Will these top 10 agriculture producing countries in the world manage to satisfy growing food demands? Demographic projections show that the world population will reach 9 billion by 2015, which means that world’s food production will have to increase by 70 percents to satisfy people’s needs. Besides population growth, other factors, such as rising incomes, will also have influence on food demands because greater incomes allow people to spend more money on their diet. The income rise in developed countries stands in direct correlation with consumption increase of meat and milk per capita. The fact that people are consuming more meat and dairy products also means that production of grains is increasing since it takes 7 to 10 kilos of grain to produce one kilo of meat.
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Satisfying world’s food demand is challenging, not only because it requires 70 percent increase in agricultural production, but because this growth leads to expansion of production areas, which puts additional pressure on preserving environment. From 1965 to 2011, production area expanded at an annual rate of thirteen million acres per year which caused high deforestation rate, decline in biodiversity, and increase of pollution. One solution to meeting world’s food demands, while simultaneously minimizing negative effects to environment, lies in greater agricultural productivity. You can read our list of 10 Most Advance Countries in Agriculture to see which countries have managed to increase their agricultural productivity.
Finally, as we all know, the food consumption isn’t even across the plant. According to State of Food Insecurity in the World, 795 million people in the world, or one in nine people on earth, do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. Majority of malnourished people live in Asia, where two-thirds of total population struggle with lack of food. And the most disturbingly, nearly half of death in children under five is due to poor nutrition. On the other side, it is estimated that nearly 30 percent of produced food end up in waste bin – in the low-income countries large share of food is wasted because of poor conservation technologies, while in developed parts of world people throw away food in their homes and restaurants. Reducing food waste is one way to tackle the problem of growing food demand and malnutrition. You will see that a few countries on our list have introduced laws and initiatives to reduce the percentage of food that end up as garbage.
Now let’s turn to the list Top 10 Agriculture Producing Countries In the World, which we made using data form Statistic Division of Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nation (FAOSTAT) for 2012. First we looked at commodities that had highest production in 2012 – milk, rice, meat cattle, meat pig, meat chicken. For each of these five commodities we created the list of top producing countries. Then we compared lists and created this ranking.
10. Turkey
Turkey occupies ninth place by production of milk, as well as by production of chicken meat. It also ranks among top 20 countries in production of cattle meat. The country also has one of the highest export growth rate in the world because agricultural export has tripled during last decade. Like other countries on the list, Turkey is trying to tackle the problem of food waste. Recently, Turkish agriculture minister has urged people to stop throwing away food since every year 1.3 millions tones of food end up in bin.
9. Germany
Germany is third largest producer of pig meat and it also ranks high in production of milk, and cattle meat. It is also world’s third largest agricultural exporter with total export valued at 70.6 billion dollars in 2014, which is 44.8 percent increase from 2009. As one of the highest developed countries in the world, it has been one of the largest meat consumer in the world, each year 60 kilo of meat is consumed per person. Interestingly, Germany strongly opposes GMO food production, and earlier this year it has made a move to stop GMO crop cultivation.
8. Japan
In 2012, Japan produced 10,654,000 tons of rice and ranked as tenth country in the world by rice production. It is also among top 20 countries in production of milk, pig and chicken meat. Expectedly, the Japanese mostly consume rice and fish, and eat less meat compared to US and EU citizens. Japanese agriculture, fishery and food export hit the record last year due to increase of 11.1 percent and it was valued at 611.7 billion yen. Japan is also struggling with food waste since up to 23 million tons of food is thrown away annually. The figure prompted Japanese government to introduce laws which encourage food waste recycling programs.
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7. Mexico
Mexico ranks high in production of cattle meat and chicken meat. It is also among first 20 countries by production of milk and pig meat. Despite these figures, only small share of agriculture production accounts for country’s GDP. The country’s agricultural export in 2012 was estimated at more than 10 billion dollars, with annual agriculture production growth of 1.67 percent. One of its main markets is USA where 30 percent of food comes from Mexico. Although 36 percent of children suffer from malnutrition in Mexico, more than third of produced food is wasted.
6. France
France is among top ten countries in production of milk and meat cattle, and among top 20 by chicken and pig meat production. It has highest agricultural production in European Union – 18.1 percents of total EU production comes from France and it is world’s fifth largest agricultural exporters with export estimated at 53.4 billion euro in 2014. In combating food waste earlier this year France introduced the law which bans supermarket from throwing away and destroying unsold food and makes them donate the food to charities.
5. Russia
Russia, one of world’s leading countries by acres of land used for agricultural production, is fifth on our list Top 10 Agriculture Producing Countries In the World. It also ranks among top world’s producers of milk, chicken, pig and cattle meat. After West imposed economic sanction to Russia because of its involvement in Ukraine crises, President Vladimir Putin responded by banning food import from EU, US and other countries which have blamed him for crisis in Ukraine. It is hard to translate the effects of these mutual sanction into money, but it is evident that Russian ban has created significant problems for EU farmers who don’t know what to do with food produced for Russian market. On the other side, countries which have maintained good relationship with Russia during Ukraine crises are taking advantage of the situation, and implementing measures which will allow greater export to Russian market.
4. India
India is ranked second by production of milk and rice in the world. It also ranks high as chicken and cattle meat producer. With export growth rate of 21.3, India leads the list of countries with greatest export growth during last decade. Despite the fact that India can boast about its agriculture development, as well as about its GDP growth of 6.9 percent in 2013-2014, 30 percent of children in India are underweight . Like in the other countries on the list, food waste is a major problem in India – about 40 percent of produced food ends up in bin. Recently, Robin Hood Army, volunteer organization, have been distributing unconsumed food from restaurants to the poor and hungry.
3. Brazil
Brazil is among first five countries by production of milk, pig, chicken and cattle meat, and it occupies ninth place by rice production. The country has ninth largest economy in the world mainly due to its agriculture production which accounts for large share of country’s GDP. Brazil also ranks among highest agriculture exporters and its main markets are China, which buys 22 percent of its products, United States, The Netherlands, Russia and Germany. Finally, Brazil is the country which most successfully fought child malnutrition managing to reduce number of child deaths by 73 percents.
2. United States
United States ranks as largest producer of milk, chicken and cattle meat, and as second producer of pig meat. However, the country occupies 12 place as a rice producer, which is why it hasn’t reached highest rank on our list. Expectedly, United States are largest agriculture exporter with export estimated at 110 billion of dollars in 2014. The country also holds first place as a greatest meat consumer per capita and it is among countries which throw away largest share of eatable food despite the fact that 48.1 million Americans live in food insecure households, including 32.8 million adults and 15.3 million children.
1. China
China is the first on our list of Top 10 Agriculture Producing Countries In the World. The country ranks as first by rice and pig meat production, and it is among three largest producer of milk, chicken and cattle meat. Moreover, China is the fourth largest exporter with export reaching 58.5 billion of dollars in 2014. Compared to 2009, the export in 2014 represents impressive 79.4 percent growth. Thanks to its economical growth China has managed to halve the number of malnourished people since 1980s, However, 150 million Chinese still suffer hunger, mainly in rural areas. Moreover, 32 billion dollars worth of food is wasted annually which is why Chine has developed programs for recycling food scraps.
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