|s
Sustainable agriculture and forestry
The United Nations has estimated the demand for agricultural and forest products in 2030 will be approximately 60% higher than in 2002, driven by population growth, increasing living standards and rising demand for biofuels. This will place formidable pressure on world agriculture to increase supply and will require vast capital investment.
Productivity improvements alone will not solve the problem. US Department of Agriculture research shows yield growth per acre averaged 2% per year globally between 1970 and 1990, declining to 1.1% for the period 1990 to 2007. It predicts a continued decline to less than 1% yield growth per year over the next ten years.
At the same time, climate change science predicts that global food production will decline as a result of increasing temperature, water scarcity and decreasing soil fertility.
These concerns will be coupled with concerns over energy security. Consequently, business and governments are positioning themselves to provide food, fibre and energy security for their consumers and populations.
ECP expects this to drive capital into agriculture and forestry, delivering long term increases in value for high-quality assets, soft commodity prices and investor returns, whilst climate change, water scarcity and increasing recognition of the significance of biodiversity mean more sustainable approaches to agriculture and forestry will yield both financial and broader sustainable development benefits.
