The next 30 years are not just the most important 30 years there have ever been in the history of agriculture, they’re the most important 30 years there will ever be in the history of agriculture, director of global food and water policy at The Nature Conservancy Jack Bobo has said.

Bobo was speaking at the Guild of Agricultural Journalists of Ireland Michael Dillon Memorial Lecture on The Future of Food on Friday night at the Marker hotel in Dublin.

By 2050, the world’s population will move from 7.8bn people to 9.5-10bn people, he said.

“Imagine for a moment that we were able to get to 2050 without cutting down our forests and without draining our rivers, our lakes and our aquifers and if productivity could continue to rise.

“One hundred per cent of population growth between now and 2050 is because of people living longer. We’re not having more kids. Every year between now and 2050 fewer children will be born, but because there are so many younger people in the world today, the population will continue to rise. But eventually it won’t.

Feeding the world

“So every day between now and 2050, it gets harder to feed the world but every day after 2050 it will get easier to feed the world,” he said.

Bobo said the world will have options and opportunities.

“It is to get to 2050 without screwing up the planet, and if we do that in many ways we will be good forever.

“The next 30 years are not just the most important 30 years there have ever been in the history of agriculture, they’re the most important 30 years there will ever be in the history of agriculture.

“That’s why the work that you’re doing is so important and the work of the communities you work in is so important, because we need to make changes today and we need to help agriculture be better.

“If we do, agriculture just might save the planet,” he said.