Sustainable pest management for global food security : Examples of approaches in Africa

Publication Type

Journal Article

Journal Name

Entomology at the Land Grant University: Perspectives from the Texas A&M University Department Centenary

Publication Date

12-1-2005

Abstract

Food security issues are a matter of concern to governments of developing and developed countries as they affect, although in very different ways, both groups of countries. The need to produce more and better food at the right place and at an affordable price is paramount to achieving world peace and assuring a future for humanity. There are as many approaches to reach these goals as there are scientists and industrialists in the modern "Life Sciences" of developed nations. The true challenge occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where food production needs to make quantum leaps in order to match population growth. These leaps in food production, however, will need to be of a different nature from the ones taken by developed countries during the green revolution. Twenty years from now, developing countries will have to increase their food supply, especially grains, by about 70 percent to feed the 6.5 billion people expected to be living in these countries. Improving food security will be an uphill task, given that pests destroy an average of 40 percent of world food production despite the ever-increasing use of pesticides. Losses due to insects will need to be reduced substantially to accommodate the demand for food of the growing population. In addition to high population growth, developing or newly industrialized countries also harbor the poorest world citizens, who commonly have to live on less than one dollar (U.S.) per day. Reducing poverty, therefore, represents a conflict between monetary and environmental issues, which leaves policy-makers with the choice between today's food security over tomorrow's environmental protection. The result is an overexploitation of production and human resources, and the adoption of "quick fix" approaches that seriously jeopardize long-term solutions. Copyright © by Kevin M. Heinz, Raymond E. Frisbie, and Carlos E. Bográn Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

ISBN

[1585444328, 9781585444328]

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