By 2050, the Earth’s population will likely have swelled from seven to nine billion people. To fill all those stomachs – while accounting for shifting consumption patterns, climate change, and a finite amount of arable land and potable water – some experts say food production will have to double. How can we make the numbers add up? Experts say higher yielding crop varieties and more efficient farming methods will be crucial. So will waste reduction. Experts urge cities to reclaim nutrients and water from waste streams and preserve farmland. Poor countries, they say, can improve crop storage and packaging and rich nations could out back on resource-intensive food like meat.

Correct Option (d)

The passage comprehensively outlines the global nature of the food security challenge, detailing how population growth, consumption patterns, climate change, and resource limitations necessitate collective action. It suggests solutions involving both "poor countries" and "rich nations," thereby emphasizing that food security is a shared, international responsibility requiring coordinated efforts.

Incorrect Options:

The passage mentions population growth as a premise but primarily focuses on the multifaceted challenges and solutions related to food security arising from this growth, rather than merely stating the fact of rapid population increase.

The passage explicitly assigns responsibilities to both "poor countries" (improving crop storage and packaging) and "rich nations" (reducing resource-intensive food consumption). This indicates that the challenge of food security is global and not confined solely to developing economies.

The passage does not assert an inherent insufficiency of resources. Instead, it proposes various strategies, such as higher-yielding crop varieties, efficient farming methods, waste reduction, and dietary shifts, as means to address future food demand, implying that solutions are available.