Declining agricultural productivity and global food security

Abstract

The three dening and interlinked challenges of the twenty-rst century are managing climate change and overcoming poverty and food insecurity, bringing them to the top of the international agenda. In 2008, the world witnessed a food price spike, food riots, and political changes in several countries. In India, the monsoon failure in 2009 knocked out 40%-50% of the kharif (rainy season) harvest; torrential downpours worsened the food crisis. Pakistan was ravaged by unprecedented oods, with a massive impact on agriculture and food production. In Niger, drought and failed harvests put more than half the country’s population of 14 million at risk from famine.