25% Reduction in Global Food Production by 2050, Organic Yields More Than Double

Food news from the UN, via Treehugger:

With the world population continuing to grow at unsustainable rates, access to food and water is likely to be a serious problem in some places and one made worse by climate change. The UN Environment Programme has issued a new report detailing how much worse it could get:

In its report, The Environmental Food Crises: Environment’s role in averting future food crises, the UNEP found that:

The Era of Cheap Food is Over!
The 100 year long trend of falling food prices is likely over, with food price rises of 30-50% likely within decades. Those living in extreme poverty may end up spending 90% of their income on food.

Up to 25% of world food production could be lost to “environmental breakdowns” by 2050 unless action is taken.

A recent report by UNEP and the UN Conference on Trade and Development surveyed 114 small-scale farms in 24 African countries, publishing our findings in late 2008.

Yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used, with the in yield jumping to 128 per cent in east Africa.