Food Supply Crisis

Latest official current world population estimate, for mid-year 2010, is estimated at 6,852,472,823 and by 2043 it truly is estimated at 9 billion. Each nation oversees its own food supply problems. Nonetheless, if a nation is starving, it's because the population there simply doesn't have enough money to pay for food, not because there isn't enough food in the whole wide world for them to get any of it. The solution is private property rights and capitalism. The surge of world food prices this year came like a bolt out of the blue as the recurring fuel issues in Libya and neighboring Arab countries are still posing a threat all over the world. And farmers depends on gas to run their facilities otherwise it will disable the production of foods supplies. Imbalances of global food supply and demand had been building for years beneath the public view.
These days more and more agricultural lands are being converted to residential and commercial areas. This can be a clear indication of decreasing prospect for the source of food in the next 10 or 20 years. This picture is not only visible in particular region, in Asia for instance but a global accepted reality. Lack of housing facility especially in developing countries is one of the major contributors for turning farmlands to a residential to accommodate the growing population.
But the equation of supply and demand for food cannot be disregard. For the demand side, the population growth issue and the use of grains to fuel cars are the biggest factor. On the supply side, soil erosion, water source depletion and the climate change related trends can be considered a big threat.
The priority must be the development of local and regional food systems, preferably organically based, in which a large percentage of demand is met within the locality or region. This approach, combined with fair trade, will ensure secure food supplies, minimize fossil fuel consumption and reduce the vulnerability associated with a dependency on food exports as well as imports. Localizing the food system will require significant diversification, research, investment and support that have, so far, not been forthcoming. But it is achievable and we have little choice. Growers have been and will continue to produce enough so that supply and demand meets and there is no shortage. A rapid increase in demand coupled with insufficient food production has stretched the world's food supply to the limit. Already, food prices have hit record highs and food riots have recently broken out in several countries. Yet experts fear this is only the tip of the iceberg, and we may be on the verge of an aggressive competition for control of the remaining food supplies once an inevitable disruption occurs.