Crop harvests for direct food use insufficient to meet the UN's food security goal

Rising competition for crop usage presents policy challenges exacerbated by poor understanding of where crops are harvested for various uses. Here we create high-resolution global maps showing where crops are harvested for seven broad use categories-food, feed, processing, export, industrial, seed and losses. Yields for food crops are low relative to other crop-use categories. It is unlikely, given current trends, that the minimum calorie requirement to eliminate projected food undernourishment by 2030 will be met through crops harvested for direct food consumption, although enough calories will be harvested across all usages. Sub-Saharan African nations will probably fall short of feeding their increased population and eliminating undernourishment in 2030, even if all harvested calories are used directly as food. Elimination of hunger will require shifts in crop usage by 2030. Calories will need to be obtained from crops currently harvested for purposes other than direct food consumption. Sub-Saharan Africa, however, will likely fall short even if all harvested calories are used directly as food.

Automated summary

Rising competition for crop usage and poor understanding of where crops are harvested pose challenges for policies. High-resolution global maps were created to show the harvesting locations for seven broad categories of crop use. Food crop yields are low and may not be sufficient to eliminate hunger. Sub-Saharan African nations may not meet the demands of their growing population and hunger elimination.