Background

The Challenge

The world is changing at a rapidly accelerating pace. Economies, political structures, ecological systems, technologies, population and demographics are transforming the world in profound ways, constantly changing the demands of our populace and on our environment. Perhaps the most pressing global issue relates to our capacity to develop sustainable agricultural practices that will feed a rapidly growing world population.  

The International Food Policy Research Institution indicates (2002) that “By 2025, [the] global population will likely increase to 8 billion, more than 80 percent of whom will live in developing countries and 58 percent in rapidly growing urban areas. In response to population growth and rising incomes, worldwide cereal demand will grow by a projected 46 percent between 1995 and 2025, and in developing countries by 65 percent; meat demand is projected to grow by 56 percent worldwide and more than double in the developing world; and calorie requirements and dietary trends will translate to even greater water demand if the food produced is to supply adequate nutrition.” 

A 2008 assessment by the U.S. National Intelligence Council, “Global Trends 2025: A Transforming World,” states that “between now and 2025, the world will have to juggle competing and conflicting energy security and food security concerns, yielding a tangle of difficult to manage consequences.” Among the rising forces, the NIC projected, will be ever greater portions of land and water devoted to crops grown for biofuels and, at the same time, expanding middle classes worldwide that will demand ever more proteins in their diets.

Our roots are in California, but our work has global impact.  As a major agricultural producer, California will play a vital role in answering the question, “How do we sustainably feed 8 billion people by 2025?”  What can we do to meet these challenges?

For further information, read the FAO Report on "Feeding the World by 2050."