China eats about 20 percent of the world’s food, reasonably expected for its 1.3 billion people. But the country only has nine percent of the world’s farmland.

For decades, the disparity was tolerable. China found ways to maximize its domestic food supply with its agrarian society. Now as China’s population continues to rise, fueled by rapid industrialization, the country is running into a wall. Numbers like that simply aren’t sustainable.

It’s a common reality faced by industrializing countries. At a certain point in the development process, nations face a perfect economic storm. Population increases, which fuels consumer demand. Housing more people means building homes where crops might normally grow. And environmental changes tend to limit the food output. South Korea, Egypt and