World agriculture
Subtitle: towards 2015/2030 : an FAO perspective
Contributors: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Published: 2003
Language: eng
Subjects: Food supply; Agriculture; Economic aspects; Produce trade; Sustainable development
Description: This report presents the latest FAO assessment of long-term developments in world food, nutrition and agriculture, including the forestry and fisheries sectors. It is the product of an interdisciplinary exercise, involving most of FAO's technical FAO's periodical was published in 1995 (Alexandratos, 1995). Earlier editions were Alexandratos(1988), FAO (1981) and FAO (1970). The projections were carried out in considerable detail, covering about 140 countries and 32 crop and livestock commodities (see Annex 1). For nearly all the developing countries, the main factors contributing to the growth of agricultural production were identified and analysed separately. Sources of productivity growth, such as higher crop yields and livestock carcass weights, were distinguished from other growth resources, such as the area of cultivated land and the sizes of livestock herds. Special attention was given to land, which was broken down into five classes for rainfed agriculture and a sixth or irrigated agriculture. This level of detail proved both necessary and f advantageous in identifying the main issues likely to emerge for world agriculture over the next 30 years. Specifically, it helped to spot local production and resource constraints, to gauge country-specific requirements for food imports and to assess progress and failure in the fight against hunger and undernourishment. The high degree of detail was also necessary for integrating the expertise of FAO specialists from various disciplines, as the analysis drew heavily on the judgement of in-house experts. Owing to space and other constraints, the results are, however, mainly presented at the aggregate regional and sectoral levels, which can mask diverging developments between individual countries and commodities. Likewise, space considerations militated against the inclusion of references to the numerous sources drawn upon in this report. References have therefore been limited to statistical sources and the sources of figures, tables and maps. These are given on p. 96. A complete list of references is provided in the main technical report. This report begins by presenting the expected developments in world agricultural demand, production and trade (both in total and by major commodity group), and the implications for food security and undernourishment. It continues with a discussion of the main issues raised by these developments. These include the role of agriculture in rural development, poverty alleviation and overall economic growth, and the effects of globalization and freer trade. The report then discusses production and policy issues in the crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries sectors, including natural resource use and agricultural technology issues. It concludes with an assessment of the environmental implications of agricultural production, including its interactions with climate change.
Notes: Viewed on (Dec. 15, 2005).