Fish farming offers a means of replacing diminishing catches of wild seafood. There are, however, environmental and social concerns about the effects of some types of aquaculture. Nevertheless, if done right, fish farming can provide valuable, high-quality protein to the human diet.
Forty years ago, 60 percent of the developing world was considered undernourished, meaning their diet didn't provide the average 2,200 kcal per day considered necessary for a healthy productive life. Today, despite the fact that world population has doubled since 1960, less than 15 percent of the population suffers from chronic caloric deficiency. However, that means that 815 million people don’t have enough to eat.
Poverty is the greatest threat to food security, or the ability to obtain sufficient food on a day-to-day basis. The 1.4 billion people in the world who live on less than $1 per day all too often can't buy the food they need and don't have access to resources to grow it for themselves. Even in communities or families where, on average, there would be enough for everyone, those with lowest status (women and children) may not get the food they need for a healthy life.
An epidemic of obesity is spreading around the world as more of us eat too much meat, salt, and saturated fat and get too little exercise. Being overweight raises the risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and many other diseases, which are becoming the leading causes of death and disability everywhere.
A few crop species provide almost all the food humans eat. Wheat, rice, and maize supply the majority of the nutrients and calories for the vast majority of the world. Meat, dairy, and seafood consumption are rising rapidly as more people can afford these foods. Growing animals in dense concentrations in confinement operations can cause serious environmental and social problems.
Soil is a marvelous, complex substance. Thousands of specific soil types exist in the world, having arisen from different parent material under diverse ecological conditions. Some are fertile, tillable, and wonderfully suited for agriculture. Others may need a great deal of husbandry to become useful.
Large areas of the world suffer soil degradation caused by erosion, nutrient depletion, salinization, waterlogging, or other symptoms of abuse. It's estimated that 25 billion metric tons of soil are lost from cropland every year due to wind and water erosion. This erosion causes pollution and siltation of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, and coastal ocean areas.
The FAO predicts that most future production growth will come from higher yields and new crop varieties rather than expansion of arable lands. Genetic engineering involves removing genetic material from one organism and splicing it into the chromosomes of another. This new technology has the potential to greatly increase both the quantity and quality of our food supply, but there are worries about both the ecological safety and possible health effects of genetic modification of organisms.
Sustainable agriculture, agroecology, or regenerative farming all aim to produce food and fiber on a sustainable basis, and to repair damage caused by destructive practices. Soil conservation provides techniques to preserve, protect, and rebuild this precious resource. Small-scale, low-input farming offers an alternative to industrial, chemically intensive agriculture. Even in very poor countries, using ecological knowledge and local initiatives can increase yields and improve profits.
