The Global Agricultural Productivity Gap - the challenge of feeding a hungry world
May14 - Richard Morrison is a pastor, attorney, academic, businessman, activist, and chairman of the Board of ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy. He gave us an overview of the world's problems of feeding an ever-growing population. Today, over half the population subsists on less than $2.00 per day and these statistics are expected to get worse. Richard gave us several statistics that paint a very challenging if not bleak task of what we must do to address this growing problem. Much of his data is available in the Global Harvest Initiative's Global Agriculture Productivity Report; (click on the title to get the report). The bottom line is that global agriculture productivity must improve by 1.75% every year to meet the expected population needs in 2050. However, technology innovation is expected to slow down, which means that policies must be adjusted to help maintain this pace. The 5 major policy areas that must be addressed are:
- Improving Agricultural Research Funding, Structure and Collaboration
- Removing Barriers to Global and Regional Trade in Agriculture
- Strengthening and Streamlining Development Assistance Programs
- Embracing Science-Based Technologies
- Enhancing Private Sector Involvement in Agricultural and Rural Infrastructure Development