Some random statistics

• With up to 3 billion more people to feed by 2050, and increased protein in many diets, it is estimated that current global food production must be increased by 80-100%. Source
  

  Image courtesy mac steve@Flickr

• China is now consuming 55kg of meat per person per year, which is half to one third of what the EU and the US are consuming. Source
• Agriculture accounts for 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Source
• 97.5% of the Earth’s water is saltwater. Of the 2.5% available as freshwater, almost 70% is locked in glaciers and the rest is groundwater, lakes and rivers. Thus only a small
  percentage of the Earth’s water is readily available for human consumption and agricultural production. Distributed among the world’s population, there is approximately 1,400 cubic meters of water available per person per year, however currently the average westerner consumes around 2,500 cubic meters per year. Source
• Agriculture is a significant user of water in Europe, accounting for around 24% of total water use. This share varies markedly, however, and can reach up to 80% in parts of southern Europe, where irrigation of crops accounts for virtually all agricultural water use. Source
• In developing countries, agriculture currently consumes over 70 percent of the world’s water. Source
  
• China has close to a quarter of the world’s population to feed, but only 7 percent of its farmland. A similar situation applies in India. Source
• Since 2000, the demand for food has been growing faster than the supply. Source
• There have been 30 years of under-investment into agriculture. Source
• The number of people suffering from hunger is larger than the number of cars in the world today. Source
• The 2008 spike in global food prices caused riots in more than thirty countries and sent more than 100 million people into extreme poverty.
• More than five million children a year die from malnutrition. Source
• In the first half of 2009 high food prices have pushed another 105 million people into hunger, raising the total number of hungry people to over 1 billion. Source