Society Needs Radical Adaptation to Attain Nutritional Needs in 2050

Researchers from Lancaster University and Small World Consulting conducted a quantitative analysis of global and regional food supply to illustrate the trends in calories, protein, and the micro-nutrients vitamin A, iron, and zinc, from production through to human consumption and other end points. The results are published in Elementa Science.

According to the results of their study, the current production of crops is sufficient to provide enough food for the projected global population of 9.7 billion in 2050, although very significant changes to the socio-economic conditions of many (ensuring access to the global food supply) and radical changes to the dietary choices of most (replacing most meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives, and greater acceptance of human-edible crops currently fed to animals, especially maize, as directly-consumed human food) would be necessary. Under all scenarios, the scope for biofuel production is limited.

The researchers stressed that if the world population continues on a ‘business-as-usual' dietary trajectory, a 119% increase in edible crops grown will be necessary by 2050.

Read the research article in Elementa Science.