Syngenta Annual Review 2010 - CEO Water Mandate

Syngenta
Annual Review 2010
Scarcity of water, energy and land is expected to define food
production in the coming decades. This will increase the existing
pressure on farmers, who are working to meet the world’s needs
for food, fuel and fiber. Demand for food has long exceeded
supply in some regions. Every day, almost 1 billion people go
to bed hungry. With the global population expected to reach
9 billion by 2050, this figure could rise if action is not taken.
07
A global challenge
“People used the equivalent of 1.5 planets
in 2007 to support their activities.”
The Living Planet Report 2010
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined that food
security exists “when all people, at all times have
access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable
food to maintain a healthy and active life.” To make
this happen, farmers will need to achieve at least a
70 percent increase in food production by 2050 1 .
The journey to food security won’t be easy. Drivers
of food insecurity range from environmental stress
and natural disasters to political and trade issues.
The megatrends of growing population, greater
affluence and urbanization mean that more people
want greater amounts of better quality food.
Yet while demand for food is growing, farmers’ ability
to increase productivity is challenged as never before.
In the coming years, they will have to deal with a
climate that is changing more rapidly; in many areas,
this will mean higher temperatures and erratic weather
patterns. They will have to contend with limited
availability of land and water – already agriculture uses
40 percent of the world’s land surface and 70 percent
of all available fresh water 2 . And their agricultural
practices will need to protect biodiversity through
increasing productivity without further expanding into
natural ecosystems.
While great strides have been made, many regions
fall short of producing their full potential of local
crops, and this agricultural yield gap must be closed
to achieve food security. Worldwide, this represents
nearly 500 million farms of 2 hectares or less,
supporting over 2 billion people. Increasing
productivity in these areas is vital to reaching
food security.
Although the challenges ahead are daunting, they are
by no means insurmountable. Agriculture has a major
role to play in opening the way for food security while
protecting precious natural resources and contributing
to rural economic growth.
1 FAO, “How to feed the world in 2050”
2 UNESCO