Powering Energy to Face the Challenges of World Hunger

Feeding the world’s hungry and access to energy are typically viewed as separate development goals. But it is becoming abundantly clear to those of us here in Rio de Janiero at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20) that they are intertwined.

The facts speak for themselves:

• An estimated 850 million people go to bed each night hungry;
• The world population grows by 77 million people each year, and by 2050 the population will be an estimated nine billion;
• To meet this demand, global food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050.

To feed nine billion people, we will need to increase food production on the land already growing today’s food supply, and access to sustainable energy is key.