ABSTRACT
This chapter begins our consideration of future prospects. Building upon the analysis of past trends in chapter 3, the principal objective here is to use some simple assumptions and calculations to explore the possible evolution of cereal demand and supply to the year 2020. The chapter deals with some of the basic ‘numbers’—for example, of people, cropland and yields-which are likely to be involved, and tries to assess their general implications for future global and regional patterns of food production and inter-regional transfers of food.
