Climate change and food security
Devereux, S.; Edwards, J.
IDS Bulletin 35(3): 22-30
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0265-5012 DOI: 10.1016/0959-3780(94)90022-1Document Number: 261808
With an estimated 798 million people currently "undernourished", meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015 is already looking difficult. This paper examines how climate change will affect this challenge. Climate change models predict that those likely to be most adversely affected are the regions already most vulnerable to food insecurity, notably Africa, which stands to lose substantial agricultural land. An additional threat is the uncertainty climate change brings, including the negative interactions between gradual and abrupt changes. However, adaptive behaviour and new technology have not been factored into many climate models. It is suggested that if appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures are implemented now, hunger could be substantially reduced, regardless of climate change. But adaptation comes at high economic cost and those who need it most can afford it least. It is concluded that in order to effectively meet the challenge of climate change, political responses will be just as important as technological change.
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