'Revive agri growth at global level'

Food security is an important issue for all the governments around the world, especially during the current times witnessing several challenges to agricultural production, particularly in the developing countries, according to MVK Sivakumar, chief, agricultural meteorology division, World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva.

"The urgency to address food security issues arises from the fact that today 815 million are undernourished in the developing countries, as compared with 9 million in the industrialised nations. Today, the number of countries facing serious food shortages throughout the world stands at 37, with 19 in Africa, 9 in Asia and near east, 8 in Latin America and 1 in Europe," he said.

Sivakumar was addressing the four-day international symposium on agrometeorology and food security that kicked off in Hyderabad on Monday.

Stating that agricultural growth contributes directly to food security, supporting poverty reduction and acting as an engine for overall economic growth in much of the developing world, he said the success of the agricultural sector at the global level, however, had not been shared uniformly across regions and countries, and seemed to have waned since the early 1990s.

It is estimated that by 2020, the world's population will reach 7.5 billion and that much of this growth will occur in the developing world. To meet the increasing global demand for cereals, for example, the world's farmers will have to produce 40 per cent more grain in 2020.

Growth of world agri output is expected to fall to 1.5 per cent over the next three decades and further to 0.9 per cent per year in the succeeding 20 years to 2050, compared with 2.3 per cent per year since 1961.

"Many of the least developed countries, particularly those located in marginal production environments, continue to experience low or stagnant agricultural productivity, rising food deficits, and rising levels of hunger and poverty. Today, 32 countries have high rates of undernourishment, high population growth rates, poor prospects for rapid economic growth and often meagre agricultural resources. The population of these poor countries is expected to increase from the current 580 million people to 1.39 billion by 2050. The challenge is to revive agricultural growth at the global level and extend it to those left behind," Sivakumar said.