We can feed the world

Over the next six decades the world's population is expected to soar from 6.9 billion to peak at 9.5 billion in 2075. The problems posed by the growth in the human population in the coming century could be solved with existing technology, according to a study by leading engineers.There are "no insurmountable technical issues in meeting the needs of 9 billion people... sustainable engineering solutions largely exist", the engineers write in Population: One Planet, Too Many People? The report, compiled with the help of more than 70 engineers around the world, sets out a series of "engineering development goals" as a first step towards averting disaster

But without drastic changes there will not be sufficient resources to provide people with basic human needs such as water, food, energy and shelter, says the report, What was required was instead to fix "market failures" that prevent widespread adoption of extant technologies, like concentrated solar energy and nuclear power. Another is to ensure that farmers can get their food unspoiled to markets (the report says 50% of African produce is damaged before it gets to market). to allow local people to be able to choose low-carbon local energy sources, rather than being obliged to rely on large-scale electricity grids run on polluting coal. engineers can help serve a growing population by improving food output through biotechnology, mechanisation, food processing and irrigation. Slum areas will need community-centred infrastructure for water, sanitation and energy. Governments should encourage the capture of rainwater for use in washing and lavatory flushing, without the need for all water to achieve drinking water purity. Buildings will need to be better insulated as part of a drive to reduce energy consumption. Money should be invested to bring down the cost of de-salination for people's water supplies as population grows. Reducing energy waste, improving food storage and extracting water from underground aquifers and increased water storage should come from recharging aquifers with treated waste water and flood waters.would allow the world to sustain a population of 9.5 billion, said the report's lead author Dr Tim Fox

Christian Aid spokeswoman Rachel Baird said:"...as the new report recognises - some global problems such as hunger are due to poverty, the solutions to which are political."
Dr Joe Smith, from the Open University and co-author of a report 'The Consumption Explosion', said:"IMechE could be taken for naïve… dangerously so..... Good policy and determined politics will deliver those things more reliably than any amount of technology."
Perhaps so, but SOYMB knows only too well that what the really naive conclusion will be is expecting profit protecting policies of capitalism to fix the problem.

Nor should the people projected to inhabit the Earth by 2050 need not starve in order to preserve the environment, says another major report on sustainability out this week. Agrimonde describes the findings of a huge five-year modelling exercise by the French national agricultural and development research agencies, INRA and CIRAD. The French team began with a goal – 3000 calories per day for everyone, including 500 from animal sources – then ran a global food model repeatedly, with and without environmental limits on farming. The model suggested that realistic yield increases could feed everyone, even as farms take measures to protect the environment, such as preserving forests or cutting down on the use of fossil fuels. The key will be to tailor detailed solutions to different regions.The aim was to see how the calorie goal could be achieved. Food amounting to 800 calories is lost per person each day as waste. One thing that was needed was ways to counter excessive fluctuations in world prices so that imports are not hindered. And once again we see the stumbling block to solving the problem is not technological but the economical system that we live under.