The report on the situation of agriculture and livestock in the world was presented by the FAO. The demand for meat and derivatives is on the rise
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himPresented by the FAO on annual report on the state of agriculture and livestock, but unfortunately there is only bad news. Indeed, it was tripled the request for protein products especially from developing countries. Nonetheless, the latter still suffer from malnutrition.
According to the Sofa (State of the food and agriculture) report it is the consumption of cereals dropped to the detriment of that of meat and eggs. This only raises further concerns if we already think that the 26% of the earth's surface is occupied by farms. The latter, in turn, insist on 35% of agricultural fields.
Concrete solutions must be found immediately, the FAO urged. In fact, in the next few years the population of the Earth will connect to to grow up, and according to these trends, it will be necessary to produce at least the 20% more meat within the next 8 years, until it touches quota 50% within the 2050. By doing so, the number of cattle would go from the current 1,5 billion to 2,6 billion, while sheep e goats they will fly from 1,7 billion to 2,7 units.
But what are the causes of this increase in the consumption of meat and derivatives? Apart from the demographic increase, ad raise the demand for meat there is mainly therising incomes and urbanization in developing countries. But let's not forget the climate changes. Modibo Traeré, FAO Deputy Director of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, explains: "Since we cannot intervene on climate change, the only thing to do is adapt animal breeds to them. Just as it is not possible to ask a Dutch cow to produce the same quantity of milk in a tropical country (with the same diet), it cannot be imagined that the increase in the earth's temperature does not cause changes in the production of animal derivatives, as well as of vegetables ".
Furthermore, the people who will benefit from this increase in meat consumption will be mainly the large-scale producers, while the small producers will have numbered days. For this reason, the FAO makes a proposal, especially with regard to the economies of developing countries: "There are programs for the development of local economies - explains the FAO Secretary General, Jacques Diouf - which rely mainly on women».
In the meantime, why not start taking a look at the various alternatives to meat that we can already adopt in our diet?
Francesca Mancuso
