Climate Action 2011-2012

climate Policy, governance & finance
Sustainable agriculture
© WFP/Vanessa Vick
Uganda. In some countries there are more women farmers than men. Empowering
women is a key pillar of addressing current and future hunger challenges.
A climate for
ending hunger
42 climateactionprogramme.org
By Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director for Hunger
Solutions and Carlo Scaramella, Coordinator, Climate
Change, Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction, World
Food Programme (WFP)
The global food system is failing almost one billion
people. To put it in perspective, this exceeds the
combined number of people who live in the European
Union, the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
Adding to this is another billion who suffer from the
‘hidden hunger’ of not having enough vitamins and
minerals to be assured normal physical and mental
growth. Twenty years after the first global conference on
sustainable development, almost a quarter of the world’s
population still doesn’t get enough to eat. And climate
change is expected to make their situation much worse.
Interestingly, while there are many uncertainties about the
impacts of a changing climate, we know enough about ways
to address the hunger problem and to potentially eradicate
hunger for everyone now.
The challenge is that to put in practice what we know
would entail a radical transformation of the way we grow and
exchange food, and support those who are food insecure. For
example, food must be grown sustainably, so that the natural
environment is enhanced for the next generation to continue
to produce food. Food must be nutritious and accessible, so
as not to exclude people and communities. The economics
of growing and selling food must contribute to building
resilient systems and livelihoods that allow the poorest people
who largely still live on the land and grow their own food to
enjoy healthier lives. And assisting women – who make up
the bulk of the world’s poor, subsistence farmers – must be
put at the centre of our efforts.
The urgency of climaTe change
The recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (2007) make it clear that a general warming
of the planet and more severe and erratic weather will have
profound effects on food production, and that an especially
negative impact can be expected on the so-called ‘bottom
billions’ – people living in the poorest countries and in the
poorest communities, those who are already vulnerable and
food-insecure. In this context, the most important findings
include the following:
Food production and availability will decline. Estimates
from the International Food Policy Research Institute and
other institutions suggest that the risk of hunger could
increase by up to 20 per cent by 2050, due to the impact of
climate change on productivity alone. About 65 per cent of