En esta noticia
More than 150 scientists who have won Nobel Prizes or the World Food Prize say it is imperative to make significant investments across the food value chain and carry out a major research effort to prevent a global famine by mid-century.
The signatories of an open letter titled "Toward a World Without Hunger" warn: "We are not in a position to meet future food needs. We are not even close to doing so“.
Among the signatories are prominent figures such as Robert Woodrow Wilson, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Prize in Economics laureate, as well as several winners of the World Food Prize, including Cary Fowler, who was the outgoing U.S. special envoy for Global Food Security.
The food insecurity crisis threatening humanity
Extreme weather events associated with climate change and population growth -by 2050 the Earth will have 1.5 billion more inhabitants than it does today- contribute to a bleak outlook for food production and access to food.
Likewise, soil erosion, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, water scarcity, market pressures, conflicts and policies that limit innovation are worsening this situation, the letter warns.
A “vicious circle of conflict and food insecurity" worsens a situation in which approximately 350 million people do not know where their next meal will come from and 60 million children under five suffer from stunting (a lifelong cognitive and physical disability) due to nutritional deficiencies.
After noting that 700 million people currently suffer from food insecurity and are desperately poor, the awarded scientists say that “however difficult and uncomfortable it may be to imagine, humanity is heading toward an even more unstable and insecure world in food terms by mid-century".
Strategies to prevent a global famine, according to science
Given this situation, the scientists call for prioritizing agricultural research and development, as well as the dissemination of advances achieved globally.
“Research sponsored by society will be the foundation of the innovation that drives a successful food system in the future,” they say.
Efforts to “reverse our current trajectory toward a tragic mismatch between supply and global food demand” must be “decisive,” “transformative” and “planet-friendly” and cover “the entire food value chain, from inputs to production and the post-harvest phase,” they stress.
Among other goals, they propose improving photosynthesis in crops such as wheat and rice, biological nitrogen fixation in major cereals, the transformation of crops from annual to perennial, and the development of new and forgotten crops.
Innovations in various cultivation systems are also considered, along with improving fruits and vegetables to optimize storage and shelf life, creating nutrient-rich foods from microorganisms and fungi, and the study and development of strategies to ensure that the fruits of these scientific research initiatives reach and benefit those most in need.
Source: EFE