Opinion and Summary

Summary and Opinion

The world's population is predicted to grow by more than 30 percent, but there are

already almost one billion people who do not have access to an adequate and safe food supply.

In the next 40 years, the world is supposed to gain over two billion people.

Half of the population growth is expected to be in Sub-Saharan Africa, and forty one

percent from Asia. Both of these areas are low income areas with low agricultural production.

Also, the consumption of meat, which is now about twenty pounds a person, is supposed to

double in the next forty years. These places like Africa and Asia will definitely not be able to

support themselves if these predictions are correct. In the future, foreign trade of food will

increase greatly. This is because the distribution of farmable ground is not equal to the

distribution of people. Some places like Australia , and North America have way more arable

land than they need based on their population.

To help attain the goal of doubling the agricultural output by 2050, the Global

Agricultural Productivity index was created. The GAP index measures the pace of productivity

that is needed to meet the goal. To close the gap of where we are based on where we need to be,

the Global Harvest Initiative has come up with five major areas to change. They plan to improve

the agriculture research funding, remove the trading barriers, strengthen the assistance programs,

embrace more science based technologies, and enhance private sector involvement in

agricultural and rural infastructure development.

We know that the plan is working because the countries Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia, and

China are examples of emerging market countries that have had success in agricultural

development. Although each country has gone at it a different way, by improving in the five

major areas, they have all made a difference.

These countries have proven that closing the gap depends more on just helping at the

farm level, the entire food system needs an extra push. They have showed the unnecessary

burdens that the government