Widespread hunger will persist

Food production will outpace population growth by 2003, but widespread hunger will persist, a United Nations food agency said today.

The Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organisation said cereals will remain the world's staple food, and that people will be better fed.

Cereal production - half of which is for human consumption - is projected to increase by almost one billion tons by 2030 from the current level of 1.84 billion tonnes. Crop production in developing countries is expected to be 70 per cent higher in 2030, thanks in part to higher yields per acre as well as the availability of more arable land.

Despite these advances, as many as 580 million people will still be chronically undernourished 15 years from now and 400 million in 2030. The FAO says the number now is around 800 million. The study said agricultural production, which over the past two decades has grown annually by 2.1 per cent, will slow to 1.6 per cent between now and 2015 and then to 1.3 per cent by 2030. But food supplies will still outstrip population growth, which is estimated to increase annually by 1.2 per cent up to 2015, then drop 0.8 per cent in the subsequent 15 years, FAO said.

The FAO also warned that increased agriculture and livestock production in developing countries could hurt the environment if deforestation, the use of pesticides and overgrazing are uncontrolled.

From AP