Review | Investment ideas to help feed the world and deliver food security

There's a lot to chew on in more than 250 pages of analysis from the thematic investment team at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch on the topic of global food security and how to devise an investment strategy that would help feed the world.

Some truly staggering statistics are contained in this report, not least the bank's estimate of how much the chronic undernourishment of 805 million people reduces global economic output by - a huge US$2 trillion.

Also that the world must produce 70 per cent more food than it does today in order to meet the needs of a global population that is set to hit 9.6 billion by 2050 from today's roughly 7.2 billion.

The big picture is that this offers up huge investment opportunities. If only they can be realised.