Now more than ever before, modern agriculture industry is facing a myriad of challenges and the results are obvious; low production and hunger. In this article we examine the top most challenges facing modern agriculture industry.
Demographics
Rapid population growth coupled with rapid urbanisation is expected to increase demand for food. In the coming decades, population is expected to grow by 33 per cent to almost 10 billion by 2050.
New studies have shown that by 2050 about 2.4 billion people will be living in cities and also would mean demand for food. Simply put, more people means greater demand and this calls for increased output.
Natural resources
Agricultural land is a limited natural resource. It is estimated that nearly a third of global arable land has been lost due to soil erosion and pollution during the past 40 years.
Other reasons for loss of agricultural land include urbanisation, sea level rise, and renewable energy production (e.g. solar panels on agricultural land), as well as land requirements for bio-fuels and other non-food crops.
At the same time, forests have been converted to agricultural land, mainly driven by increased consumption of meat and need of land for feed production.
Therefore, the percentage of agricultural area of the total global land area has been relatively stable during the past decades.
However, deforestation contribute to the acceleration of many environmental changes, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, and therefore, can have negative indirect impacts on food security, e.g. through loss of wild foods
Climate change
Climate change affects agriculture and those who rely on it by weakening environmental health, undermining production, wiping out crops, killing off livestock, making it more difficult to earn a living and extending the amount of time families must go without food.
Fossil fuels are the biggest contributor to climate change, responsible for over three-quarters of all global emissions. Burning oil, coal and gas releases large quantities of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases.
When these gases are emitted into the atmosphere, they trap heat close to the Earth’s surface, a consequence known as the greenhouse effect. Too many greenhouse gases result in global warming that causes climate change, which can also be thought of as shifts in Earth’s weather patterns over time.
Food waste
There are a number of ways in which food waste can affect the environment. When we waste food, we waste the natural resources used for producing that food, the three main ones being energy, fuel and water.
Water is needed for all stages of the food production process, as well as in all types of food produced. Agriculture accounts for 70% of the water used throughout the world. This includes the irrigation and spraying required for crops, and the water needed for rearing cattle, poultry and fish. By wasting food, we are wasting fresh water. Given that countries have a severe water shortage, with countries being predicted to be uninhabitable in a few decades, conserving freshwater should be a global mission.
Growing plants and rearing animals drains a huge volume of fresh water. Food such as fruit and vegetables are water-laden, and require a huge amount of water to grow.
Additionally, different types of plants need different amounts of water to grow. Animals also require a large amount of water for both their growth and their feed.
Producing meat requires more water supply, yet meat is the food that is thrown out the most.
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