“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” Henry Kissinger
Steve Yuzpe is the Chief Financial Officer for Sprott Resource Corp., a company that invests in the private equity side of the natural resource sector spoke about investing in agriculture at the Agora Symposium in Vancouver. He believes the world will one day be faced with localized food shortages and globally rising food prices that could create, in the worst-case scenario, civic upheaval in the most affected areas.
According tohim, there are several factors threatening the global supply of food. Climate change, he says, causes weather conditions to become more volatile, potentially having an enormous impact on our food supply and the productivity of existing farmland.
Yuzpe also believes that water issues are probably the least discussed factor when people talk about food scarcity. Agriculture and other uses are depleting non-refreshing, ancient fossil aquifers all over the world. When they run out, they are finished. The most intensely used ‘fossil water reserves’ will eventually disappear.
In particular, the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies about 30 percent of all groundwater used for irrigation in the U.S., is running out, he says. Lake Mead and the Colorado River are also examples of areas under water stress in the U.S.
“Food insecurity and food inflation are a permanent part of our world going forward,” he told the crowd. “Ultimately, I believe that wars will be fought and governments toppled over the need for food and water.”
Steve Yuzpe is the Chief Financial Officer for Sprott Resource Corp., a company that invests in the private equity side of the natural resource sector spoke about investing in agriculture at the Agora Symposium in Vancouver. He believes the world will one day be faced with localized food shortages and globally rising food prices that could create, in the worst-case scenario, civic upheaval in the most affected areas.
According tohim, there are several factors threatening the global supply of food. Climate change, he says, causes weather conditions to become more volatile, potentially having an enormous impact on our food supply and the productivity of existing farmland.
Yuzpe also believes that water issues are probably the least discussed factor when people talk about food scarcity. Agriculture and other uses are depleting non-refreshing, ancient fossil aquifers all over the world. When they run out, they are finished. The most intensely used ‘fossil water reserves’ will eventually disappear.
In particular, the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies about 30 percent of all groundwater used for irrigation in the U.S., is running out, he says. Lake Mead and the Colorado River are also examples of areas under water stress in the U.S.
“Food insecurity and food inflation are a permanent part of our world going forward,” he told the crowd. “Ultimately, I believe that wars will be fought and governments toppled over the need for food and water.”
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