Climate change is having a negative effect on global agriculture and is driving up the number of hungry people around the world, according to the United Nations’ 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. It found that 821 million people -- one in every nine -- were malnourished in 2017, up from 815 million in 2016, putting at risk the UN’s goal of eradicating hunger in the world by 2030. The number of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa rose from 181 million in 2010 to almost 222 million in 2016, an increase of 22.6% in six years, and based on current projections, it may have grown to more than 236 million in 2017, the report found
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 was jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
Climate change is having a negative effect on global agriculture and is driving up the number of hungry people around the world, according to the United Nations’ 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.
It found that 821 million people -- one in every nine -- were malnourished in 2017, up from 815 million in 2016, putting at risk the UN’s goal of eradicating hunger in the world by 2030.
The number of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa rose from 181 million in 2010 to almost 222 million in 2016, an increase of 22.6% in six years, and based on current projections, it may have grown to more than 236 million in 2017, the report found.
The importance of changing climate variability and extremes to agriculture, food security and nutrition
There is strong evidence of global climate change in the form of rising air and sea surface temperatures, receding glaciers, shifting climate regimes, increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events and sea level rises. The accelerated warming of the planet continues to lead to modified ecosystem processes, changing climate variability and more intense climate-related events across the globe, including extreme temperatures (cold and hot spells) and variations in rainfall (floods and droughts).
Increasing and more variable temperatures
The Earth’s climate has experienced rapid warming of approximately 0.85 °C during the last century. Based on historical observations, there is a clear global trend of an overall increase in warm days and nights, with a reduction in cold days and nights. Land and ocean surface temperature have clearly been rising over time and this rise has been accelerating in the last few decades. Trends in increased average temperatures are often reflected in one or more measures of extreme temperature (e.g. hot/cold nights).
Changes in seasonality
In addition to increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall, the nature of rainfall seasons is also changing, specifically the timing of seasonal climate events. This is related to the late/early start of rainy seasons, the unequal distribution of rainfall within a season (e.g. periods of dry and rainy days) and changes in temperatures during the rainfall season.
Climate impacts on food security and nutrition
Both climate variability and extremes have implications for agriculture and food production. As a result, all dimensions of food security and nutrition are likely to be affected, including food availability, access, utilization and stability.
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How do changing climate variability and extremes affect the immediate and underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition?
* Climate variability and extremes are undermining in multiple ways food availability, access, utilization and stability, as well as feeding, care giving and health practices.
* Direct and indirect climate-driven impacts have acumulative effect, leading to a downward spiral of increased food insecurity and malnutrition.
* Climate variability and extremes are harming agricultural productivity, food production and cropping patterns, thus contributing to food availability shortfalls.
* Food price spikes and volatility, often combined with losses in agricultural income, follow climate extremes, reducing food access and negatively affecting the quantity, quality and dietary diversity of food consumed.
* Changes in climate impact heavily on nutrition through: impaired nutrient quality and dietary diversity of foods produced and consumed; effects on water and sanitation, with their implications for patterns of health risks and disease; and changes in maternal and child care and breastfeeding.
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Key messages
* New evidence continues to signal a rise in world hunger and a reversal of trends after a prolonged decline. In 2017 the number of undernourished people is estimated to have increased to 821 million– around one out of every nine people in the world.
* While some progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, levels still remain unacceptably high. Nearly 151 million children under five – or over 22 percent – are affected by stunting in 2017.
* Wasting continues to affect over 50 million children under five in the world and these children are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, over 38 million children under five are overweight.
* Adult obesity is worsening and more than one in eight adults in the world – or more than 672 million – is obese. Undernutrition and overweight and obesity coexist in many countries.
* Food insecurity contributes to overweight and obesity, as well as undernutrition, and high rates of these forms of malnutrition coexist in many countries. The higher cost of nutritious foods, the stress of living with food insecurity and physiological adaptations to food restriction help explain why food insecure families may have a higher risk of overweight and obesity.
* Poor access to food increases the risk of low birth weight and stunting in children, which are associated with higher risk of overweight and obesity later in life.
* Exposure to more complex, frequent and intense climate extremes is threatening to erode and reverse gains made in ending hunger and malnutrition.
* In addition to conflict, climate variability and extremes are among the key drivers behind the recent uptick in global hunger and one of the leading causes of severe food crises. The cumulative effect of changes in climate is undermining all dimensions of food security – food availability, access, utilization and stability.
* Nutrition is highly susceptible to changes in climate and bears a heavy burden as a result, as seen in the impaired nutrient quality and dietary diversity of foods produced and consumed, the impacts on water and sanitation, and the effects on patterns of health risks and disease, as well as changes in maternal care, child care and breastfeeding.
* Actions need to be accelerated and scaled up to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems, people’s livelihoods, and nutrition in response to climate variability and extremes.
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