By the year 2050, the world’s population is expected to be more 10 billion people. That’s why an ag industry leader from Indiana says he’s confident that ag businesses and entrepreneurs will develop solutions to provide enough food for an expanding population.
“It’s the private sector that has got the ability to transfer knowledge. They’ve got the capital to do it and they understand the need,” says Kip Tom, owner of Tom Farms in northern Indiana. He’s also the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
Tom says that ag businesses and the private sector will be the ones to find solutions to increase food production and efficiency.
“We just need to make sure that we have the environment and that comfort that they need to go in to that those investments can be protected over a period of time,” says Tom. “Let’s face it – everybody in the private sector is looking for a return of their capital – hopefully, a gain – but, the reality is if we can get them to invest, we’re going to listen getting more people involved in that economic engine to pull these people the cycle of poverty.”
However, he says one of the biggest challenges will be the political obstacles that exist in other countries around the world. Tom says the lack of political stability in many countries throughout Africa, Asia and South America may keep ag businesses and the private sector from getting the security and protection they need to step in and help.
“For 70 percent of the countries we provide humanitarian food relief, they’re in the midst of some kind of military conflict, and that’s hardly a place any of us in the private sector want to go,” says Tom. “Until we can build that food security up and slow down the human conflict that is taking place, it’s probably going to be hard for the private sector to get involved – but, you need to find the bright spots. For some countries, there’s some promise of the hope for the future that they can take the private sector there are make that difference.”
According to the United Nations – food production needs to be doubled by 2050 to have enough supplies to feed the world’s population.
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