According to the latest OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook, released Wednesday, sustainable farming systems will be essential for world farm production to rise by the necessary 60 percent by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing population. FAO head Jose Graziano da Silva made it clear at the public launch of the Outlook Document that the world had to pursue new and more sustainable ways to increase production. “We cannot increase production with the same model as in the past. We must increase productivity in a sustainable way, particularly in developing countries and among small-scale farmers,” he said. The FAO head went on to say that “for consumers, especially for the millions of people living in extreme poverty, high food prices have caused considerable hardship. We need to redouble our efforts to bring down the number of hungry people”. The Outlook document made clear the need for the world to focus more on increasing sustainable productivity growth, especially in developing countries, and especially for small producers. It also drew attention to the fact that 25 percent of all agricultural land is highly degraded and that for many countries critical water scarcity in agriculture is a reality. It is clear that developing countries should now focus on promoting investment in agricultural infrastructure in rural areas to improve storage, transportation and irrigation. Investment in human capital is, it was claimed, equally important and depends on more public spending on health care, education and training. The report also highlighted the importance of policies to address the reduction of food loss and food waste, making reference to a recent FAO study that found that roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted. Addressing this issue is of vital importance in order to limit the need to increase production and conserve resources.