The United Nations expects meat consumption to decline in the industrialized countries over the next ten years. This is due to growing environmental and health concerns, it said in a report published Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. People will mainly eat less red meat and replace it with poultry or dairy products. In the report by the FAO and the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the experts gave their outlook for global agriculture up to 2030.
In view of the corona pandemic, the FAO and OECD found that the agricultural and food sectors had proven to be resilient.
Loss of income and increased consumer prices for food would have denied many people access to healthy food.
In the next ten years, experts estimate that the general availability of food will increase by four percent.
On average, everyone should have access to 3025 kilocalories (kcal) per day in 2030.
According to the report, this development mainly affects the emerging markets.
The experts see little change for the poorer developing countries.
Fats will still make up a large proportion of the diet in the future.
The FAO and OECD expect the proportion of fruit and vegetables in the available kilocalories to be around seven percent.
They are therefore calling for more to be done to ensure that people eat the 400 grams of fruits and vegetables a day recommended by the World Health Organization.
In the agricultural sector, the experts expect slower growth in the biofuel sector.
They assume that electromobility, which the EU and the USA are focusing on with their policies, will result in the use of fewer agricultural raw materials.
However, the development does not apply globally.
Countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia, as main producers of sugar cane and edible oils, are likely to expand their biofuel production and use it for their transport.