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Gwendolyn Scott
Professor John ONeill
English 298
January 8th, 2016
Analytical Response Paper
When analyzing the National Intelligence Councils Global Trends 2030, it is easy to see
many problems that the world will have to face in the next 14 years. Instead of focusing on other
matters, we must focus on the one that holds the most weight in our future. Of all the issues
presented this one deals with the singular commodity that we cant live without: food. The crisis
of food security must be solved before any other global matter because the rise in population gets
more alarming with every year. However this problem will not be solved by the world
governments, instead it will be fixed by those who have the technology to do so. The answer lies
with the corporations and the companies that are already working on solutions to feed
unbelievable amounts of people in efficient and environmentally friendly ways. This kind of
technology and leadership will leave our world extremely changed in the year 2030, the global
order will no longer be led by democracy or even by the rhythm of bureaucracy, instead it will be
headed by the non state players that have the capacity and the ability to change the world through
positive technological force.
The issue of food security is real and is a threat to the future of humanity. The United
Nations predicts that by 2030 there will be 8.5 billion people living in the world. Tragically, most
of the growth will occur in poorer countries that are not able to support such an extreme rise in
population (UN 2015). As stated in the Global Trends 2030, we also know that this rise in
population will cause a 35% rise in the demand for food (National Intelligence Council). In 2015

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we already had 756 million people malnutritioned around the world, the most being in Africa,
South China, and parts of South America (Hunger 2015), so the amount of people that will be
struggling in just 14 years will be almost incomprehensible. This increase in hunger and thirst
will shock not only the disadvantaged countries that are already in peril today but even larger and
more developed countries like China, and the United States will feel the impact of the need for
food security. This kind of mass hunger is a deficit that will not be solved by inaction or wishful
thinking and it is clear that some form of vast international power will need to fix this problem. It
can be assumed that governmental systems are not going to take the lead in this situation, as can
be gathered by their past lack of success in successfully ending hunger or uniting in any other
case of global struggle. The people that do seem capable of changing the world and promising
food security are those with the technology, business integrity, and financial capability to do so.
Corporations and companies have the capability to effectively combat the crisis of food
security.The promise of biotechnology is a game changer that could in fact solve, or at least
significantly lessen, the worlds food crisis in a simple and efficient way. The first method is
through genetically modified organisms (better known as GMOs) in food sources which can
make crops that not only can grow faster than normal crops and are pesticide resistant, but they
can also contain essential vitamins like the provitamin A, thus helping the problem of
malnutrition even more (Jamil). Another amazing technological development is the use of
vertical farming, a technique which in lieu of spreading crops across acres of farmland instead
stacks them into high towers like an average city building. The clever part of this type of farming
is that it can actually be implemented inside of a city, thus cutting transportation costs almost
entirely. Vertical farming also helps the environment by keeping the pollutants to a minimum due
to the enclosed space and by recycling the water by use of hydroponic crops--the growing of

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plants in the water rather than in soil (Does, 2010). By use of this technology we can cut the
need for farmable space and, in turn, feed huge amounts of the population by only using a small
amount of space. It is important to understand however that the programs and people that are
making technology like GMOs and vertical farming are not being funded by the government. For
example, one of the leaders in vertical farming is a corporation called VertiCrop, a
nongovernment affiliated corporation. These kinds of leaders are going to be those which change
and develop the world we will see in 2030. This is because they are driven by the economy and
good will and are not tied to the unpredictability and danger of the domestic and international
political climate.
The impact of new technological leaders will leave nonstate players in control of the
political world. The world in 2016 is one that is heavily globalized and that fact will not be
changing, at least not in the foreseeable future. This means that in order for us to solve problems
as important and longstanding as the world food crisis we must address them as a united world
and not just individual nations. However, it is clear that this will not happen; it has not in the past
and there is little evidence that it ever will. Global warming threatens the world but no country
can agree or make significant progress on solving the problem. For example during the Kyoto
Protocol passed in 2005 never really changed the situation because China (23% share of global
emissions) and India (5%) never signed the treaty, while the United States (14.7%) signed but
never ratified the deal (Gelis). There is a clear importance and emergency behind this concern
with global climate change, which has lead to the fear of future food security slowly slipping into
the background of the world stage. In the next 14 years, the change our world needs will not
come from the leaders we elect to represent us. The change will come instead from those smart
and resourceful enough to solve the problems themselves, without waiting for the right

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agreements or treaties. Companies like VertiCrop and Monsanto (the leading GMO company) are
going to be the leaders who will take control in 2030.
The takeover by the non state actors will start with the decline in trust in the current
government. This distrust comes from government officials not being able to get the job done
when it comes to important issues. This phenomenon can be seen already in progress today with
the drama of the United States presidential election, which looks more like a reality television
show than an election for the leader of the free world. People will lose faith in their government
as they are forced to rely on leaders like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to unite together and
solve problems like food security in the United States and abroad. In a world like ours that must
work together in order to solve anything, humanity is stuck with governments that cant work
with themselves let alone others. This is why the technological corporations will stand forward
and become our new global leaders. In the background of these new leaders our governments
will seem to be more of a facade than anything of substantial value. They will fade into a
mockery of what they used to be and instead will simply act out the motions of government
while the real change comes from the non state players: the corporations and companies that will
solve the food security crisis through the use of technology and possibly other global challenges
that the world will face in the future.