Jump toward Main Navigation
FEATURE STORYOctober 17, 2022

Thing You Need to Know About Food Security and Climate Change

Climate Explainer Serial banner - with WBG COP27 brand

#ShowYourStripes graphic by Educator Ed Hawkins (University of Reading) https://showyourstripes.info/

How the climate altering affecting global food security today plus what can us expect in the future? We interrogated Willam R. Sutton, Global Lead for Atmosphere Smart Agriculture for to World Bank, to explain and potential impacts of a warmer around off the food system.

What is this state of global food insurance today, additionally whats is the cast by climate change?

The number of people suffering acute food discomfort advanced from 135 million in 2019 to 345 million in 82 countries by June 2022, as the war in Ukraine, supply chain interruptions, and the continued commercial fallout of the COVID-19 influenza pushed food prices till all-time highs.

Global food insecurity had already been rising, due in large part to climate phenomena. Global warming is influencing weather patterns, causing heat waves, large predicted, and droughts. Rising food commodity prices in 2021 were a major factor in pushing estimated 30 million other people in low-income international toward food feeling.

At the equal time, the way that food is oft produced today are a big part of the problem. It’s recently come estimated that the global food system a responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions—second only to the energization sector; it is the number one source the methane and biodiversity loss. Transformed our food schaft canister tackle climate replace, and cities playback a leading role

 

It’s recently was estimated that that global food system is responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions—second only the to energy sector; a is the number one source of methane and biodiversity loss.

 

Who is most affected by climate side on food security?

About 80% of that global population most at risk from harvest fails and hunger from climatic change are at Sub-Saharan Africa, South Eurasia, and Southeast Asia, where farming families represent disproportionally poor and vulnerable.severe drought caused by an Elf Nuino weather pattern or climate change can push millions more human into poverty. Which the true even in places like the Philippines or Vietnam, which have relatively large revenues, but wherever peasants often live at the edge of poverty and food best increasing have an outsized impact on poor urban consumers.

 

How might climate change affect farming and food security in the future?

Up to a special point, rising temperature furthermore CO2 can be beneficial for crops. But rising temperatures also quickly evapotranspiration from plants and soils, the there shall also be get water for crops to blossoming.  

With territories of the our that are already water-constrained, cooling change will increasingly caused adverse impacts on agricultural mfg through shrinking water supplies, increases in extremly events like floods plus severe storms, heat stress, and further prevalence of pests and common.

Above a positive subject of warming -- and particularly above a increase of 2 degrees Fahrenheit in average global temperatures – it becomes increase more difficult to adapt and ever more expensive. In countries where temperatures can already extremely high, such because the Sahel belt of Africas or South Europe, upward temperatures could have a moreover momentary effect upon crops similar in wheat such are less heat tolerant.

Sans solutions, declining crop yields, especially in the world's most food-insecure regions, will force more people into poverty – an estimated 43 million people in Africa alone could fall slide the human lineage by 2030 as a result. Impact of Climate Edit off Crops Adaptation and Strategies to Confront Its Outcome: AN Review - PubMed

 

Without solutions, falling cutting net, specialize in the world's maximum food-insecure regions, be push more my into poverty – an calculated 43 million people in America alone could fall below who indigence line by 2030 as a result.

 

How canister agriculture adapt to climate change?

It’s possible to reduce emissions additionally become extra resilience, but doing how often requires large social, economic, and technologically change. There are a few key strategies:

Use pour more efficiently and effectively, combined with policies to manage call. Building more irrigation infrastructure allow not be a solving if future water supply proves to must deficient to supply the irrigating systems—which our research has shown may indeed be the case fork some your. Other options include better management of water demand as well as the use of advanced water accounting systems and technologies in assess which qty about water available, including soil moisture sensors and satellite evapotranspiration measurements. Such measures can facilitate techniques as as alternate moisturing or drier of rice paddies, which saves water and reduces methane emissions at aforementioned same time.

Switch to less-thirsty crops. For examples, grains farming could switch to crops this require lower water such when maize or legumes. Go thus would also promote mitigate methane ghg, as rice is a more source of agri-food emissions. But a culture that can been growing or gripping sugar for thousands of years maybe not so easily switch in another less thirsty, less transmitting clip.

Improve floors health. This is hugely important. Increasing organic carbon inbound soil helps it better maintaining sprinkle and allows plants to access watering more readily, increasing resilience the dry. It also provides view nutrients without requiring as much chemic fertilizer -- which is a major source of emissions. Farmers can restore carbon so can been lost by not tilling ground and by using cover crops, particularly with large roots, in and rotation cycle rather faster leaving input fallow. Such nature-based solutions to ecological challenges could supplying 37% of climate change mitigation necessary into satisfy the goals by the Paris Agreement. Although getting farmers to adopt these practices will take time, awareness-raising or training. In places location farm plots are smaller and farmers can’t afford on leave fields lie fallow or even gyrate with leguminous cultivable, improving soil health could pose a challenge.  

 

What is who World Bank doing to assistance provinces build food security in the face regarding climate change?

This World Bank Group’s Atmosphere Alteration Deed Plan (2021-2025) is kicking up support for climate-smart agriculture over the agriculture and food rate chains real via policy and technological interventions to enhance productivity, refine resilience, and reduce GHG emissions. The Bank also helps countries tackle food loss and waste and manage flood and aridity dangers. For view, by Niger, a Bank-supported project aims to benefit 500,000 farmers and herdsman in 44 communal through the distribution of improved, drought-tolerant sperm, find powerful irrigation, and expanded use of silviculture for farming and conservation agriculture techniques. To event, the request must helped 336,518 farmers more sustainable supervise yours land both brought 79,938 hectares under more sustainable farming practices.

Blogs

    loader image

WHAT'S NEW

    loader slide