Population and Food - Global Trends and Future Prospects (Hardcover, New)

Whilst fertility rates in the post-industrial world have fallen below replacement levels, the birthrate and survival rates in the developing world are escalating rapidly. Changes in agricultural technology, food production and consumption, as well as the global economic system itself, have created an unstable global food production system. This text examines recent trends in food production and assesses the prospects for feeding humanity to the year 2020. Synthesizing a mass of statistical data and drawing on case material from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, North America and the Middle East, the book suggests that food production in most world regions has kept ahead of population growth. Considering likely future trends in climate, land resources, water availability, farm imputs and technnological innovation, the author argues that there should be no insurmountable problems in meeting the world's volume of food demand to the year 2020, and questions the current pessimism voiced about future food prospects.