Hoosier Ag Today radio network reports:
The Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report, which was just released by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), says the world’s agricultural productivity isn’t growing fast enough to be able to feed an estimated global population of nearly 10 billion people by 2050.
To read the GAP Report click here.
New findings from the GAP Report, this year titled “Every Farmer, Every Tool,” suggest that not enough producers are able to access productivity-enhancing technologies and efficient practices. To correct course, the globe must reach a higher target productivity growth rate of 1.91 percent annually to meet global agricultural needs without relying on unsustainable practices.
Pressure is mounting to find solutions to both short- and long-term challenges facing local, regional, and global food systems. Major global shocks, climatic variability, and rapidly changing demand for agricultural products show that a new mode of operations is needed to reach the target growth rate.
“To increase agricultural productivity, we must produce more outputs with the same or fewer resources used,” said Tom Thompson, associate dean at the college and director of CALS Global. “Global agricultural productivity growth has continued its downward trend. We must change this trajectory together so that we can improve and enhance food and nutrition security, sustainability, and resilience. Every farmer needs to have the tools in their hands to be as successful as possible.”
Productivity growth must be sustainable
Increasingly at the forefront of global policy dialogues, sustainable productivity growth is recognized as the single most effective solution to meeting demand for agricultural output and environmental goals. Collaboration between the public, private, and civil sectors is critical to giving every farmer access to every proven tool for sustainable agricultural productivity growth.
Agricultural productivity is increasing, but not at a high enough rate. From 2011-21, global total factor productivity, a measure of the world’s agricultural productivity, grew at an average of just 1.14 percent annually. To meet the agricultural needs of a growing global population by 2050, 1.91 percent annual growth is the new target. Failure to meet this target could result in an overreliance on unsustainable production practices and accelerate the decline in total factor productivity growth.
If producers at all production scales can access proven, sustainable, appropriate, productivity-enhancing tools, significant strides can be made in closing the growth gap. Increasing access to and adoption of these tools will require strengthening the enabling environment, addressing influences of food system actor behaviors, and mitigating the effects of external shocks and forces.
To read the entire report click here.
