Download this fact file in PDF format

• Over three-quarters of the world’s 1.2 billion poorest people are small farmers
• BY 2050, six billion people will live in cities - as many as now live on the whole earth. At least a~ billion of them will live in slums. Cities aren't coping and we should accept that the future is mainly agrarian. Colin Tudge Newstatesman March 22nd 2004
• Brazil is the world's biggest exporter of chickens, concentrated orange juice, sugar and coffee. Its grass fed herd of 175 million cattle is the worlds largest. (Herald Tribune)
• One million tons of food is flown into the UK every year but 4.9 billion tons travel Britain's roads per year. Each ton travels 59 miles, 20 years ago it was 46 miles. Herald Tribune 13/12/04
• "The disease we face in farming today is not farm subsidies, it is low farm prices, here and around~ the world. Subsidies are the present medication for the disease. To defeat the disease we need policies that improve prices in the U.S and around the world, establish adequate food reserves and balance production levels to meet world requirements with surplus land diverted to energy production. There are efforts already underway to bring about such international cooperation on supply management." Larry Mitchell American Corn Growers Association.
• National governments must ensure a policy and regulatory framework, which allows farmers to invest in the best farming practices and meet the aspirations of the citizens. It is necessary to maintain the right to use a tariff system that is sufficient to assure, by regulation, prices which can gaurantee a fair income to farmers and also meet the expectations of citizens." World Congress of Young Farmers 2003.
• US subsidies to cotton growers have been running at $2.7 billion to $3.9 billion, when the agreed WTO limit is $1.6 billion.
• US production of Ethanol has jumped to 35 million tons in 2004 from 22 million the year before. (Mainly from maize). France is aiming to treble production of bio fuels by 2007 to 320,000 tons ethanol and 480,000 tons of biodiesel. (rapeseed oil).
• An illustration of the need for fair trade with the developing world. 12 Years ago world trade in Coffee was worth £15 Billion. £10 Billion of this went to farmers. Now it is worth £60 Billion and producers only get £5.5 Billion.
• The UK’s self-sufficiency for indigenous food had fallen 12% in 10 years from 86% to 74%. The rate is accelerating on present trends in the next ten years it will fall another 30% to only 44%. Many other countries in the European Union are in the same position. David Richardson Farmers Weekly February 2005
• There is a pathetic 2 billion dollars of interregional trade in Africa, when there is a 50 billion dollar domestic demand for food crops. Christie Peacock Chief Executive officer FARM Africa
• Whilst increasing food production, the area of land is finite. Forested land and bio-diversity are severely threatened on all continents. Even the oceans are threatened in the search for food.
• By 2050 there are likely to be 10 billion mouths to feed and great demand for energy from farm grown crops!! Energy provided by oil is likely to peak within the next few years if not within the next few months.