John Gibbons: Feed the world? We don't — but we could

Claims Ireland 'feeds 50 million people' are way off the mark — we are not currently even providing for our own domestic food needs, let alone 'feeding the world', writes John Gibbons

Already, Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, and the summer of 2022 was the hottest in over 500 years of records, with drought conditions and water shortages across much of Europe.

Civilisation, it has been said, is only three meals deep. The threat of hunger has long stalked humanity. In recent decades, at least in the developed world, it looked like we had finally consigned the spectre of famine to the history books.

Reality, however, has a way of laying waste to our best-laid plans. Research published this month in the scientific journal Nature Communications warns the risks to global agricultural production and food security have been seriously underestimated.