a 1995 report that "60% of global food stocks are in the hands of private companies, while 70% of world grain trade is carried out by just six companies" and developing country agriculture aid is dropping. Some see biotechnology as the solution. Proponents maintain that genetically altered plants are disease and pest-resistant and can increase the commercial value of agricultural products. Given the estimated near doubling of the world's population before it stabilizes next century, genetic engineering may be the only means of producing sufficient food. However, opposition to biotechnology is building: people are urging a halt to genetically engineered foods until the implications can be better understood. The potential risks to biodiversity and human health posed by so-called living modified organisms (LMOs) are massive. Biosafety—ensuring the safe transfer, handling, use and disposal of LMOs and their products—has become a key concern, especially where unlabelled LMOs cross national borders. For example, the European Union has stopped importing LMOs. In an attempt to regulate trade in LMOs, international negotiations are continuing on a Biosafety Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity and through the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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