ABSTRACT

In 2012 almost 870 million people, or one in eight of the global population, were suffering from chronic malnutrition according to the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 (SOFI) (FAO, IFAD, WFP, 2012). By 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.6 billion (UN Population Division 2013). Most of this population increase will occur in the urban areas of the emerging and least developed countries. In order to feed this larger, more urban, poorer population, it is estimated that in the next 25-30 years, world cereal production needs to increase by 70-100% at a global level and to at least double in the emerging and least developed countries (Steduto et al. 2012). There is common agreement that 80-90% of the necessary production increase would have to come from increased yields and cropping intensity on existing farmland.