We'd Like To Mention

With U.S. farmers harvesting an expected record corn and soybean crop, and the country's reputation as the land of plenty, food security is likely not part of the dinner conversation of most Americans.

However, look beneath the bumper harvests and fully stocked grocery shelves, and you'll find a much different menu. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, one in seven U.S. households experienced food insecurity or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet in 2023. Globally, one in 11 people faced hunger last year in the latest United Nations "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" report.

Since 2010, the "Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report" has highlighted the growth rate in food production and what's needed to meet the world's growing demand for food, feed and fiber. This year's report offers a reminder of the formidable challenge to meet this demand.

Global agricultural productivity growth has slowed from 1.9% annually during 2001-2010 to 0.7% during 2013-2022. At this rate, the GAP Index projected that global total factor productivity (TFP) growth will need a big boost, averaging 2% annually. TFP is a measure used to ensure agriculture can meet the global food demand by 2050 by looking at how efficiently ag resources -- land, labor, capital, crop inputs, livestock, equipment, etc. -- are converted to produce food.

The U.S. saw a negative TFP growth, averaging -0.21% annually during 2013-2022. The report's authors attributed the downturn, in part, to a reduction in public support for ag research and development, and increasing political and social forces that seek to dictate choices affecting technology adoption.

"This dramatic slowdown [to 0.7%] will prevent us from reaching our agricultural production and sustainability goals by 2050, with potentially dire impacts on food and nutrition security, unless we reverse this trend," explains Tom Thompson, the report's executive editor and associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.

WHAT'S NEXT?

TFP growth worldwide has historically been driven largely by research and development, and the adoption of new technologies -- improved crop and animal genetics, precision-farming tools -- and sharing the knowledge to use these tools.

But, the report makes clear this alone will not be enough to reach the 2050 food goals. "It requires cooperation across political and philosophical lines throughout the food system," explains Jessica Agnew, associate director of CALS Global at Virginia Tech. And, while she says, "using our resources wisely and most efficiently is applicable to every farmer in every farm system at every scale of production," many of the priorities identified in the report to drive ag productivity growth focus on smallholder farmers and farmers in developing and low- and middle-income countries.

Priorities include:

-- Invest in agricultural innovation systems to access and sustainably adopt productivity-enhancing tools.

-- Expand robust and resilient market access, including competitive input and commodity markets, and price/information transparency to optimize productivity and profitability.

-- Strengthen regional and global trade. Trade liberalization and opening larger markets creates opportunities for specialization and encourages adoption of productivity-enhancing tools.

-- Reduce food waste and improve quality of outputs. Invest in distribution channels, storage, transportation and processing technologies.

-- Cultivate partnerships to pool resources, share knowledge and drive innovation.

As the report shows, the U.S. is not immune to its own productivity challenges. Despite the country's current negative TFP growth, the world will continue to look to us to provide the know-how to grow more food.

We've all seen what happens when people don't have enough to eat. Food insecurity leads to economic, social and political unrest. The GAP report provides a road map to satisfying the world's appetite in 2050.

**

-- Read the GAP Report at globalagriculturalproductivity.org/2024-gap-report

-- Email Gregg Hillyer at gregg.hillyer@dtn.com, or follow Gregg on social platform X @GreggHillyer

[PF_1124]

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.