That the world's farmers and fishermen are able to feed 6 billion people is remarkable. That they'll have trouble feeding the 8 billion likely by 2030 is undeniable. Consider the following facts:

• Deserts are spreading, which is degrading farm land in some of the poorest and least able to adapt parts of the world.
• The amount of water available from rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers is declining, and the replacement-desalinated seawater-is considerably more expensive.
• Irrigated land is being poisoned by salt buildup.
• Current farming methods cause the gradual erosion of topsoil, which reduces the amount and quality of available farmland a bit more each year.
• The practice of planting just a few highly productive varieties of most crops leaves them vulnerable to diseases like the potentially devastating wheat fungus that is now threatening Europe's farms.
• Commercial fish populations are declining in some parts of the ocean and crashing in others, while demand for fish is soaring.

Add it all up, and it's more likely that business as usual will produce a decline in food output rather than the necessary huge increase. Which means, once again, that the companies with the solutions are tomorrow's growth stocks. This section presents a range of technologies that (maybe because of the universal appeal of food) are especially interesting, if not always immediately investible. Some, like genetically modified crops, are available today, while others, like lab-grown meat, are a long way off. But taken together, they have the potential not just to stave off a Malthusian nightmare but to dramatically improve all of our diets.