Summary: Our population trajectory means that from now to 2030, the world will need to build the equivalent of a city of one million people in developing countries, every five days! There is widespread consensus that, going forward, farmers must produce more food per unit of land, water, and agrochemicals. To do so, however, they simply cannot continue producing in the same way. They will have to do this while facing climate change, volatility, shifting nutrition needs, and the increasing scarcity of most of the physical factors of production. Agriculture is at the threshold of a necessary paradigm shift.
Study prepared by Daniele Giovannucci,1 Sara Scherr,
Danielle Nierenberg, Charlotte Hebebrand, Julie
Shapiro, Jeffrey Milder, and Keith Wheeler.
Suggested citation: Daniele Giovannucci, Sara Scherr,
Danielle Nierenberg, Charlotte Hebebrand, Julie
Shapiro, Jeffrey Milder, and Keith Wheeler. 2012.
Food and Agriculture: the future of sustainability. A
strategic input to the Sustainable Development in the
21st Century (SD21) project. New York: United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for
Sustainable Development
