But food security is still a major problem in certain regions and concerns about the potential for continued growth in crop yield are growing. Global cereal yields continue to increase, but the rate of growth in yields for wheat, rice, maize is now declining. Some scientists fear that we are reaching a yield plateau, and since in most regions of the world relatively little arable land remains for expansion of agriculture, that could imply growing food security threats in coming decades. Africa and the Former Soviet Union stand out as the only regions where food supply trends are particularly worrisome. Similarly, while the total number of malnourished people is declining globally, it is increasing in Africa.
Millions go hungry everyday, largely because of poverty, conflict, and problems with distribution.
WHO estimates that worldwide, about one third of children in the developing world are malnourished. There is not much good news in global environmental trends. Renewable resources continue to decline dramatically and the toll of this decline on human development is increasing. And there is growing evidence of major human influences on global chemical, water, and atmospheric cycles. There has been a 6-fold increase in global water consumption between 1990 and 1995, double the rate of population growth.