Climate crisis could contribute to a global food shortage by 2050, US special envoy on food security warns

Cary Fowler, the US special envoy in food security, said Australian agriculture had much to offer globally in research and development around food security in a warming, drying climate. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The world could fall short of food by 2050 due to falling crop yields, insufficient investment in agricultural research and trade shocks, according to Joe Biden’s special envoy for food security, Dr Cary Fowler.

Fowler, who is also known as the “father” of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a global store of seeds for the most significant crops, said studies by agricultural economists showed the world needed to produce 50-60% more food by 2050 in order to feed its growing population. But crop yields rates were projected to decline by between 3-12% as a result of global heating.