Phil Hogan: Food sector faces output and climate challenges

The world’s population is rising every single day by some 84,500 people, which is about the equivalent of Limerick’s population.

Experts predict the global population of 7.3 billion will rise to 10 billion in the year 2056.

That will require more food in a world where 800 million people are suffering from chronic poverty.

According to the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), global agricultural production will have to increase by 60% over the next 35 years.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan referred to food security challenges at a British-Irish Chamber of Commerce lunch in London, comparing the daily global population growth with the size of Limerick.

“Though it may not seem obvious in the lush pastures of the Golden Vale or the English Shires, the fact is that only 13-18% of the surface area of the world is fertile and that area is being reduced day-by-day,” he said.

Mr Hogan, speaking at a conference in Brussels, said the increase in food demand is driven by population growth, increasing income per capita and hunger.

He said FAO’s projected 60% increase of agricultural production by 2050 is compounded by the vast challenges arising from climate change and pressures on natural resources.

“We not only have to produce more, but we must also produce better,” said Mr Hogan, accepting that the Common Agricultural Policy has a role to play in increasing food security.

“At Europe’s borders and in Africa we face large populations who will continue to depend on agriculture for a living.

"We owe it to them to pursue policies that will help their trade and development, and policies that will encourage private sector investment in the rural areas and in the agri-food sector.

“We are confronted today with an unprecedented challenge of mass migration — on a scale we have not seen for 70 years,” he said.

EU and African heads of state agree they must tackle the root causes of migration by stimulating job creation and private investment in Africa’s agri-food sector.

“The EU will do all in its power to stimulate that rural transformation in Africa to create stable jobs and long term futures for its growing population”, he said.