Plants to feed the world

POPULATION GROWTH AND URBANISATION

BY 2050 THE GLOBAL POPULATION WILL INCREASE

6.4 BILLION

Will be urban compared to 3.7 billion today. City dwellers have larger incomes and eat more meat on average.

OUR CURRENT FOOD SYSTEM USES

AGRICULTURE

TO FEED

This larger, wealthier, urban population, food production needs to increase by

70%
Through 2050.

There are currently 55 billion livestock consuming food grown on nearly ¾of the arable land.

There is simply not enough land to feed 9 billion the current diet.

SHIFTING TOWARD A MORE PLANT-BASED DIET

Even as we strive for a more sustainable plant-based diet, crop production still requires a nitrogen source. This is most commonly provided through nitrogen fertilizer which requires tremendous energy, and as a pollutant, is considered among the top three threats to global biodiversity. More sustainable farming methods like crop rotation will need to be explored.⁹