How to Feed the World in 2050

So now we've establish that cropland prices are rising and will continue to rise.  The question you should be asking is why.  Why does it always rise and why did it suddenly spike recently?  The main reason it will always rise is no matter what happens in the world we will always need to eat.  It's a simple supply and demand aspect.  As populations continue to grow the need for food will increase.  With the increase in need of food the price in land that produces food will rise with it.  

The next question was what caused the spike recently.  That is simple.  China and Indian have become very modernized.  The average Chinese and Indians life has improved recently.  What is the number one thing people change when their financial life improves?  Food.  For example, think back to your college days.  What did you eat?  Whatever's cheapest right.  Now look at what you eat today.  You generally eat what you like and what tastes good.  That exact same thing is happening in China and India today.  No longer are they just eating basic things like rice.  Now they are eating beef and pork.

Now let's go back to the growing population.  The amount of people in the world has grown and will continue to grow.  However, the amount of land that can produce food will not grow and will stay the same.  As a matter of fact, only 14% of the worlds land is arable.

So the amount of arable land per person has dropped dramatically.  That's a scary and sobering picture.  The following chart displays the amount of available land per person from 1750 to 2050.  How are we to fix this problem?

China, which is the world's second biggest corn consumer after the United States, will use 47 times more corn now than it did 10 years ago.  That's an increase exceeding the entire corn crop of Brazil which is the worlds third largest producer.  According to Time Magazine, the average American consumes about 250 pounds of meat a year.  Meanwhile, the Chinese average roughly 100 pounds per year, while Indians eat only 10 pounds per year.

So how are we going to meet this demand?  We need to produce more food in the next 50 years than we did in the last 10,000 years.  By 2050 the worlds population will reach 9.1 billion people, 34 percent higher than today.  Nearly all of the population increases will take place in developing countries.  Income levels will be many multiples of what they are today.  In order to feed this larger, more urban and richer population, food production must increase by 70%.  Annual meat production must rise by 200 million tons to reach 470 million tons.

I hate to paint a stark picture but it is the truth.  The world is growing and the rate at which it is growing will only increase.  To meet the demand farm production must increase.  This creates the increase in prices of land.  Can it be done?  I think so.