Paris. Experts say floods, droughts and heat waves have affected crops in Europe and Asia and the Horn of Africa region is at risk of famine
War, weather disasters or the crises associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have shaken global food systems and plunged millions of people into hunger and poverty.
The issue will be on the table at the next UN climate conference, COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in early November.
Floods, droughts and heat waves affected crops in Europe and Asia and put the Horn of Africa at risk of famine.
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Experts also warn that this may be just the beginning. “If we don’t take action now, it’s just a taste of what’s to come,” says Mamadou Goita of the IPES-Food Group, which works primarily with farmer organizations in Africa.
Food production is an activity with significant greenhouse gas emissions and is highly exposed to climate change.
Floods, droughts and heat waves affected crops in Europe and Asia and put the Horn of Africa at risk of famine.
Some of these effects are long-term, such as low yields from land, warming oceans, seasonal changes between pollinators and plants, or extreme heat in agricultural work.
But others should be included in already existing risk factors. In the United States, exemplified by Professor Rachel Bezner Kerr of Cornell University and lead author of this report from the United Nations Climate Experts Group (IPCC) Rachel Bezner Kerr, floods can cause “sudden destruction of livelihoods and infrastructure”.
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The year 2022 is setting a dramatic example, with heatwaves affecting crops across South Asia and droughts ravaging crops in Europe.
Floods have submerged rice paddies in Nigeria and China, where drought has affected the Yangtze River basin, which is home to a third of the country’s arable land, with the crisis at its most vulnerable.
According to the United Nations World Food Programme, after four seasons of rain, about 22 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are at risk of famine … no rain.
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In Pakistan, as record monsoon floods engulfed large tracts of agricultural land, weather calamities could lead to export restrictions, such as restrictions imposed by India this year after the wheat crop was hit by a heat wave.
Speculation and the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine have made the situation worse, pushing up grain prices.
Claire McConnell of the E3G think tank says part of the solutions are monetary, especially for small farmers on the “front line” of climate change and food insecurity.
But according to experts, they get only 2% of the aid for climate change. Another important issue is emissions reduction, given that food production would be “impossible” in some regions if warming continues on its current trajectory, according to the IPCC.
Professor Bejner Kerr says redirecting billions of dollars of agricultural subsidies that harm the environment and climate would be an excellent start.
The carcass of a cow affected by a severe drought due to a failed rainy season is seen at a cattle market in the city of Ilbisil in central Kajido on October 24, 2022. Simon Maina / AFP (Simon Mana/AFP)
Residents of wealthy countries, for their part, could reduce the consumption of meat, and therefore use grain as animal feed, with which animal husbandry would cease to lead to the detriment of forests.
And all countries can diversify their diets beyond the rice, corn, wheat and potatoes that make up the typical diet.
But these solutions have their limitations. Today there are no grain varieties capable of withstanding the inclement weather and climate disasters, which are persistent and destructive, that ravage the planet.
