Agriculture, Food, Populations, Natural Resources and Ecological Integrity

Currently, global food shortages are critical, with more than 2 billion humans malnourished worldwide—the largest number ever (FAO, 1992a, b; Nesheim, 1993; McMichael, 1993; Maberly, 1994; Bouis, 1995; WHO, 1996). Increasing human populations, especially in urban areas, and increasing food, water, air, and soil pollution by pathogenic organisms and chemicals, are causing a rapid increase in the prevalence of disease and number of human deaths (WHO, 1992, 1995; Murray and Lopez, 1996; Pimentel et al., 1998b). An estimated 40,000 children die each day due to malnutrition and other diseases (WHO, 1992).