preview

GM will help to feed the world

Food security is back on the international agenda. After the surpluses of food experienced in the 1970s and 1980s, the demand for food is again starting to exceed supply. For the affluent West, this means food price inflation, but for developing countries it means shortages. The surge in prices has sparked riots in a number of countries, including Haiti, the Philippines and Egypt.

By 2050, the world's population is expected to reach 9.2 billion people - roughly 2.5 billion more than today - an increase equivalent to the total world population in 1950. To keep pace, the world will have to double its food production not only to feed the extra mouths and the nearly one billion who now go hungry, but also the hundreds of millions in countries such as India and China who will, as living standards rise, acquire a more western lifestyle and eat a great deal more meat. It will have to do so at a time when, due to climate change, more and more land will be lost to food production because of drought, desertification, rising sea levels and the manufacture of biofuels from wheat, corn and other crops.

Many scientists say the answer lies in GM technology. But environmental campaigners such as Prince Charles accuse the GM industry of "conducting a gigantic experiment with nature and the whole of humanity".

This Controversy is part of our membership service. Existing members, please sign in. If you would like access to our regularly updated, expanding catalogue of controversies become a member now.