Utilising genetic diversity to feed the world

Nigel Maxted*, Anne Lauvie

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The challenge of feeding humanity is increasing due to population growth (currently 7.3 billion and predicted to be 10 billion in 2050; United Nations, 2015) and the requirement for more provisions (food supplies will need to increase by 60% globally, and 100% in developing countries over 2005 levels to feed the projected human population in 2050, according to FAO, 2011). The requirement for more food must at the same time be balanced against the need to maintain and manage our ‘natural’ resources when current agricultural production itself is often identied as having negative impacts on the environment (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Moreover, a further challenge to increased agricultural production is climate change; according to predictions made by the IPCC (Porter et al., 2014), many regions of the globe will be increasingly vulnerable to crop and livestock failures. In Africa particularly, by 2020 crop yields from rainfed agriculture are expected to reduce by up to 50% (IPCC, 2014) and livestock production will face a higher prevalence of diseases and parasites and more and longer droughts (Wurzinger et al., 2014).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFood Production and Nature Conservation
Subtitle of host publicationConflicts and Solutions
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Pages173-203
Number of pages31
ISBN (Electronic)9781317509530
ISBN (Print)9781138859371
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Nov 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
  • Environmental Science(all)

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