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Directions (11 - 20) : Read the following passage and answer the given questions. Certain words or phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Stocks of grain and other foods are high, with another bumper harvest due in the northern hemisphere this year. The number of hungry people has been falling too, by 167 million in the past decade, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), chiefly thanks to progress in China and India. Yet that leaves nearly 800 million, a third of which are in Africa, The UN reckons that one measure, "prevalence of undernourishment" has the dropped from 18.6% of the world population in 1990-92 to 10.9% now. That broadly meets a target the world set itself in 2000, in the Millennium Development Goals. But international bodies such as the G7 are worried about the coming decades. The world's population will exceed nine billion in 2050, with most of the growth in developing countries. The United States Department of Agriculture reckons that the number of hungry ("food insecure") prople in sub-Saharan Africa will rise by a third. The FAO reckons that food production will need to increase by 70%. Worries abound. Crop yields are flat.
And many trends are negative : new crop diseases, urbanisation, desertification, salinisation and soil erosion, which outstrips renewal even in developed countries.
That does not mean disaster is looming. Agricultural productivity is often shockingly low in "traditional" farming practices. That leaves plenty of room for improvement. But in most kinds of agriculture, scarce water can be used more sensibly. A study by Britain's Institution of Mechanical Engineers estimated that 550 billion litres are wasted annually in crop production. Eliminating waste, for example by dripfeed irrigation, could raise food production by 60% or more. Phosphorus {a finite resource, unlike water) is wasted too : only a fifth of the phosphorus mined actually ends up in food. Climate change will indeed hurt some farmers but help others (so, perhaps, does more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere). Genetically Modified (GM) crops (such as drought-resistant rice, heat-resistant maize or blight-resistant wheat) have huge potential. Technology is only part of the solution.
The food chain lacks resilience to other forms of disruption too, from political strife to consumer panics.
Panics about contamination (real or imagined), for example, can send food flying off the shelves. A new report by Lloyds of London insurance market highlights the need for more innovation to help farmers and food manufacturers deal with adverse weather and other potential risks.
The Gulf countries have long been preoccupied by the question of how to feed their people. The region's population is expected to grow by 40% between 2010 and 2030. Some gulf countries import as much as 10% of their food. Their governments have been unsure of the best way to keep everyone fedand content. Qatar reportedly declared that it would produce 70% of its food at home by 2023, by adopting new technologies of desalination and hydroponics. Adding a layer of the hydroponic sand under the topsoil stops water from reaching away, making it easier to grow crops in odd climates or in waterscarce lands. Agricultural entrepreneurs reckon that such innovation could allow the country to grow more of its own food. That idea was soon dropped. Saudi Arabia, with the busiest farm sector among the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, scaled back wheat grown by irrigation because it was draining non-renewable aquifers.
Heavy reliance on imports is problematic when countries such as Argentina suddenly restrict their exports in response to rising prices.
Buying farmland in countries such as Sudan, Tanzania and Pakistan is another Gulf ploy. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the top ten investors in land abroad, according to Land Matrix, a body that tracks such deals. But this has drawbacks, too. Getting big projects off the ground in places that lack infrastructure is tricky. Many of the region's rulers are now considering investing in food companies abroad, often in more developed countries. The UAE's AI Dahra Agriculture, which works closely with the government and owns land abroad, recently bought eight farm companies in Serbia for$
Gulf rulers may end up following a mixture of such strategies to fill their people's stomachs. They should at least be commended for grappling with the problem, says a regional food expert. Poorer and hungrier Arab countries, like Egypt and Yemen, are far less willing to address it.
Stocks of grain and other foods are high, with another bumper harvest due in the northern hemisphere this year. The number of hungry people has been falling too, by 167 million in the past decade, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), chiefly thanks to progress in China and India. Yet that leaves nearly 800 million, a third of which are in Africa, The UN reckons that one measure, "prevalence of undernourishment" has the dropped from 18.6% of the world population in 1990-92 to 10.9% now. That broadly meets a target the world set itself in 2000, in the Millennium Development Goals. But international bodies such as the G7 are worried about the coming decades. The world's population will exceed nine billion in 2050, with most of the growth in developing countries. The United States Department of Agriculture reckons that the number of hungry ("food insecure") prople in sub-Saharan Africa will rise by a third. The FAO reckons that food production will need to increase by 70%. Worries abound. Crop yields are flat.
And many trends are negative : new crop diseases, urbanisation, desertification, salinisation and soil erosion, which outstrips renewal even in developed countries.
That does not mean disaster is looming. Agricultural productivity is often shockingly low in "traditional" farming practices. That leaves plenty of room for improvement. But in most kinds of agriculture, scarce water can be used more sensibly. A study by Britain's Institution of Mechanical Engineers estimated that 550 billion litres are wasted annually in crop production. Eliminating waste, for example by dripfeed irrigation, could raise food production by 60% or more. Phosphorus {a finite resource, unlike water) is wasted too : only a fifth of the phosphorus mined actually ends up in food. Climate change will indeed hurt some farmers but help others (so, perhaps, does more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere). Genetically Modified (GM) crops (such as drought-resistant rice, heat-resistant maize or blight-resistant wheat) have huge potential. Technology is only part of the solution.
The food chain lacks resilience to other forms of disruption too, from political strife to consumer panics.
Panics about contamination (real or imagined), for example, can send food flying off the shelves. A new report by Lloyds of London insurance market highlights the need for more innovation to help farmers and food manufacturers deal with adverse weather and other potential risks.
The Gulf countries have long been preoccupied by the question of how to feed their people. The region's population is expected to grow by 40% between 2010 and 2030. Some gulf countries import as much as 10% of their food. Their governments have been unsure of the best way to keep everyone fedand content. Qatar reportedly declared that it would produce 70% of its food at home by 2023, by adopting new technologies of desalination and hydroponics. Adding a layer of the hydroponic sand under the topsoil stops water from reaching away, making it easier to grow crops in odd climates or in waterscarce lands. Agricultural entrepreneurs reckon that such innovation could allow the country to grow more of its own food. That idea was soon dropped. Saudi Arabia, with the busiest farm sector among the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, scaled back wheat grown by irrigation because it was draining non-renewable aquifers.
Heavy reliance on imports is problematic when countries such as Argentina suddenly restrict their exports in response to rising prices.
Buying farmland in countries such as Sudan, Tanzania and Pakistan is another Gulf ploy. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the top ten investors in land abroad, according to Land Matrix, a body that tracks such deals. But this has drawbacks, too. Getting big projects off the ground in places that lack infrastructure is tricky. Many of the region's rulers are now considering investing in food companies abroad, often in more developed countries. The UAE's AI Dahra Agriculture, which works closely with the government and owns land abroad, recently bought eight farm companies in Serbia for
Gulf rulers may end up following a mixture of such strategies to fill their people's stomachs. They should at least be commended for grappling with the problem, says a regional food expert. Poorer and hungrier Arab countries, like Egypt and Yemen, are far less willing to address it.
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