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Abstract
In a little over a decade, the global population is expected
to reach 8 billion. The task of feeding this growing
population will become harder with rising natural resource
constraints, declining or stagnant crop productivity, more
frequent extreme weather events, and climate change.
These challenges, especially the ensuing increase and
volatility of food prices, threaten global food and nutrition
security. The Malthusian prediction that population growth
would eventually outpace agricultural production growth
can be prevented. Technological successes in food and
agriculture, such as the Green Revolution, demonstrate
that rapid productivity increases in food production can be
achieved. However, the goal of achieving global food and nutrition security
must encompass food availability, accessibility, and utilisation, as well as the
stability of all of these conditions over time. This paper highlights major
actions needed to achieve these important objectives while simultaneously
adopting a sustainable development approach. The actions include:
• investments in agriculture and technological innovations to boost
productivity, especially smallholder productivity, enhance the nutritional
value of food crops, and increase resource-use efficiency;
• productive social safety nets to protect poor and vulnerable groups,
especially women and children, to ensure their access to nutritious and
healthy food in the short run, and improve their human capital for long
term prosperity;
• global coordination to reduce food price volatility, including establishing
strategic emergency food reserves, ensuring open trade, and eliminating
grain-based biofuel production.