FOOD AND WATER

There’s nothing more essential to human survival than food and water. But these basic elements will be under ever increasing pressures over the next decades. Population growth, fresh water shortages, farming demands, land availability and climate change are just a few of the issues facing these fundamental resources.

Manmade factors including: preservatives, pesticides and fertilizers will further impact the challenge. Agricultural models show that we will reach the limits of agricultural capacity within this next century. What then? To put the matter into perspective take this hypothetical scenario. If we wanted every person on the planet to have a head of broccoli once per month we would need enough water to fill the Dallas Cowboys football stadium 576 times. And as populations rise and fresh water sources dwindle these numbers get even more extreme.

Like all the core four categories, technology will be the driving force of creating solutions. Technology will become as important as rain on producing more food. The challenge will be to create an intensification of food production on a dwindling farm base without creating additional stress on the land. Over use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels in creating food reach a level of diminishing returns where the food produced won’t even match the financial and environmental costs of producing it. Over the long term the production level and corresponding population growth will need to transition to sustainable level.

Sadly, the lack of clean fresh water may be the fundamental cause of many future catastrophic events both manmade and natural. Long term droughts and water scarcity will be the primary limiting factor on food production. Once again technology and innovation will be essential when it comes to adequately providing fresh water throughout the world.

The2020plan embraces these challenges and will provide a deluge of opportunity for: scientists, farmers, engineers and technology companies. While a daunting task it’s also a showcase of our values and ingenuity to create solutions to these fundamental issues. If we don’t do it who will?