Supply and Demand

Running Head: SUPPLY AND DEMAND 1

Supply and Demand

Robert Stewart

DeVry University

ENG135ON_BL – Professor Wright

Supply and Demand 2

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s World Population Clock, there are roughly 313.5 million people living in the United States and 7 billion worldwide. The current growth rate is approximately 220 thousand people per day or, 80 million per year. By 2050 the world population is expected to reach 9.4 billion. Due to the significant increase in the human population, the per capita demand for food is growing at a rapid pace and will continue to do so unless the need can be supplemented or contained using things such as science, technology and government regulation.

The projections show that feeding a world population of 9.4 billion people in 2050 would require raising overall food production by some 70 percent between 2010 and 2050. Part of the challenge is that in order to meet this requirement, production in developing countries would need to almost double. How do you double food production in developing countries where in some cases, 40 percent of the population is poverty stricken and malnourished, and soil erosion throughout the regions are breaking record trends? There are organizations around the world that are ready and equipped to help combat such issues and I believe progress could be made provided they are given the support they require. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a perfect example. Part of ASCE’s mission is to help provide irrigation in developing countries using a wide variety of technological advances, none of which these countries have access to or have ever seen. The US Army Corps of Engineers or Peace Corps also do work in developing countries to help stabilize and help bring crop productivity into the region. There are also many UN sponsored and international organizations that do similar work. These groups are often...