Population and Food Production: Prospects and Challenges for Asia

The world population stood at 6,056 million in 2000, with 4,742 million in the lessdeveloped regions and 1,314 million in developed regions. Asia accounted for 3,672 million, i.e. about61 percent of the world total. Currently, 2 out of 5 people in the world live in either China or India. TheGreen Revolution dramatically improved cereal productivity in Asia and other developing regions,easing the fear of endemic famine. During 1967-2000, per capita worldwide cereal production rosesubstantially mainly due to increasing cereal yields. While per capita cereal production in thedeveloped world rose from 565 kilograms in 1967 to 665 kilograms in 2000, per capita cerealproduction in the developing countries rose from 176 kilograms to 253 kilograms during the sameperiod. During the same period, many developing countries experienced rising incomes and shiftingconsumption patterns, which led to increases in consumption of livestock products, particularly in Asia.The number of food-insecure people in developing countries declined from 994 million in 1970 to 800million in 2000. Increases in average per capita food availability are expected in all major regions ofthe world. However, since available food is not equally distributed to all regions, countries andindividuals, a large proportion of developing country population is likely to have access to less foodthan needed. It has become widely accepted that political will is the key ingredient in any recipe forsustainable food security. This paper presents an overview of the food demand and supply situationalong with changing trends in population growth. It also discusses possible strategies and guidelines inrelation to achieving sustainable food security, particularly in the context of developing countries ofAsia.