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agricultural land that was formerly productive has been lost to urbanization and other human uses, as well as to desertification, salinization, soil erosion, and other consequences of unsustainable land management

the world will need 70 to 100% more food by 2050

Low yields occur because of technical constraints that prevent local food producers from increasing productivity or for economic reasons arising from market conditions.

In the most extreme cases of failed states and nonfunctioning markets, the solution lies completely outside the food system.

Food production in developing countries can be severely affected by market interventions in the developed world, such as subsidies or price supports.

the environmental costs of food production might increase with globalization, for example, because of increased greenhouse gas emissions associated with increased production and food transport

Food production has important negative "externalities," namely effects on the environment or economy that are not reflected in the cost of food.

superior technologies may become available and that future generations may be wealthier

The introduction of measures to promote sustainability does not necessarily reduce yields or profits. One study of 286 agricultural sustainability projects in developing countries, involving 12.6 million chiefly small-holder farmers on 37 million hectares, found an average yield increase of 79% across a very wide variety of systems and crop types

Unexploited genetic material from land races, rare breeds, and wild relatives will be important in allowing breeders to respond to new challenges

Fair returns on investment are essential for the proper functioning of the private sector, but the extension of the protection of intellectual property rights to biotechnology has led to a growing public perception in some countries that biotech research purely benefits commercial interests and offers no long-term public good. Just as seriously, it also led to a virtual monopoly of GM traits in some parts of the world, by a restricted number of companies, which limits innovation and investment in the technology.

Roughly 30 to 40% of food in both the developed and developing worlds is lost to waste

unwanted food goes to a landfill instead of being used as animal feed or compost because of legislation to control prion diseases

retailers discard many edible, yet only slightly blemished products

In the developing world, losses are mainly attributable to the absence of food-chain infrastructure

About one-third of global cereal production is fed to animals

the argument that all meat consumption is bad is overly simplistic

There is no simple solution to sustainably feeding 9 billion people