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“Food demand may double in 50 years”

JAIPUR: Lead author of the World Development Report-2008, Alain de Janvry, has warned that the global demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become “increasingly scarce, degraded and vulnerable to the impact of climatic changes”.

Delivering a lecture on “Agriculture in the contemporary world” here over the week-end, Prof. Alain de Janvry said the agriculture sector not only needed greater investments, but should also be placed at the centre of the planning process to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

The lecture was organised by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) here. Prof. Alain de Janvry – professor at California University, Berkley, U.S. – pointed out that according to the World Development Report, gross domestic product (GDP) growth originating in agriculture was about four times more effective in reducing poverty of the poorest people than the GDP growth originating outside the sector. Referring to the changes brought about by agriculture in the developing countries during the past two decades, Prof. Alain de Janvry said new challenges and opportunities could often provide pathways out of poverty.

“For this, efforts should be made to increase productivity in the staple food sector and connect small holders to rapidly expanding high value horticulture, poultry and dairy markets.”IDS chairman and noted economist V.S. Vyas said while “natural endowment” should be protected for agriculture, it should also be utilised as an instrument for economic development that specifically favours the poor. IDS Director Surjit Singh also addressed the gathering.

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