According to the WHO, in spite of decades of global food surpluses, half of humanity, in both rich and poor nations, is still malnourished. Malnutrition has become a significant impediment to development in rich and poor countries, alike. At the individual level, both hunger and poor eating habits reduce a person's physical fitness, increase susceptibility to illness, and shorten lifespan. In addition, children deprived of adequate nutrients during development can suffer from permanently reduced mental capacity. At the national level, poor eating hampers educational performance, curtails economic productivity, increases the burden on health care, and reduces well-being. Confronting this epidemic of poor eating will have widespread benefits, but the myths and misconceptions permeating humanity¿s understanding of malnutrition should be addressed first. It is noted that the major cause of hunger is poverty, not scarcity of food; it is the lack of access to the goods and services essential for a healthy life. On the other hand, for those who have access to plenty of food, dietary intake includes meat, dairy products, and highly processed items loaded with fat and sugar. This leads to the problem of obesity, a condition that increases susceptibility to disease and disability, reduces worker productivity, and shortens lifespan. In view of this, efforts to improve nutrition should focus on poverty eradication, health education, agricultural change, and policy change towards promotion of good nutrition.

A new kind of challenge looms in several regions of the world, where the historic trend toward longer life expectancy has been sharply reversed. There are three clearly identifiable trends that are causing death rates to increase. The first is the spread of the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. As illustrated by the case of sub-Saharan Africa, the growth of the HIV epidemic damages a nation's social infrastructure, producing lingering demographic and economic effects. It reinforces conditions like poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. Second, the depletion of aquifers has become a major threat, particularly in India, where water tables are falling in almost every region. Water shortage leads to such problems as infectious diseases, waterborne microbes, and weakened water irrigation for farmers, which in turn leads to a diminishment of the food supply. The third threat that hangs over the future of nearly all countries where rapid population growth continues is the decline in the amount of cropland per person; this is a threat arising as a consequence of population growth and of the conversion of cropland to other uses. Land scarcity readily translates into malnutrition, hunger, rising mortality, and migration. In order to face all of these threats, leaders all over the world will need to understand that universal access to family planning is not only important for coping with resource scarcity and the spread of HIV/AIDS but is also likely to improve the quality of life for citizens of their countries.

This report indicates the global concern about China's water shortages and describes basin supplies, global availability of grain, and reasons for water losses. There is little precise data on how land productivity will be affected by declines in irrigation. Reports from the "China Daily" indicate that the 1995 grain harvest in Shandong province declined by 2.7 million tons (food for 9 million people) due to water failures of the Yellow River. A delegate at the 1998 National People's Congress pointed out that rural villages nationwide had shortages of 30 billion cu. m and losses of 20 million tons of grain production. About 70% of grain harvests rely on irrigation. Water demand for residential use and industrial use is likely to increase and compete with farm use. One unlikely option is to divert irrigation water to cities as needed and import grain. The entire agricultural, energy, and industrial economies need to be made more water efficient. Agriculture will need to produce more water efficient crops and livestock products and less water intensive energy supplies. Another alternative is to divert water from one location to another. Water pricing could reinforce efficiency of use. Use of composting toilets could reduce human residential water demand. Urban capacity building should rely on separate industrial and residential wastewater systems. Investing in technologies for industry can reduce water demand among paper and steel producers. The fastest growing grain market is in North Africa and the Middle East. Trends in principal grain exporting countries with 85% of global exports indicate no growth in grain production for export since 1980.