Report on food security and sustainable development (environment, population, agriculture) in southern Africa

Abstract

The report noted that in some developing countries, population growth contributed to more than 70 per cent to growth in food demand. As the majority of the population in Southern Africa depended on agriculture, population growth would continue to increase population density on agricultural land per household. In some of the counties, arable land was already very limited. Consequently, further pressure from population growth would increase the number of the landless population. The situation was worse where people who were already using marginal lands which required higher production costs - more use of fertilizers which the poor could not afford.