World food crisis set to climax

Over 50% of the world’s food is lost, discarded or wasted due to inefficiency in the human-managed food chain, according to a new United Nations report.

This huge wastage, together with climate change, will stop a 100 year trend of falling food prices, revealed the UN Environmental Programme Governing Council.

Food costs will rise by up to 50% within decades, forcing those in extreme poverty to spend 90% of their income on food.

“Elevated food prices have had dramatic impact on lives and livelihoods, including increased infant and child mortality, of those already undernourished or living in poverty and spending 70-80 percent of their daily income on food,” reads the report.

Whilst families in Kenya struggle to buy enough maize to survive, households in the UK throw away around one third of the food they buy. In Australia, it is estimated that one half of landfill is food waste.

The problem will get worse as worldwide demand for food increases. By 2050, the UN expects global population to be near 9.5 billion, up from the 6.76 billion people in the world today.

During the same period, around 25% of the world’s food production will be lost to ‘environmental breakdowns’.

And as tiger economies such as China and India grow, demand for meat will increase, and more grain will go to feed livestock - increasing worldwide poverty and environmental degradation.

Despite the report’s dire warnings, there is hope.

“There is evidence within the report that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet,” concluded UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.