Hunger and climate

Abstract

There are more than one billion hungry people in the world – and climatic changes threaten to significantly increase the number of people at risk of hunger and undernutrition. Predictions are that more powerful and more frequent droughts and storms will wreak greater devastation. Rising sea levels will ruin fertile farmland. Changing rainfall patterns will deplete harvests. Increasingly scarce resources will exacerbate social tensions and may spark conflict. Millions more people will be at risk of hunger and undernutrition. And most of them will be in the world’s poorest countries where hunger, undernutrition and food insecurity are already widespread. Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be the region worst affected. In some countries yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by 50 percent by 2020. Diminishing water availability and quality, and rising water demand will also create immense challenges. The effects of these changes on hunger and undernutrition will be felt across the world with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities in less developed countries – those with the least resources and capacities to adapt and respond.