The politics of global food security

Recently, Inside Story, an Aljazeera program looked into how food security will change with climate change. It discusses an UN as well as a CGIAR report that predict that staple food production will decrease in many developing countries as a result of climate change.
The discussions suggests,that politics plays a key role in promoting new more climate resistant crops could allows to slower the trend of decreasing staple food production. Also land grabbing and speculation on food could play a key role in high staple food price and should be regulated to reverse the trend.

Have a look at this interesting program, that includes an interview from my former colleague at ILRI!




Aljazeera summarize as follows the main facts about global food security :

• According to a UN commissioned report, by 2050, the crop yields of wheat could fall by 13 per cent and rice by 15 per cent  
• Scientists say yam, barley, millet and lentils may become new staples as these crops can withstand harsh weather conditions  
• Scientists say adopting new crops could be a cultural challenge  
• Agricultural systems will struggle to feed nine to10 billion people by 2050  
• The report predicts that the cost of feeding livestock will become more expensive  
• Climate change could also affect the intensity of crop pests and diseases  
• Scientists are trying to develop heat and drought resistant crops  
• The report calls for global investment in more sustainable agriculture and recommends allocating more funding for agricultural research  

Check it out yourself under  http://aje.me/SyT8Hn.