Viewpoint: Eating less meat, boosting crop yields will help prevent famine as climate changes

Humanity is on a collision course with nature. Already 72% of the global ice-free land surface is dedicated to supporting our species …. Within another 30 years the global human population will exceed 9 billion people, meaning we will have to increase food production by at least another 70% in order to stave off mass famine.

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The best overall approach is to improve the efficiency with which we use land. That means weaning ourselves off livestock products at the same time as improving productivity of farming overall ….

Although many well-fed Westerners romanticize small-scale farming in developing countries, in reality the conditions faced by subsistence farmers in Africa and South Asia are extremely harsh. More than 800 million people are still undernourished, many of whom are stuck in traditional farming systems ….

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These farmers need access to better technologies …. including so-called ‘GMOs’ that can be resistant to pests, require less water and be more resilient to the changing climate …. We also need to quickly end perverse subsidies that are encouraging the use of biofuels. A substantial part of the US corn crop is turned into ethanol to be used in fuel for road transport. It is a shocking waste to burn food in cars.

Read full, original article: The planet is being consumed by humans