Climate change and an increasing population could trigger a global food
crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to grow
crops and rear animals, scientists warned yesterday.
To keep up with the growth in human population, more food will have to be
produced worldwide over the next 50 years than has been during the past 10,000
years combined, the experts said.
But in many countries a combination of poor farming practices and deforestation
will be exacerbated by climate change to steadily degrade soil fertility,
leaving vast areas unsuitable for crops or grazing.
Competition over sparse resources may lead to conflicts and environmental
destruction, the scientists fear.
The warnings came as researchers from around the world convened at a UN-backed
forum in Iceland on sustainable development to address the organisation's
millennium development goals to halve hunger and extreme ...