UN says food production must increase by 60 pc to avoid civil wars by mid-century

The developing nations risk facing food crisis in future, a UN body has warned.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said world must increase its food production by 60 percent by mid-century or risk serious food shortages that could bring social unrest and civil wars.

Hiroyuki Konuma, the assistant director-general of FAO Asia-Pacific, said demand for food would rise rapidly over the next few decades.

He said the demand for food would increase, as the world population surpasses nine billion and increasingly wealthy people improve their diets, consuming more calories, news24 reports.

The comments from Konuma came as the body launched a one-week regional food security conference in Ulan Bator.

 

He said that the challenge is especially demanding in developing nations, which need to boost crops by a staggering 77 percent.

He added that the Asia-Pacific would be left with more than half a billion chronically hungry people even if the region meets its millennium development goal of cutting that number to 12 percent of the population.

Water scarcity in big food-producing nations like China is worsening, and many farmers are increasingly tempted to shift production from food to bio-energy, the report added.