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To feed an estimated population of about 10 billion people by 2050, the world will need to quadruple agricultural productivity and reduce demand for meat among its largest consumers, including Brazil.
report published Wednesday by the World Resources Institute (WRI) at the COP-24 on climate in Katowice, Poland
"Feeding the world without destroying it is the big problem of this half of the century" Craig Hanson , lead author of the study and vice president of WRI Food, Forests, Water and Oceans.
The study examined solutions to three challenges: food security of 10 billion people by 2050, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and control of agricultural land expansion above the preservation zones
To this end, the report recommends a menu comprising public policies, market initiatives, and changes in the structure of meat consumption – since ruminants such as beef, The lamb and goat account for two-thirds of the world's agricultural land and contribute about half of the emissions from agriculture and land-use change, according to the document. 19659002] "The world does not have to be a vegetarian, but it should moderate its meat consumption," said Hanson.
The study's recommendation is to avoid the current forecast of an 88% increase in ruminant meat production by 2050, compared to 2010. For this, it will be that the largest consumers of meat – 20% of the world's population, especially in countries like Brazil, the United States and Russia – limit their diet to 40% of the one they consumed in 2010. [19659002] Beyond reduction in consumption, the report warns of the need to double or even quadruple agricultural productivity, in order to avoid expansion on unspoilt areas and avoid an increase in emissions carbon and biodiversity loss.
The recommendation is part of a new diagnosis, which warns of a greater threat than previously thought for tropical forests. "The agricultural areas are not only expanding, but moving from one region to another, from temperate to tropical areas," the document says, implying an advance in agriculture on the land. rich in carbon and biodiversity in large tropical forests. [19659002] The report makes no country-specific recommendation and does not cite Brazil, the world's largest exporter of beef. Folha the author of the study said that "Brazil has great potential to expand its production to the already-exploited territory, without threatening the Amazon.It is possible and Brazil can Do it. "
To change this trajectory," incentive programs need to be created to help structure a forest-conserving agriculture, "says UNDP. United Nations), Nicole DeSantis
Other recommendations include technology investments for agricultural development, sustainable aquaculture programs for fish farming and incentives for low carbon agriculture. "The ABC program has a good start for Brazil, but this direction needs to be further encouraged," says Tobias Baedeker, economist for agriculture at the World Bank, Folha .
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