On Dec. 2-3, I had the opportunity to attend the Grow Canada conference in Calgary. The first speaker was James Bolger, former prime minister of New Zealand, and he had some sobering messages in his talk entitled “To Feed a World of Nine Billion Will Require Leadership and Courage.” I think he’s right about that.
Bolger talked about “the ancient challenge,” namely, the challenge of feeding the tribe. And with the size of the world’s tribe steadily increasing, the challenge continues to grow.
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Most of the population growth is taking place in India and China. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at agricultural resources and needs, the world’s growth engine is shifting to Asia. According to Bolger, China has been the largest economy in 18 of the last 20 centuries and appears to be on pace to dominate in the 21st century as well.
Bolger derided today’s embrace, by some, of peasant agriculture, calling it a romantic notion that sounds nice and makes good movies, but will not feed the modern world.
Worries over food supply of course haven’t been lost on some of the world’s most populous countries. Bolger noted South Korea’s 99-year lease on land in Madagascar, and China’s efforts to also acquire land in Africa specifically for food production that can be exported to China. He called it a return to times of old, with wealthy countries colonizing poorer ones to exploit their riches — an interesting perception.
Bolger predicted genetically modified crops will steadily gain acceptance as pressure grows to feed more people: “To feed the world, all the responsible science available will be needed.”
In fact, were he still prime minister, Bolger said he would encourage New Zealand to accept GM crops, which it doesn’t do at present.
A hungry world is an angry world. Bolger shared his fears of increasing unrest in poor countries as the hunger rolls continue to grow. But how to pay for projects that will increase food supply to poor nations?
He suggested transferring money from military spending to agricultural development, food production and distribution. According to his figures, the world spent $1.464 trillion on weapons and the military in 2008, “so we can’t say the world doesn’t have the money.”
Bolger’s talk provided much food for thought. But before we can address the challenge of feeding the tribe, we must first meet the challenge of public apathy toward the plight of poorer nations.
