This perspective for 2050 raises a number of important questions. Are current public and private investments sufficient to ensure adequate agricultural production potential, sustainable use of natural resources, infrastructure for markets, information and communication and research for technological breakthroughs for the future?
Will resources, new technologies and supporting services be available to the people who will need them most – the poor? What needs to be undertaken to help agriculture meet the challenges of climate change and growing energy scarcity? What can be done to ensure food security in sub-Saharan Africa, the continent facing the highest population growth rates, the severest impacts from climate change and the heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS?
To consider these and associated questions, FAO convened a three-day Meeting of Experts in Rome in June 2009. The following document takes major findings of that meeting into account and aims to serve as a basic background for the High-Level Experts Forum on
“How to Feed the World in 2050”, to be convened at FAO Headquarters in Rome on 12-13 October 2009.