Global population growth means that food production needs to increase by 70% by 2050 , placing pressure on food quality standards. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) forecasts that global food production will need to increase by 70% if the population reaches 9.1bn by 2050.
What is population and food supply?
The relationship between a population and its food supply is a matter of prime importance . If unchecked, wrote Malthus, a population could grow geometrically, but given a limited area of cropland its food supply could grow only arithmetically, at best. ...
How does population growth affect food supply?
Increasing numbers of people often drive up demand for food , which typically results in additional use of arable land and water. ... The Food and Agriculture Organization projects that by 2050, population and economic growth will result in a doubling of demand for food globally.
What is the relationship between population and food supply?
As population rises , demand for food, energy and income increases. Increasing population coupled with land degradation aggravates challenges of crop production.
How does human population growth affect food demand and supply?
Additional factors
The Population Institute estimates that a 70 per cent increase in food production will also have to take into account increases in energy prices , as well as factors such as the groundwater depletion, the loss of farmland to urbanization, and potential flooding and droughts caused by climate change.
What increases food supply?
Aeroponics and hydroponics are systems that allow plants to be grown without soil. Plants grown in this way take in water and nutrients efficiently. ... Hydroponics involves growing plants in a porous material (other than soil) and allowing water containing nutrients to filter through it.
How does farming help the population?
Farming increased the yield of food plants and allowed people to have food available year round . Animals were domesticated to provide meat. With agriculture, people could settle down, so that they no longer needed to carry all their possessions (Figure below).
How human population growth affects our supply of resources?
Generally speaking, as the human population grows, our consumption of natural resources increases . More humans consume more freshwater, more land, more clothing, etc. ... Scientific and technological innovations mean that we are improving our efficiency at using and harvesting natural resources.
How does population growth affect hunger?
Per capita food supply has increased as populations have grown, largely due to increasing yields. ... Population growth is high where hunger is high , but that does not mean that population growth makes hunger inevitable. On the contrary, we see that hunger has fallen fastest in countries with high population growth.
What are the effects of population growth?
Human population growth impacts the Earth system in a variety of ways, including: Increasing the extraction of resources from the environment . These resources include fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal), minerals, trees, water, and wildlife, especially in the oceans.
What is the relationship between food production and extinction?
First, before food production even begins, natural habitats and ecosystems are destroyed to clear land that will be used for agriculture. Habitat loss is one of the leading causes of population declines among wildlife species, eventually leading to extinction in many cases.
Why is population an issue?
Unsustainable population growth and lack of access to reproductive health care also puts pressure on human communities, exacerbating food and water shortages, reducing resilience in the face of climate change, and making it harder for the most vulnerable communities to rise out of intergenerational poverty.
What are the effects of food shortage?
The majority of research examining food insecurity in general and its effects on health outcomes has concentrated on children. This research has found that food insecurity is associated with increased risks of some birth defects , 5 anemia, 6 , 7 lower nutrient intakes, 8 cognitive problems, 9 and aggression and anxiety.
What is doubling time with reference to population growth?
The doubling time is the time it takes for a population to double in size/value . It is applied to population growth, inflation, resource extraction, consumption of goods, compound interest, the volume of malignant tumours, and many other things that tend to grow over time.
How does population affect supply?
In a market-oriented economic system, the impact of population size on market demand affects supply and demand and prices. ... Current population size will affect future market demand through prices and supply elasticity. Population changes are slow, and consumption changes are slow.
How does population growth affect farming?
Higher rural population density is associated with smaller farm sizes. Higher rural population density is also associated with greater demand for inorganic fertilizer. Maize and teff yields do not rise with population density. Farm income per hectare decreases as rural population density rises.
