"To both feed the world and solve climate change, the world needs to produce 50 percent more food in 2050 compared to 2010 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds. While government funding has an important role to play, a new World Bank report I wrote with seven co-authors found that agricultural subsidies are doing little to achieve these goals, but have great potential for reform.

Governments provide on average $600 billion per year for agricultural support in the countries that generate two-thirds of the world’s agriculture. This is a lot of money. Government support averages 30 percent of the agricultural production in these countries (measured by "value added"). Yet our report found that only 5 percent of this funding supports any kind of conservation objective, and only 6 percent supports research and technical assistance. Pure income support accounts for 70 percent."

Continue reading the full opinion piece on GreenBiz: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/nations-spend-600-billion-plus-annuall…