David Beasley

The head of the World Food Programme worries about 2023

- BELINDA LUSCOMBE

A decade ago TIME asked your predecessor whether the planet would always be able to produce enough food for everyone. She said yes. Do you feel that way? I think we will struggle with having enough food in the future. We may not have enough food for everybody in 2023. There’s no doubt we can produce enough food for the world’s population; humanity’s strategic enough to achieve that. The question is whether—because of war and conflict and corruption and destabilization—we do. Look, 200 years ago, there were 1.1 billion people on planet earth, and 95% of them lived in extreme poverty. Today, less than 10% are in extreme poverty. But in the last five years, we’re absolutely going backwards—and it’s not just a little bit, either. That should frighten the hell out of anybody.