Roads

 

Well-conceived roads will be crucial in the future. The global population is expected to peak at over 10 billion people late this century, with most of the increases occurring in developing nations. To meet demands, food production will need to double, requiring around 1 billion hectares of additional farming and grazing land.

 

Increasing agricultural yields so dramatically will place huge pressures on natural ecosystems. To limit the environmental impact, we need a global scheme for road building, a plan that shows where good roads should be placed and, crucially, where to avoid putting bad roads which could provoke environmental chaos.

 

It’s all about being proactive. Right now, farms and grazing lands in developing nations are springing up all over, with farmers simply following roads built for other purposes, such as logging or mining. Many farms end up in areas with marginal soil or climate, or that are too isolated to be profitable.