Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2015 | Page 32
Feeding the Future
How will we feed 9 billion people by
2050? It’s a question occupying the minds
of economists, scientists, agricultural
engineers, and more the world over. Meet
a few of the Wheaton alumni working
toward solutions.
by Liuan Chen Huska ’09
The United Nations estimates that the world’s
population will reach 9.6 billion by 2050, which means that the global community has to figure out
how to feed over 2 billion more people between now and then. Few people understand the facts and
figures behind agricultural supply and demand quite like Rachel Trego ’06, economist at the United
States Department of Agriculture, who analyzes global commodities.
“To feed the world in 2050, we will need a diversity of solutions. There are no silver bullets,”
she says. “Each agricultural system will have a role to play—small-scale and large, organic and
conventional, local and international.”
Having participated in the U.S. government’s “Feed the Future” initiative, which focuses on
supporting country-led development plans and rural investment, Rachel recognizes the importance of
planning proactively for the future.
“In recent years, many donor governments have begun to recognize that although emergency
food aid certainly has its place, a much greater impact can occur with investments in agricultural
development,” she says, noting that especially in areas with agricultural potential, agricultural
investments can improve food security, and reduce poverty and the need for emergency food aid.
For Stephan Bauman M.A. ’01, president and CEO of World Relief, this trend toward long-term
investment in food security by governments as well as philanthropists makes the challenge to feed
2 billion more people by 2050 not daunting, but doable. It’s the difference, he says, between giving a fish
versus teaching how to fish. Stephan is also encouraged by the progress he already sees in efforts
sponsored by World Relief and others.
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