Agricultural challenges

According to the United Nations 2017 Revision of World Population Prospects, the global population has been estimated to grow from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.7 billion in 2050. Food demand will continue to face increasing pressure.
However, the calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate for Taiwan was only 31.01% in 2016. Moreover, the increasingly severe weather caused by climate change is raising the risk of agricultural production, resulting in inevitable food supply shortages and high food prices.

In recent years, due to the impact of the aging and declining population in the rural areas, Taiwan's agricultural employment population has decreased by 550,000 from 730,000 in 2000 to 2016, indicating a reduction of 25%. And the population of agricultural workers over the age of 65 has also risen from 10% to 17%. Agricultural manpower is in a large shortage and the agricultural productivity is seriously affected. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture estimated that nearly 110,000 agricultural workers will retire due to aging in the coming decade.

Agricultural employment population	Percentage of agricultural workers over the age of 65

Facing the global agricultural development trends and challenges, Taiwan is limited by the natural environment, and the cost of agricultural production is high. Under the development constraints of the local climate, environment and labor force, the structural adjustment of agricultural industry and the integration of technology research and innovation have become the opportunities for new agricultural development.