World food demand to rise 70% in 30 years

Despite the international bids to confront the food insecurity problem, world food demand is going to rise by 70% over the next thirty years, Chairman of Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA), HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said Wednesday. In a keynote speech he delivered on the inauguration of the International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands (FSDL) in Doha Wednesday , HE Al Attiyah said that this conference comes to complete the international efforts carried out to face the food insecurities problem that threatens around 51 countries embracing one thirds of the world’s population. HE the ACTA chairman stressed this problem as being the most crucial human security issue nowadays. Securing food is indeed one of the most hard-hit issues by the world’s economic crisis and the anticipated rise of food prices due to the droughts that is striking various regions around the globe, he said. HE Al-Attiyah urged all communities to secure food demands for their peoples stressing meantime the importance of finding “radical, perpetual solutions” to this issue to guarantee basic human needs to live with dignity. He also called for boosting international and regional cooperation to confront famine and poverty pointing out to the scarce water supply the drought-hit areas run on to cultivate 44% of the world’s agricultural lands and maintain half of the world’s livestock.