Frequent and recurring climate shocks continue to drive acute hunger around the world. As a report released this month by The Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme warns, we have entered a ‘new normal’ where droughts, flooding, hurricanes, and cyclones repeatedly decimate farming and livestock, displace people and push millions to the brink of starvation. Combined with the fallout from COVID-19, rising geopolitical tensions, growing public debt burdens and now the Ukraine war, global agriculture is facing a ‘perfect storm’. At the UN's Economic and Social Council meeting in New York last week, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the world urgently needed new approaches and policies, commensurate with the obstacles faced. “This must be done with a sense of urgency and scale to get ahead of the crises,” he said. The good news is scientists, technology start-ups and large food corporations are finding new ways to disrupt traditional food systems and supply chains — for many, the impending crisis offers an opportunity. From 3D-printed meat to genetically edited crops and cows, new technologies offer hope of sustainably feeding a global population predicted to rise from 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050. But are recent advances being over-hyped in the rush towards ever-more sophisticated technologies? The history of agricultural modernisation suggests increased productivity carries potential risks. The negative effect of climate on food systems is nothing new. Indigenous cultures have lived in variable climatic conditions for centuries and can offer important lessons. Either way, increasing food production in ways that respect human well-being and the environment presents an enormous challenge. 360info is looking at potential solutions in this Special Report, released as part of Covering Climate Now’s Food & Water joint coverage week.
REALITY CHECK
Human-induced global warming trends since 1961 have slowed the growth of agricultural productivity by 21 percent. Without urgent action on climate change, an additional 100 million people in Africa could be pulled into extreme poverty in the next eight seasons – that is more than 10 million people every year to 2030. Two-thirds of the 740 million people living in extreme poverty are agricultural workers and their dependents. Underinvested, inequitable food and land use systems consign many to lives of constant insecurity. Transforming food systems could help release back the US$12 trillion the world spends on the hidden cost of food.
